Using Sport To Provide Safe Spaces For Young People In The Context Of Preventing Serious Youth Violence

Sport is increasingly playing a valuable role in providing young people with access to a physically safe space in their own local community and an emotionally safe space when supervised by sport practitioners as trusted adults.

This literature review summary produced by Loughborough University in partnership with StreetGames presents academic insight for policymakers and practitioners about the role of sport as a safe space for vulnerable young people. It draws on academic insight and research from urban geography, criminal and youth justice, youthwork as well as the community sport sector.  It includes the following areas:

• The importance of safe spaces for young people that go beyond physical safety.
• Young people’s views of a space as being safe or unsafe
• The features of a safe space for young people and strategies for creating safe spaces.
• The role of sport for creating a safe space and the benefits that it can provide for young people.
• The use of the public health approach in identifying the role that different types of sport programmes and interventions can play in providing a safe space.
• The importance of contextual safeguarding