Exploring Designated Safeguarding Leads’ experiences of working with children and young people associated with knife crime: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

The increasing level of knife crime taking place across the UK is of growing concern, nationally and locally. It is recognised that knife crime affects young people, impacting not only those directly involved but also their families, friends and the wider communities around them. Legislation and guidance has highlighted the role schools play in educating, safeguarding and supporting pupils associated with knife crime. Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) are professionals in school who hold key responsibility for the safeguarding and protection of their pupils. There is a paucity of published research into the experiences of school staff working with children and young people associated with knife crime, in particular there is a lack of research specifically exploring the experiences of Designated Safeguarding Leads, despite the prominence of their role. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the experiences of DSLs working with children and young people associated with knife crime and hear their voice. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to explore the experiences of five secondary school DSLs working in one Inner London Borough. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and superordinate themes from each of the DSLs emerged from the analysis. Five overarching themes were identified across the participants; ‘socio-economic factors’, ‘school as protector’, ‘tensions in role’, ‘a myriad of emotions’ and ‘the need for support’. The themes which emerged from the analysis are discussed in the context of existing literature and relevant psychology theory. The limitations of the research are considered, and implications of the findings for EPs are explored including providing supervision, support and training to DSLs and using their psychological knowledge and skills at the wider group, system and community level. Suggestions for future research are provided.