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Using Action Research, I explored my experience as a music therapy student in the process of developing relationships in a Youth Justice Residence in Aotearoa New Zealand. I reviewed a body of literature on therapeutic relationships within arts therapies and broader therapeutic traditions, music therapy with at-risk-youth, and social-justice perspectives in music therapy. Data was generated by means of journals and supervision notes and was analysed using thematic analysis through three cycles of action research. All names of the young people were changed to protect their anonymity. Findings showed that building relationships in this context involved having knowledge about the context and the population, self-knowledge and reflexivity, an ability to work across difference, and shared music-making. While the research was primarily being undertaken to improve practice, student research can offer a valuable addition to the field of music therapy, which is a relatively new field that requires more research to fully understand its benefits and challenges in various contexts and with different populations. This study may support other practitioners in their own process of relationships building with youth-at-risk within the local context of Aotearoa New Zealand, and may illustrate strategies that support this within the context of youth justice residence, as well as barriers and challenges involved.

Using Action Research, I explored my experience as a music therapy student in the process of developing relationships in a Youth Justice Residence in Aotearoa New Zealand. I reviewed a body of literature on therapeutic relationships within arts therapies and broader therapeutic traditions, music therapy with at-risk-youth, and social-justice perspectives in music therapy. Data was generated by means of journals and supervision notes and was analysed using thematic analysis through three cycles of action research. All names of the young people were changed to protect their anonymity. Findings showed that building relationships in this context involved having knowledge about the context and the population, self-knowledge and reflexivity, an ability to work across difference, and shared music-making. While the research was primarily being undertaken to improve practice, student research can offer a valuable addition to the field of music therapy, which is a relatively new field that requires more research to fully understand its benefits and challenges in various contexts and with different populations. This study may support other practitioners in their own process of relationships building with youth-at-risk within the local context of Aotearoa New Zealand, and may illustrate strategies that support this within the context of youth justice residence, as well as barriers and challenges involved.

Using Action Research, I explored my experience as a music therapy student in the process of developing relationships in a Youth Justice Residence in Aotearoa New Zealand. I reviewed a body of literature on therapeutic relationships within arts therapies and broader therapeutic traditions, music therapy with at-risk-youth, and social-justice perspectives in music therapy. Data was generated by means of journals and supervision notes and was analysed using thematic analysis through three cycles of action research. All names of the young people were changed to protect their anonymity. Findings showed that building relationships in this context involved having knowledge about the context and the population, self-knowledge and reflexivity, an ability to work across difference, and shared music-making. While the research was primarily being undertaken to improve practice, student research can offer a valuable addition to the field of music therapy, which is a relatively new field that requires more research to fully understand its benefits and challenges in various contexts and with different populations. This study may support other practitioners in their own process of relationships building with youth-at-risk within the local context of Aotearoa New Zealand, and may illustrate strategies that support this within the context of youth justice residence, as well as barriers and challenges involved.

Using Action Research, I explored my experience as a music therapy student in the process of developing relationships in a Youth Justice Residence in Aotearoa New Zealand. I reviewed a body of literature on therapeutic relationships within arts therapies and broader therapeutic traditions, music therapy with at-risk-youth, and social-justice perspectives in music therapy. Data was generated by means of journals and supervision notes and was analysed using thematic analysis through three cycles of action research. All names of the young people were changed to protect their anonymity. Findings showed that building relationships in this context involved having knowledge about the context and the population, self-knowledge and reflexivity, an ability to work across difference, and shared music-making. While the research was primarily being undertaken to improve practice, student research can offer a valuable addition to the field of music therapy, which is a relatively new field that requires more research to fully understand its benefits and challenges in various contexts and with different populations. This study may support other practitioners in their own process of relationships building with youth-at-risk within the local context of Aotearoa New Zealand, and may illustrate strategies that support this within the context of youth justice residence, as well as barriers and challenges involved.

Using Action Research, I explored my experience as a music therapy student in the process of developing relationships in a Youth Justice Residence in Aotearoa New Zealand. I reviewed a body of literature on therapeutic relationships within arts therapies and broader therapeutic traditions, music therapy with at-risk-youth, and social-justice perspectives in music therapy. Data was generated by means of journals and supervision notes and was analysed using thematic analysis through three cycles of action research. All names of the young people were changed to protect their anonymity. Findings showed that building relationships in this context involved having knowledge about the context and the population, self-knowledge and reflexivity, an ability to work across difference, and shared music-making. While the research was primarily being undertaken to improve practice, student research can offer a valuable addition to the field of music therapy, which is a relatively new field that requires more research to fully understand its benefits and challenges in various contexts and with different populations. This study may support other practitioners in their own process of relationships building with youth-at-risk within the local context of Aotearoa New Zealand, and may illustrate strategies that support this within the context of youth justice residence, as well as barriers and challenges involved.

