Strands: Children and Youth
Explore Children and Youth research
Our research is divided into three strands: Online risk and harm, the criminalisation and victimisation of children in care, and, the social control and exclusion of young people in public places.
Online risk and harm
Dr Sarah Greenhow and Dr Sarah Tickle’s (Researchers from the Centre for the Study of Crime, Criminalisation and Social Exclusion) research explores vulnerable children and young people’s experiences and perceptions of risk when navigating online spaces, including social media platforms. Although the risks of online use have been explored, children and young people’s experiences of online risk in particular settings, such as coastal resorts, has not been assessed as part of the wider continuum of safeguarding vulnerable children and young people. In particular, relatively little is known about children and young people in coastal resorts, the significance of social class and/or the means by which they perceive and experience safety, security and harm. In addition to this, much less is known about the risk of online harm to vulnerable children and young people in already deprived areas. This research explores these issues.
The criminalisation and victimisation of children in care
It has long been acknowledged that outcomes for children in care compare unfavourably with children in the general population. More particularly, children in care are at risk of both criminalisation and victimisation resulting in a consequent diminution of their life chances. Dr Sarah Greenhow and Dr Julie Shaw (Researchers from the Centre for the Study of Crime, Criminalisation and Social Exclusion) recently undertook an LJMU funded project exploring multi-agency responses to the victimisation and criminalisation of children in care. This project employed the qualitative method of focus groups to gather the views of 36 practitioners from a range of agencies who work with children in care including police, social workers and youth offending teams.
The social control and exclusion of young people in public places
Dr Sarah Tickle’s (Researcher from the Centre for the Study of Crime, Criminalisation and Social Exclusion) research explored the ways in which young people, aged between 10 and 17 years old, conceptualised and experienced policing, safety, security and harm. The ethnographic study used multiple methods to elicit the experiences and perceptions of young people through centre-based youth organisations and outreach work in two coastal resorts, one in England and one in Wales.
