Conflicts in Multi-Agency Liaison

Abstract

Despite the generalized consensus in multi-agency forums that juvenile delinquency is a ‘problem’, it does not necessarily mean the same thing to the different agencies involved in caution decision-making. Police and social agencies have their own ‘theories’ as to the origins of the problem, while basing their responses on different assumptions as to what should be done in practical terms. This is not unique to multi-agency work with young people. In their research into inter-organizational perspectives on alcohol-related problems, Friend and others (1981) found that the ways in which different professional groupings perceived and responded to alcohol problems were mediated by factors such as their routine of work and occupational cultures. Hence, whereas social workers typically met alcohol-related problems in the form of child neglect, domestic difficulties and housing problems, the police generally dealt with such problems in the context of public disorder, household disturbances and road traffic offences. General practitioners, on the other hand, spent very little time with declared alcohol problems, and when they did they were typically associated with physical ailments and illnesses. This chapter looks at how agencies’ understanding of, and responses to, juvenile delinquency are shaped by their position within a hierarchy of professions, which in turn affect the dynamics and outcome of multi-agency consultation.