1 in 5 of the UK’s care workforce have a non-British passport. Starmer would have us believe these carers are the “squalid” result of a “failed experiment”. I say they do vital, necessary, humane, skilled work and they are worth their weight in gold.

Brilliant Harm, Crime & Criminalisation Centre event at Lancaster Castle on Friday organised with @vcanning.bsky.social on 'Emotionally Impactful Research'. We often focus on research findings without space to think how the work makes us feel. Fab keynote by Geetanjali Ganjoli, & great discussions

Yet more evidence that children in YOIs in England are spending too much time in their cell and not getting access to the education they're entitled to. Worth looking at why Parc seems to be performing so much better on this metric than other YOIs.

Hundreds of girls in the US are confined by the juvenile justice system for “status offenses,” like running away or truancy. Confinement for these offenses is particularly troubling because those behaviors tend to be responses to abuse. More care, less confinement.

All pregnancies in prison are high risk, with higher rates of stillbirth & prematurity. Sentencing decisions = difference between life and death. @birthcompanions.bsky.social @cleanbrk.bsky.social @verabaird.bsky.social @shonaminson.bsky.social @janeystarling.bsky.social @rcm.org.uk

I have written about the sentencing guidelines shitshow. Infuriating to see yet another Labour government seek to appease a rightwing voter base by reinforcing the “tough on crime” doom loop that has gridlocked our justice system for the past 30 years. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A brilliant evening at the Crim Ball with our amazing law school staff! Huge thanks to the Criminology Society for organising such a fantastic event!

Fantastic to see this much-needed focus on girls, & the announcement that girls must no longer be held in Young Offender Institutions. So pleased to see our work showing the vital importance of a focus on care-experienced girls referenced @lulawcrim.bsky.social www.gov.uk/government/p...

De Gruyter Handbook of Digital Criminology #openaccess www.degruyter.com/document/doi...

What a pleasure to have the amazing @proflizkelly.bsky.social speak at Lancaster Uni on Friday on 'Revisiting Surviving Sexual Violence'. Inspirational talk & so much to think about! Organised by our own @vcanning.bsky.social for new Harm, Crime & Criminalisation centre @lulawcrim.bsky.social

Obituary (written by D Downes), 12 yrs ago www.independent.co.uk/news/obituar...

Still time to register and join us for the public lecture on 'Revisiting Surviving Sexual Violence'!

For the Law School’s Research Seminar Series this week Dr Claire Fitzpatrick discussed her insightful and timely paper 'Power in the court room: From judicial perspectives to judicial rehabilitation. @clairefitzpatrick.bsky.social

This is a really interesting piece - clearly outlining disturbing consequences of the HE funding crisis on our universities but also the fact that this WILL impact the government too. Well worth reading - & thanks for sharing @stephenfarrall.bsky.social

You can register by either scanning the code or clicking below - hope to see some of you in Feb! www.lancaster.ac.uk/health-and-m...

Very excited to have @proflizkelly.bsky.social coming to @lulawcrim.bsky.social in February for this important and timely public lecture!

Really proud of this paper!

Innovation at its best! Check out how Raf is making the most of our Data Immersive Lab to teach corporate sustainability law!

Great to see this blog post out by our fantastic student, Omoye, who recently graduated with an LLM Criminology & Criminal Justice, and who is a brilliant advocate for improving support for those with care-experience

Research Fellow Criminology (12 month post), Edinburgh Developing linked data research using administrative data in Scotland Closing 5 February elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid... #PhDChat #AcademicChat #JobFairy

"With both the justice and prisons ministers agreeing prisons fail women, the play exposes the heartbreak of mothers separated from their babies, urging compassion, tackling root causes like poverty and trauma, and championing alternatives to imprisonment that truly support women”

Great to see my review of Gilly Sharpe’s book on ‘Women, Stigma and Desistance from Crime’ in Criminology & Criminal Justice journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1... Hope this excellent work is read widely. It focuses not just on criminal (in)justice but wider failures across welfare & education.

