• Constructive approaches – putting children first in the Youth Justice System

    Beyond Youth Custody’s (BYC) framework for the effective resettlement of young people leaving custody promotes children’s active involvement in the decision-making process and details why practitioners must recognise and praise children’s positive attitudes and behaviours. The report advocates constructive approaches that are future orientated and strengths-based. In this blog, we promote meaningful participation, alongside critically…

  • Fashioning identity for burns survivors

    Catherine Wilkinson, Edge Hill University and Bernie Carter, Edge Hill University Acid attacks, throwing acid or another corrosive substance onto the body of an individual with the intention to disfigure, maim, torture, or kill, have almost doubled in the UK since 2012. A spate of attacks has been seen in 2017 and their number has…

  • Talking about periods with boys — how easy is it?

    Michael Richards, Edge Hill University Periods are something women and girls have been having for thousands of years – it’s the reason you and I are even here. And yet around the world, there’s still an element of shame associated with a woman’s monthly cycle. Menstruation is associated with smells, mess, blood, gore, impurity and…

  • Macho myth busting: working class men aren’t all too tough to seek help

    Paul Simpson, Edge Hill University and Michael Richards, Edge Hill University Men are bad at looking after their health, or so the received wisdom goes. Indeed, evidence has shown that men have significantly higher death rates than women from cancer due to delays in seeking medical help. These doctor-avoiding tendencies have also been shown to…

  • Understanding childhood trauma and its impact on offending

    Although not all traumatised individuals offend, it does seem to be a feature of anti-social behaviour and serious offences. A disproportionate number of children who offend and enter the justice system present with complex, often unmet health and social care needs, and have experienced adverse childhood events. Indeed, many of the children in the justice…

  • The Mecury Prize is an analogue award in a digital age

    Richard Witts, Edge Hill University Perhaps you have dutifully trawled through each of the 12 albums that make up the 26th Mercury Music Prize shortlist, thinking as you go, “I’ve just got used to streaming, so why should I back-pedal into old track-by-track ways?” Yet this is how the winner gets picked from the 12…

  • How PR giant Bell Pottinger made itself look bad

    Paula Keaveney, Edge Hill University The reputation of global PR company Bell Pottinger has suffered a massive blow. The boss has resigned, clients have walked, the firm has been expelled from the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) – and it has now put itself up for sale. All because of its work on a…

  • The interwar ‘motor-bandit’ – and what it tells us about the fear of new technology

    Alyson Brown, Edge Hill University “Dangerous” new technologies have been threatening society for generations – or at least that’s what sections of the media would have us believe. Whether it’s “violent” video games making our children more aggressive, “evil” video nasties twisting young minds or Virtual Reality headgear posing a threat to users’ “physical and…

  • Actually, we are amused – how the Victorians helped to shape Britain’s unique sense of humour

    Bob Nicholson, Edge Hill University Laughter: it’s said to be the best medicine and the cheapest form of therapy. Studies have shown it can help to boost immunity, relieve tension and even reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression – it seems there’s a lot to be said for having a good old laugh. The idea…

  • Confederate and Black America: why clashes at Charlottesville show Civil War alt-histories are more than just fantasy

    Jenny Barrett, Edge Hill University The clash between far right protesters and anti-fascist counter-groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the removal of a statue of Confederate general, Robert E Lee, is the latest incident to reflect ongoing tension in American race relations. From the Black Lives Matter campaign that emerged after repeated police shootings of black…