Summer Schools on adolescents’ rights, where young people and professionals from the criminal justice community try to understand each other. That is one of the innovations carried out by the Italian Juvenile Justice system. Gemma Tuccillo, head of the Department of Juvenile Justice and Probation since March 2017, held a speech on the subject during the 22nd Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services in Lillestrøm (Norway) last June. “This was for us a new way of trying to understand how young people think and live and which dangers they encounter.”
The aim of the Summer School is to find ways on how adolescents and social and youth workers can relate to each other. “It is a bit like experimenting”, Gemma Tuccillo explains. “We want to realise opportunities of growth for both groups. We also want to raise awareness and have both groups acquiring new skills. The first Summer School was organised in July 2012. The Summer School was about the language the youth speak to each other. This certain language frequently appears incomprehensible to adults. It is important for professionals within the Juvenile Justice system to have the tools to decode these languages. In that way we can better understand young people, prevent troubles, encourage their talents and try to help to make their wishes come true. Knowing the language of young people is understanding them better. Many professionals in the Juvenile Justice system are still young themselves. On the other hand, the very fast evolution of lifestyles and of the language itself makes continuous updating of knowledge in these fields necessary.”
So far four Summer Schools have been organised, each time in different ways and on different topics. Gemma Tuccillo: “We have, for example, tried to ‘re-read the city’ by looking at cities through the eyes and experiences of adolescents. This was for us a new way of trying to understand how young people think and live and which dangers they encounter. Drugs, for instance. Or organised crime, that tries to recruit young people and for which the weakest among them have a dangerous fascination. We try to fight that by presenting a correct narrative about the mafia and by showing valid and satisfying alternatives for young people.”
Each Summer School has involved about 200 persons: adolescents (from different communities), Juvenile Justice social workers, volunteers, mediators, lawyers, judges and professionals working in schools, healthcare, social cooperatives and other associations. The Summer Schools have been organised by the Central Training Institute of the Department of Juvenile Justice and Probation. The date for the next Summer School has not been set. “One of the reasons for this is the reorganisation of the entire Ministry of Justice. Before this reorganisation a Directorate within the Department of Prison Administration was in charge of community sanctions and measures. Now it has been transferred to the Department of Juvenile Justice and Probation. Training has become the responsibility of a Directorate General that works for both Departments. The Juvenile Justice administration itself has not undergone a major reorganisation itself. We have more gradual reforms, innovations and improvements of the way we work.”
The Juvenile Justice system and its eleven Juvenile Justice Centres all over Italy have achieved significant results in the last thirty years of its existence, says Gemma Tuccillo. “Prison really is the last resort. On average there are fewer than five hundred minors in juvenile penal institutions. The vast majority of minors that have committed offences benefit from alternative sanctions or follow tailored treatment projects. Ten per cent of them follow probation programmes that suspend the trial. If they fulfil their obligations it will extinguish the crime. In this way they will not have a traumatic passage through the criminal circuit (including prison). In total, some twenty thousand young people are engaged in educational projects in the community.”
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David Jackson and Jed Stone focus on the use of AI in probation and advocate for investigations to understand the opportunity, address issues and innovate for the good of all.
In March 2024, we paid attention to the study of Steve Pitts and Leo Tigges about Building Probation Capacity . The executive summary of their publication is now available in French and German, including the infographic on capacity building in both languages. Later this year, translations in Italian and Spanish will also be released!
Is the day of a probation officer in Germany similar to the one of someone working in Romania? In the series ‘A day in the life of a probation officer’, we publish articles written by probation officers from different countries in Europe to see if their days look a like or are very different from each other.
‘Providing Mental Health Support to Probation – A European Perspective’ by Charlie Brooker is now available. This book offers an evidence-based exploration of mental health in probation, drawing on research across 27 European countries to provide valuable insights on support mechanisms for individuals on probation.
The publication of EuroVista journals stopped in 2016. On this page you can find the online journals volume 1.1 – 4.2. If you would like to have your research published on the CEP website, please send an email to communication@cep-probation.org.
EuroVista was published up to three times a year by CEP, the Confederation of European Probation. The journal is dedicated to linking research with policy and practice in probation and community justice throughout Europe. EuroVista seeks to share experience of good practice and responses to challenges that may have relevance to many countries across the continent.
EuroVista aims to publish articles that are relevant and accessible to practitioners, managers and policy makers in a wide range of criminal and community justice agencies, especially probation. It is also read by students, researchers, scholars of criminal justice and others who are interested in the subject matter. Whole issues or individual contributions can be downloaded without charge.
Journal on monitoring technology and its use in enhancing public safety. More information on the website of the Civic Research Institute.
Most of the Ukrainian victims of war who take refuge in EU countries are women and children. And these children go to school in their host community, with it becoming one of the first points of contact between the local population and the refugees.
The book ‘The Girl Who Kept Her Eyes Open’ aims to raise awareness among children (7-10 years old) and adults (parents and teachers) of the problems suffered by people fleeing war and their rights.
Through the story of a Ukrainian refugee child meeting a particularly observant little girl in her new school, it shows the importance of paying attention to others in order to recognize the victims of crime – in this case, the victims of war-related crimes – and offer them support.
The Irish Probation Journal aims to provide a forum for sharing theory and practice, increasing co-operation and learning and developing debate about work with offenders. The journal is supported by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) and the Irish Probation Service.
JUSTICE TRENDS is a premium printed and online magazine that features exclusive content such as interviews with Ministers of Justice, Directors General of prison and probation administrations, as well as articles on pressing current criminal justice topics globally.
“I, who had it figured out!” is a memoir by Patrick O’Dea, a social worker who has worked in the Probation Service for twenty years, followed by 17 years in the Social Work School of Trinity College Dublin. Now, he works part-time at University College Dublin. The book reflects on O’Dea’s 40-year journey in social work, including his time as a teacher at Trinity College, Dublin. It explores his experiences in 1970s Ireland, his commitment to the ideals of social work, and the impact of his profession on real lives. The memoir has received endorsements for its wisdom and insight from notable figures in the field of social work.
