interview

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on gangs and looks at what happens when a violent gang tries to refashion itself as a political movement. David Brotherton, Associate Professor of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice is co-author of 'The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation: Street Politics and the Transformation of a New York City Gang', an account of his experience of the notorious New York branch of an American super gang and its decision to go straight. He joins Laurie Taylor to discuss. The segment is first in the audio clip.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on evidence based research. The government has been strongly committed to evidence-based policy and practice. It wants to use evidence of what works to inform and drive ambitious and innovative social programmes. Issues surrounding how evidence-based research is used and whether policy is based on evidence or informed by it.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on children and sexuality in the light of the recent Pitcairn case where disclosures of widespread child abuse were pitted against a defence of traditional cultural practices. Laurie Taylor asks if there is such thing as a universal sexual morality particularly concerning children and discusses the construction of childhood and children's sexuality.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series consists of two segments. In the first Laurie Taylor is joined by Rob Hornsby who as a trainee sociologist got an insight into the current workings of the Youth Justice System when he worked as an Appropriate Adult at a police station, supporting young offenders following their initial arrest.

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series looks at ageism including why, with such a good economic case for making sure people over 50 are in employment, prejudice against this age group is such a growing problem. Host Jenni Murray finds out if it’s harder to find employment if you’re a woman over 50 than a man, asks what we can do to stop this trend and debates whether we should we be treating ageism like sexism and racism.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on the way in which unwanted acts can become crimes. The relationship between levels of crime and fear of crime continues to exercise academics and policy makers alike. The question is asked if soaring prison populations accurately reflect the former or the latter. Laurie Taylor is joined by Nils Christie, Professor of Criminology at the University of Oslo, who argues that crime is a product of cultural, social and mental processes.

This episode of Radio 4's You and Yours series looks at different views on the diagnosis of ADHD in children. Tens of thousands of children in the UK are given powerful drugs to calm them down. Leo Mckinstry, writer for The Spectator is one of the many who suspect that we are making an illness out of ordinary childhood behaviour and creating problems of hyperactivity by confining children in their homes.

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series looks at what support is available for people released on appeal and why is it often less than if the accused had been found guilty. In December 2003 Angela Canning was cleared for murdering her two babies. This has led to the wholesale review of cases of parents and carers convicted of killing their babies over the last ten years. The Attorney General has already suggested that it might be appropriate for 24 cases to be considered for appeal.

This learning object provides an introduction to the assessment framework in which Norma Baldwin discusses the origins, nature and key features of the Integrated Assessment Framework. Norma currently teaches child care and protection at Dundee University's Faculty of Education and Social Work. Her extensive research into community development approaches to child protection has influenced policy development throughout the UK. Norma has also conducted developmental and evaluative work on services in a number of local authorities.

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series asks if a community can recover when a known abuser returns to live there and if a small community can help in the rehabilitation of a sex offender. What benefits does the community gain? A mother whose daughter was sexually abused by a local man is concerned how his return to their community will affect her family's lives. Jenni Murray talks to child psychotherapist Anne Bannister to discuss how a community can heal itself when a known paedophile lives within it.