And another talk -- this one in Feb by me about my new book, in Cambridge:

Come to Oxford on 27 January, or join us online for this panel, with three fabulous women who will be speaking about their work and research on border violence:

Congratulations Anne-Marie & Kathy! This sounds great & look forward to reading

Great to be featured alongside Dr Miranda Davies in this One Small Thing #JUSTICE episode where we discuss issues and challenges around maternal health in criminal justice settings, especially in relation to pregnancy, birth & the post natal period shows.acast.com/justice/epis...

Am sorry to be missing this but it looks like a brilliant event & a fantastic programme!

“Instances of prolonged separation are “yet more evidence” that “prison is no place for a child” - @thehowardleague.bsky.social in @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/cr...

An important and timely article shedding light on the experiences of care-experienced girls and women in courtrooms. Well done @clairefitzpatrick.bsky.social et al.! 👏

Keir Starmer shares powerful Christmas message: 'I want every child to have the security I had'

So lovely to see our incredible postgraduate students today - & very proud of all they have achieved!

It was a brilliant evening!

📢We've been awarded a huge UK research fellowship #UKRIFLF to study how lived experience leaders imagine the future of criminal justice🎉If you have ideas, get in touch www.chester.ac.uk/about/news/a...

NEW and FREE from me: the latest findings from our AHRC-funded 'All Our Footsteps' project, today published by @historyandpolicy.bsky.social. How should Labour go about expanding access to the land? Previous Labour governments may provide a guide: www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-paper...

Great presentation by Dr Sarah Perrin at #EHRC2024 on the reasons - including stigma and violence - why women who use drugs avoid contact with treatment and harm reduction services. Her IJDP article is at: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Great report on widening access among, and supporting, students who've been in care at some point in their life. Unfortunately, without a proper financial plan and settlement for Higher Education, most of this is very unlikely to happen. www.smf.co.uk/publications...

“I think all the abuse that happened in care homes, all the abuse that happened in foster placements, that hasn't stopped… It's seen as ‘oh you're a child in care … It must be so frustrating for them not to be able to have someone to listen to them … just because there's a stigma … they're in care.”

Excellent article, Claire. Echoes what we are finding in our interviews with practitioners and mothers. The words of Magistrate 2 are heartbreaking.

An important and powerful read.

An important read

NEW ARTICLE. ‘Power in the Courtroom: Judicial Perspectives on Care-Experienced Girls & Women in Court’ just published – by me, Katie Hunter, @jostaines.bsky.social & Julie Shaw. This one was a very long time in the writing and so pleased to see it out. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Listened to radio 4 on way to work. Bit disturbed by individual-blaming language around 'youth worklessness' & what's wrong with our youth from one commentator yet no recognition of decimation of wider youth/community support through austerity!

I wrote a blog in recognition of the international day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls (#VAWG). I am both angry about the scale of violence against girls, & hopeful about the potential for interventions to reduce it. Read it here youthendowmentfund.org.uk/preventing-v...

We're looking for a new Head of School. Details here - please do forward on. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKP667/h...

My inaugural prof lecture on legal design is next week - please see the original post ⬇️ for details and to register for the online talk. Am honoured to have three special guests contributing to the lecture. First, we have one of the reasons I started on my legal design journey - Helena Haapio 1/5

Ok, have been putting this off as I know it will hit hard, but I have finally started reading this. So far, I have: a) welled up at the quotes at the start of the book + b) become worried for the young people waking up today in a home that their families can’t afford to heat up. #BookSky #EduSky

I’m trying to keep this one on youth justice up to date go.bsky.app/LnJdya7 It’s quite easy to make one. In your profile, under the starter packs tab, there’s a button to create one. It’s more work to keep it up to date as everyone is migrating over here so rapidly!

Our first post in our new online home 😀 With our friends at Mind, we have been granted permission to intervene in the upcoming appeal concerning the power of local authorities to deprive children in care of their liberty. More here: article39.org.uk/2024/11/15/c...

All the articles in this special issue are published Open Access! “Youth Justice: Social Policy, Social Work and Practice” www.mdpi.com/journal/soci...

A wee reminder the Call for Abstracts for the Probation Journal special issue on criminal justice #socialwork is open until 1st December. Submit directly to us via email.