This thesis examines the process by which young people stop, or 'desist' from, criminal offending in New Zealand. It does so by presenting insights on desistance gained from observations and interviews with young ex-offenders and those who work closely with them. In doing so, it avoids the exaggerated responses to youth crime expressed in political rhetoric and the popular media, and instead focuses on factors that are deemed most valuable in desistance by those most involved. This primary research is presented in the context of the existing literature that establishes desistance as a process influenced by the interaction of multiple variables including individual, social, and structural factors. Analysis of structural factors highlights the need for young people, especially those who experience economic marginalisation or racial discrimination, to be provided with opportunities to change. While the current New Zealand youth justice system generally does well to limit the negative impact of formal system contact for young people, it is noted that the focus on individual plans and strategies fails to adequately address social relations and structural conditions that are integral to desistance processes. The results of this study show that young desisters have mainstream aspirations for stable employment and relationships. Key factors of desistance identified in this study include the influence of 'growing up', family support and positive relationships. In other words, desistance from crime was the result of moving towards something positive in life. It is therefore argued that desistance is also more likely to be sustained with ongoing personal and social support. Rather than being passive victims of structural inequalities, or completely rational actors, this study found young desisters to be influenced by a combination of structural, social and individual factors. The ultimate recommendation is to enhance existing policy through wider strategies that address struct

This thesis examines the process by which young people stop, or 'desist' from, criminal offending in New Zealand. It does so by presenting insights on desistance gained from observations and interviews with young ex-offenders and those who work closely with them. In doing so, it avoids the exaggerated responses to youth crime expressed in political rhetoric and the popular media, and instead focuses on factors that are deemed most valuable in desistance by those most involved. This primary research is presented in the context of the existing literature that establishes desistance as a process influenced by the interaction of multiple variables including individual, social, and structural factors. Analysis of structural factors highlights the need for young people, especially those who experience economic marginalisation or racial discrimination, to be provided with opportunities to change. While the current New Zealand youth justice system generally does well to limit the negative impact of formal system contact for young people, it is noted that the focus on individual plans and strategies fails to adequately address social relations and structural conditions that are integral to desistance processes. The results of this study show that young desisters have mainstream aspirations for stable employment and relationships. Key factors of desistance identified in this study include the influence of 'growing up', family support and positive relationships. In other words, desistance from crime was the result of moving towards something positive in life. It is therefore argued that desistance is also more likely to be sustained with ongoing personal and social support. Rather than being passive victims of structural inequalities, or completely rational actors, this study found young desisters to be influenced by a combination of structural, social and individual factors. The ultimate recommendation is to enhance existing policy through wider strategies that address struct

This thesis examines the process by which young people stop, or 'desist' from, criminal offending in New Zealand. It does so by presenting insights on desistance gained from observations and interviews with young ex-offenders and those who work closely with them. In doing so, it avoids the exaggerated responses to youth crime expressed in political rhetoric and the popular media, and instead focuses on factors that are deemed most valuable in desistance by those most involved. This primary research is presented in the context of the existing literature that establishes desistance as a process influenced by the interaction of multiple variables including individual, social, and structural factors. Analysis of structural factors highlights the need for young people, especially those who experience economic marginalisation or racial discrimination, to be provided with opportunities to change. While the current New Zealand youth justice system generally does well to limit the negative impact of formal system contact for young people, it is noted that the focus on individual plans and strategies fails to adequately address social relations and structural conditions that are integral to desistance processes. The results of this study show that young desisters have mainstream aspirations for stable employment and relationships. Key factors of desistance identified in this study include the influence of 'growing up', family support and positive relationships. In other words, desistance from crime was the result of moving towards something positive in life. It is therefore argued that desistance is also more likely to be sustained with ongoing personal and social support. Rather than being passive victims of structural inequalities, or completely rational actors, this study found young desisters to be influenced by a combination of structural, social and individual factors. The ultimate recommendation is to enhance existing policy through wider strategies that address struct