Preventing Detention: Ethical and Legal Disputes Between Professionals in the Detention of Young People Who Present a Risk to Others

The detention of young people who pose a risk of harm to others can present major ethical and legal challenges to professionals. In this paper, we discuss those challenges with a particular focus on the causes of interprofessional disagreements that can seem intractable, and even lead to costly court proceedings. We use a clinically accurate composite case vignette to explore the commonest ethical dilemmas, which include (i) the costs of secure provision for young people and limits of resource provision (ii) the impact of professional anxiety about harmful outcomes, and (iii) the lack of attention to the voice of young people concerned. We discuss potential ways of improving ethical discussion between professionals in ways that are ethically coherent and respectful of different views.