Abstract
This article reports on a study of children's experiences of being physically restrained by staff in a range of custodial settings [including Local Authority Secure Children's Homes]. The research was carried out in collaboration with a team of young researchers, and generated rich and insightful accounts of children's experiences of legitimised violence in the form of ‘restraint’. These lead us to reflect on whether this is a normal and justifiable feature of custody, or as oppressive and unacceptable to the extent that it represents a form of brutalisation, and an unnecessary, unjustifiable and repressive form of control, where the rights of children are routinely transgressed.