Putting children first
Our guest bloggers Sean Creaney and Dr Stephen Case argue the importance of participatory rights for children involved in the youth justice system. It is disconcerting that children – and their supervising officers (staff in multi-agency Youth Offending Teams/YOTs) – are finding that being involved in the criminal justice system is a disempowering and disengaging […]
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Lessons from Europe: from Spain’s ‘model prison’ to Will Cornick
David Orr discusses the sentencing of Will Cornick for the murder of Ann Maguire against the context of Spain’s progressive approach to youth justice. Controversial – or common sense? Read on to decide: Over the course of the last fortnight I have been affected strongly by two very different stories relating to juvenile justice in Europe. One […]
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Sugar ‘n’ Spice…or dangerously sexual?
Picture the scene: it’s the 19th century, and people are terrified of a dark threat that is lurking the streets and casting a shadow over households. That threat was not Jack the Ripper, but rather the women he stalked. Women who were seen to possess a ‘dangerous sexuality’ that they must be protected from, for […]
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When practice makes imperfect
With one foot in CYCJ and the other in social work practice, David Orr reflects on his time spent with the Centre… It’s the phones you notice. You are either on one, waiting for one to ring, waiting for someone to answer one or working out whether you have been screened out by Caller I.D. […]
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Celebrating the value of ‘dirty work’
Kristina Moodie attended Circle’s annual lecture which addressed the realities of social work practice, and came away realising social workers need support and not mistrust. Q: How come they bury social workers 300 feet in the ground? A: Deep down they are really good people. Circle is a Scottish charity that works in deprived communities […]
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Trafficking: why it’s everyone’s business
Charlotte Bozic and Jill McAfee write about why working together and taking a child-centered approach is key to tackling child trafficking, following the ‘Child Trafficking: A Scottish Perspective’ conference. On October 29, the Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice held a conference to raise awareness of trafficked children in Scotland and the practice issues of identification, assessment […]
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Bringing a message of hope
Debbie Nolan writes about a message of hope for prisoners, following this year’s Throughcare Conference: I had the privilege of attending the ‘No Offence!’ Throughcare: getting it right conference at HMP & YOI Cornton Vale on October 22. I came to the event hopeful that this may herald a much needed and deserved focus on throughcare […]
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The life and times of a PhD student
Fern Gillon, who is working with CYCJ as part of her research into diverting young people from crime, shares what it’s like to embark on a PhD in this funny and honest blog. Where to start? I have every book titled, “how to…PhD/Postgrad study” but week one and two have still been a bit of […]
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Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman…but it’s also hard to be a man
In the midst of a growing focus on girls and young women, Nina Vaswani warns against excluding boys and young men from ‘gender issues’ in society. It was good to hear Morning Call on Radio Scotland earlier this week, in response to the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11, debate the issue […]
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