Exploring the relevance of perceived social climate in juvenile forensic settings: a scoping review

Research on social climate in juvenile forensic settings is emerging, offering valuable insights into youth rehabilitation, well-being and institutional culture. However, climate research faces challenges, including a lack of conceptual clarity, measurement variety and limited generalisability. This scoping review aimed to explore how social climate is defined, measured, and perceived in juvenile forensic settings, to review evidence of its impact on well-being and behaviour, and to identify key research gaps. A literature search was conducted across multiple databases and supplemented by searches for grey literature. Eligible studies examined social climate in juvenile forensic settings with young people convicted under criminal law. Data were charted using a structured extraction form. Twenty-two studies were identified, offering different definitions and measurements. Overall perceptions of climate are context-dependent: repression was consistently high, while other aspects varied across and within institutions. Open climates were associated with positive outcomes, whereas repressive climates were associated with neutral or negative outcomes. Evidence gaps include limited longitudinal and qualitative research, insufficiently validated questionnaires for juvenile inmates, underrepresentation of female perspectives and a lack of staff perspectives. Future studies should clarify definitions, focus on specific domains and adopt multilevel and longitudinal designs.