Foreword
Anne Morrison 157

Escaping to the Happy Planet? Drug Use, Education and
Professional Support in North Belfast
Neil Jarman, George Quinn, Jo Murphy & Susan Irvine Nichol 159

ABSTRACT The present paper is primarily concerned with the attitudes of young people towards drug use and availability, and drug education and support services in North Belfast. It is based on research carried out in four communities, and involved focus group discussions and a short survey with 180 people aged between 12 and 70 years. The paper reveals that, in many ways, young people in North Belfast are responding to the increasing availability of drugs in their communities much as young people have done elsewhere in Britain and Ireland, by experimenting with a wide range of drugs and at an ever earlier age. However, the paper also focuses in some detail on the attitudes of young people to those statutory bodies with responsibility for drug education and support, the schools, social services, police and general practitioners, and reveals that these are felt to be failing young people and parents in almost every way. The statutory bodies are regarded with fear, cynicism and hostility rather than being viewed as a valuable resource that can be turned to in times of need. The paper concludes by briefly reviewing arguments made by respondents for greater community input into the development of drugs education and support programmes to ensure they are made more effective in meeting demands and needs on the ground.

Social Exclusion and Adolescent Drug Use in Northern Ireland:
 A Problem Being Addressed?
Laura Duncan & Patrick McCrystal 176

ABSTRACT Young people excluded from mainstream schooling are a vulnerable group who are at a high risk of experiencing social disaffection and are more likely to find themselves involved in anti-social behaviour. During the 1990s, Northern Ireland experienced increasing levels of illicit drug use, particularly among young adults and adolescents. The present paper examines existing empirical evidence for an association between these behaviours and school exclusion. The evidence has been obtained from studies carried out mainly in England and Wales, as such evidence appears non-existent in Northern Ireland to date. The paper also argues that the existence of this group of young people requires more in-depth qualitative research now that the Department of Education have begun to monitor their existence more systematically. This will help identify the full extent of the problem, particularly as existing empirical evidence shows the size of this group to be increasing in recent years. This complies with the Labour Government’s social inclusion initiative advocated by the Social Exclusion Unit, but one that remains, as the present paper suggests, underdeveloped in Northern Ireland.

School Restorative Conferencing
Jim McGrath 187

ABSTRACT Since the abolition of corporal punishment in the late 1970's schools have struggled to replace it with an effective alternative. Expulsions and suspensions have steadily risen year on since, with little or no effect on the person punished or the school community as a whole. Restorative practices is an effective alternative, which has assisted young people to take  responsibility for their actions, whilst endorsing the principles and philosophy of inclusion through reparation of relationships. It has also proven to reduce conflict, violence and expulsions in schools.

An Exploration of the Issue of Sexually Abusive Behaviour among
Adolescents who have a Learning Disability
Bill Vail 201

ABSTRACT A service for young sexual abusers was required to undertake research into the sexually abusive behaviour of young people who have a learning disability. The rationale was that these young people are highly represented among services for young abusers nationally. The research sought to obtain the views of key multi-disciplinary professionals on their experience and opinions on this issue.

Autism: Intervention and Parental Empowerment
Karola Dillenburger, Mickey Keenan, Stephen Gallagher & Martin McElhinney 216

ABSTRACT Autistic Spectrum Disorder is a pervasive developmental disorder that starts in early childhood and affects about one in every 100 children in the UK. applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) has shown to be the most effect long-term treatment for these children. In this paper a parental programme evaluation of home-based ABA programmes is reported. Results show overwhelming support for ABA. Parents report feeling empowered by the training they receive and give evidence of positive treatment impact on the child and the family as a whole. results are discussed in the context of evidence-based practice and policy implications.

Disabled Children as Active Citizens
Berni Kelly 220

A Children’s Strategy for Northern Ireland
Heather Stevens 223

Registering the Social Care Workforce
Patricia Higgins 224

Young people involved in illicit drug taking has been an increasing concern in modern society, and the 1990s evidenced greater levels of illicit drug usage among young adults and adolescents. This edition of Child Care in Practice carries two papers that explore this problem from two different perspectives.

Duncan and McCrystal look at evidence from studies carried out mainly in England and Wales that highlight a link between school exclusion and illicit drug use. They note that young people excluded from mainstream schooling are a vulnerable group more likely to experience social disaffection and, subsequently, a greater risk of involvement in antisocial behaviour. Their paper argues for the need for qualitative research to be undertaken into this problem, with particular reference to Northern Ireland where little data to date has been collected.

Jarman et al.’s paper is also concerned with drug usage among teenagers, and examines the attitude of a number of young people in North Belfast about involvement in drugs and explores their views towards the statutory bodies with responsibility for drug education and support. Their paper illustrates a similar pattern to that emerging from Britain and Southern Ireland, with young people experimenting with a wide range of drugs at an even earlier age. Rather worryingly, the statutory bodies were regarded with fear, cynicism and hostility by these young people rather than a valuable resource. The authors review arguments for greater community input into the development of drug education and support programs in order to ensure they are more effective in meeting the needs of those who require them.

Statistics from throughout the UK indicate that young people with a learning disability are highly represented among services for young sexual abusers nationally. Bill Vale, who is involved in providing a service for this group, sought to obtain the views of key multidisciplinary professionals on their experiences and opinions on this issue. He presents his findings in this article.

Dillenberger and her colleagues present an article on the potential merits of Applied Behaviour Analysis in treating autistic children and their families. This method has shown promising results and allows families to feel more involved in the treatment process.

School Restorative Conferencing by Jim McGrath provides a fascinating insight into how antisocial behaviour in school has been managed within the school setting. This method of intervention originated in Australia and is a variation on Family Group Conferencing. Emphasis is placed on how the offender’s actions affect other people and themselves, and how they can redress their behaviour. Early indications from two schools in Northern Ireland involved in a pilot scheme have shown this method to be successful in reducing the recurrence of problematic behaviour.

The National Children’s Bureau hosted their Northern Ireland Spring Seminar in May 2002, with representatives from statutory, community and voluntary organisations attending. The theme of the conference was ‘Disabled Children as Active Citizens’. Bernie Kelly, Co-ordinator of the National Children’s Bureau, has summarised the key messages from the seminar in this report.

Heather Stevenson from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister has provided a very useful policy update on the Northern Ireland Children’s Strategy, and Andrea McKeown has also provided a policy update on the Northern Ireland Social Care Council.

This edition concludes with two book reviews: ‘Caring for a Child with Autism: A Practical Guide for Parents’ and ‘Approaches to Needs Assessment in Children’s Services’.

Readers of Child Care in Practice are probably only too aware that the editions of volume 8 have been delayed. This has been due to a combination of factors. We were without a Development Officer for several months, which has now been redressed with the appointment of Lisa Bunting as temporary Development Officer. The second factor effecting this delay has stemmed from the need to become familiar with a new system following our recent publishing agreement with Taylor and Francis.

Given that printing of the journal now takes place in London, we will generally need to have articles ready for publication at a much earlier stage in the printing process. Central to achieving this is a plentiful supply of papers and I would wish to use this opportunity to ask authors to continue to submit articles for publication. To coin a well-known phrase in Northern Ireland, we are slowly ‘catching up on ourselves’ and would hope to be back on target in the near future.