supporting the positive development of the participants as a result of the specialist nature of the service

Young people valued the knowledge of domestic abuse from trained workers as positive suggesting that service integration does not go far enough. Those interviewed worried that people in generic youth clubs, potentially non-trained workers or young people who had not been through similar experiences, may bring negative impacts. The young people believed that Riverside youth workers, trained in dealing with domestic abuse, offered a better response than generic youth workers, with little or no experience of ‘how to handle’ specific concerns about domestic abuse. By using field notes and partner agency comments to triangulate data from within the setting, the study authors remained convinced that the specialist nature of this service was of meaningful benefit to participants.