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Understanding inequalities in children’s offending and justice journeys

Chair: Professor Morag Treanor (Scottish Government’s Poverty and Inequality Commission)

Speakers: Professor Susan McVie, Dr Kath Murray, Dr Babak Jahanshahi, Ben Matthews (all part of the Understanding Inequalities team),

Discussants: Colin Convery (Chief Inspector, Police Scotland), Liz Murdoch (Youth Justice Team Leader, Scottish Government) and Maria Galli (Legal Officer, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland)

This webinar aims to provide insights into children’s offending behaviour and justice system contact from an inequalities perspective. It draws on research evidence from several major longitudinal datasets - the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime (ESYTC), the Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) study and the Queensland Cross-sector Research Collaboration (QCRC) – to explore aspects of inequality in relation to children’s offending behaviour and their long-term justice journeys.
The webinar will include insights into the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), poverty and deprivation at both household and neighbourhood level, and the influence of mothers’ offending on the behaviour of their children. It will explore the cumulative impact of ACEs, poverty, and early system intervention on offending in adolescence and conviction in early adulthood. And it will consider the impact of sex and racial/ethnic inequalities on the adult criminal conviction outcomes of ‘cross-over children’, i.e. children who experienced contact with both youth justice and child welfare services.

The event is aimed at policymakers and practitioners with an interest in childhood inequalities, transitions in offending and impacts of system contact. It offers the opportunity to hear new research evidence and discuss how this could inform current and future development of strategy, policy, and organisational practice. It will also include an opportunity to discuss data needs in terms of furthering our knowledge in these important areas. This event will involve research input from members of the Understanding Inequalities (UI) project teams. It will include input from Professor Susan McVie, Dr Ben Matthews, Dr Babak Jahanshahi and Dr Kath Murray. It will be chaired by Professor Morag Treanor and will include a formal response from Police Scotland, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Children’s Commissioner.

When: 
Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - 11:00 to 13:00