Event Details

Centre for Child and Family Justice Research Distinguished Seminar with Professor Emeritus Barry Goldson FAcSS (University of Liverpool)

Abstract - By reflecting on a programme of national and international (comparative) research – extending over three decades - this paper will interrogate the very concept of ‘justice for children’ and subject it to critical analysis. The myriad injustices and antagonisms that identifiable groups of children encounter routinely in their interactions with social institutions, state interventions and inter-related modes of governance will be explored, and a case will be made for a radical rethink - especially with regard to system responses to children in conflict with the law.

Biography - For almost thirty years Professor Goldson has been engaged with researching state responses to children and young people – especially the most structurally disadvantaged and systemically excluded. During this time, he has provided expert evidence to a range of parliamentary committees, independent inquiries and international studies. Most recently (2017-19), he was a member of the Expert Advisory Board that supported the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty and he is currently an independent member of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Research Committee. He is widely networked across the international research community and he is extensively published. His most recent books include: Youth Crime and Justice, 2nd edition (Sage, 2015); Justice and Penal Reform: Re-shaping the Penal Landscape (Routledge, 2016); Juvenile Justice in Europe: Past, Present and Future (Routledge, 2019) and Youth Justice and Penality in Comparative Context (Routledge, 2021). He is currently working on a further book project with Routledge entitled Re-Imagining Juvenile Justice.