Angela Ansell of Jobs South West talks the importance of holistic rehabilitation for youth offenders

While many comments are tilted towards punishing all offenders of crime by 'throwing the book' at them, experts say there is a more effective way to tackle the issue at the root - but it requires time and resources.

Angela Ansell is the general manager at Jobs South West , a non-profit community organisation which works with youth offenders in Peel and the South West in a social work capacity.

Ms Ansell said the line of work was to tackle the systemic core of the offending, and focus on rehabilitation and reducing offending rather than punishment.

"It's not a quick counselling session - in and out - it's about understanding that individual and their background, working with families, understanding why they are offending.

"A lot of the time there are factors involved such as alcohol, drugs and violence - it's sort of systemic. We work with individuals and families to break that down and look for alternatives."

Jobs South West works closely with the Western Australian Police (WAPOL), and has extended its services to young offenders currently incarcerated at Banksia Hill Detention Centre.

"Our young people are referred to us by WAPOL and are typically from 12-18 years old, already offending and in the police's spotlight."

Ms Ansell stressed that the work was not a quick fix, and involved commitment and time in order to put the supports in place to re-engage each young person.

"We mentor and work with them within the community, sometimes on work placement or engaging in training and education - we look at what's happening with their health, maybe they haven't got a Medicare card or birth certificate."

These small things, Ms Ansell said, were factors that contributed to an incredibly deep and multi-faceted issue, not solved by punishment alone.

"If there's an issue of alcohol and drugs, we support them through the decrease of alcohol and drug taking. You want them to absolutely stop it - but we always look at decreasing in the presentation of these behaviours."

While many in the community may jump to anger and frustration when a youth offender targets them, the research suggests that incarceration alone, without efforts of rehabilitation, will not assist in breaking down systemic walls in place which lead to further offending, she said.

"This is a generalisation - but a lot of the kids we work with, they don't know anything else. For us we come in and try to work through the systemic issues.

"I don't think it does any good for anybody to say 'they've done the crime, they should do the time' - while I understand we have laws in place, with those in Banksia [Prison] we need to work out what has happened and how we can support them on the way forward."

Social workers connect with the young people they work with in many ways, sometimes opting to meet up with them for a beach walk rather than in a medical office-type setting which can be intimidating.

"The staff I've got are so committed to these young people and making a difference in their lives.

"Sometimes they will reoffend, we know that, when it's so entrenched... but if it's wobbly for a bit again they come back, we're right there - we can be with them the whole time."

The results Ms Ansell had seen from the work her team had been doing in helping young offenders reintegrate into and engage with society was what "drives her every day".

"From a management point of view, the results drive you every single day. That's the reason why we are continually looking at funding, we know we can make a difference and be the positive role models the young people need.

"For staff, they are making a difference, increasing positive relationships, engaging with the community to access employment and training. The work is demanding but extremely rewarding."