United Borders music mentoring programme pilot study

INTERVENTION: The intervention will be offered to children and young people aged 10‐17 years who have committed a violent offence or have displayed violent behaviour identified by a local authority agency such as the police, a youth offending service, a school or other education provider. Once referred, the participants will be randomized 1:1 into the two arms of the study, the control and treatment groups. The researchers will use the statistical software Matlab to implement the randomisation. Allocation concealment will be ensured because Matlab will be operated by the University of Birmingham researchers, who will not release the randomisation outcome until the child or young person has been recruited into the trial and gone through the initial questionnaire phase, which takes place after all baseline measurements have been completed. Central randomisation will be used, as the United Borders administrators who are involved in CYP recruitment, will have to contact the University of Birmingham researchers to receive the allocation of the CYP. Participants and mentors will be blind to the randomisation procedure, while the University of Birmingham staff responsible for the randomisation will be blind to the questionnaire answers. The control group will receive a light touch mentoring scheme which lasts for 6 weeks and does not include a music component. The treatment group will receive the "United Borders B.U.S music programme" which includes the music programme and lasts for 10 weeks. CONDITION: Prevention of further violent behaviours and violent crimes committed by children and young people aged 10‐17 years ; Not Applicable PRIMARY OUTCOME: Recruitment rate recorded as the number of eligible participants who consent to participate in the study in the months May to December 2023. SECONDARY OUTCOME: ; 1. Response rate to International Self‐Report Delinquency (ISRD) Study questionnaire recorded as the number of ISRD questionnaires completed during baseline measurement by eligible participants in the months May to December 2023.; 2. Number of United Borders case management records matched to administrative data from the London Metropolitan Police in the months May to December 2023. The United Borders case management records include date on eligible participants who have consented to participate in the study in that period.; INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. CYP aged between 10‐17 years 2. Geographic Area: London 3. Referral agencies: Police, Local Authority (Children’s Services, Youth Offending Service), Schools and alternative education providers. 4. Key Identifiers: 4.1. Violence: Young People impacted by violence as victims or perpetrators, interpersonal, Domestic, Social media threats or displaying aggressive behaviour 4.2. CYP referred from schools, who are not known to other statutory organisations, should have one of the following indicators: high level of disruptive behaviour, exclusion(s) (internal / external), under a managed move, truancy and one of the key identifiers below: 4.3. CYP Associations: Young People associated with other Young People who have criminal or gang affiliations. 4.4. CYP who have been charged with an offence and given an out‐of‐court disposal qualify for this programme.