University of Richmond students conducted a participatory action research project with juvenile offenders and others involved in the Juvenile and Family Court system. The goal of the project was to identify gaps in court services, the unaddressed needs of at-risk youth and families for court intervention, and opportunities for philanthropic agencies to fill in the gap. The students shared a story with the detained juveniles and asked them to complete the picture of the protagonists, two young adults who committed crimes based on extenuating circumstances. The interviews with juveniles supported generalizations agencies have made about at-risk youth and their perspective on the world.

Adapted from “”The Promise of a Scholarship of Engagement”" by Richard Couto in NERCHE Spring 2001