Youth Justice - Lived Experience & Professional Lens

To prevent me getting involved in heated discussions on social media, I have decided to write this short blog outlining my disappointment with some of the narratives about Axel Rudakubana on line. Especially from people with lived experience of crime and prison on social media sites. I'm going to position my lived experience here, and it is certainly nothing to do with relating to the crimes Axel committed, but the reality of the state being able to stop such atrocities taking place, and furthermore, where the responsibility lies.  Since the sentencing of the "Child Killer" as I will call him from here on in, I've seen commentators - including legacy media such as the Guardian - make claims that the Child Killer was an "unassuming child" until he was racially abused one pleasant summer and then his behaviour changed, laying blame towards some class mate who acted in a racially inappropriate way. Other commentators who advocate for children not to...

A Critical Reflection of Victimhood Narratives in Criminal Justice Spaces  This blog is likely to be controversial to a great many people in the Criminology and Criminal Justice field. However, at times, we have to stand up and speak our truth, even if it's uncomfortable for some; otherwise, we lose our integrity and fail to provide alternative, critical perspectives. In the UK, we - the general public, both left and right - seem to be obsessed at the moment with vilifying criminal justice institutions and services. I have a few reflective observations about this contemporary, widely accepted meta-narrative of an oppressive criminal justice system and how we - academics and critical reformers - seemingly seek to elevate the voices of people like me with "lived experience" of what is often described as "system harms."  I'm someone who grew up in a chaotic, traumatic and impoverished home. I spent time in the care system and although I hardly attended primary ...

Something I've reflected on a lot through my extreme transition from being in the care of the Local Authority, experiencing years of heroin addiction, prison & dysfunctionality in youth to gaining employment in Higher Education as an adult is 'social class' and 'identity.' It's become embedded in my thinking that social class seems to be almost impossible to define, yet also imperative to the human experience and self categorisation in England. Due to this interesting social dynamic, class discussion and identity plays out in many ways in different social contexts - or 'fields' as the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu would argue. In academic fields for example, there has been a drive within the Higher Education sector and government policy to widen participation for underrepresented groups - Black, Asian, Traveller, Low Socioeconomic or Disabled amongst others - to improve educational outcomes, enhance social mobility & provide graduate lev...