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Seminar explores youth crime

What leads young people to choose a life of crime? This, and other subjects, will be placed under examination during the next criminal justice seminar at the University of Kent.

The seminar on Tuesday, 5 February will feature a talk by Sue Clifton, Operations Manager of the Rainer Foundation. Rainer is a national charity which offers education and training programmes to thousands of under-supported young people, many of whom have already had dealings with the criminal justice system.

The seminar takes place at the University's Medway campus at Chatham Maritime. It is free to attend and open to all, including members of the public and University staff and students.

The talk, entitled Dealing with Disaffection: Mentoring, young people and criminal justice, will be followed by questions and discussion.

Dr Simon Shaw, Lecturer in Criminal Justice Studies at the University, said the seminars were proving to be popular and well-attended events. 'Topics of crime and justice attract plenty of contrasting views and the series has witnessed some passionate debates among the audience,' he said.

'The seminars also seek to show the hidden dimensions of the justice system - for example, the constraints that magistrates are under when sentencing, and the impact that changes in legislation are having upon the courts.'

Past speakers have included Chief Superintendent Jan Stephens, Medway's area commander for Kent Police, and long-serving magistrate Russell Race, a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.

On 5 March, Professor Marion Fitzgerald, Visiting Professor of Criminology at the University of Kent, will be speaking on ethnicity and crime.

Seminars take place in the Pilkington Building, starting at 6pm, and are hosted by the Kent Crime and Justice Centre at Medway.

For more details, please email Dr Simon Shaw or log on to www.kent.ac.uk

Contact: N.J.Ellwood@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 11:16am 22 January 2008