Dr Anne-Marie Day
Lecturer in Criminology
My profile
Biography
I commenced working with MMU as a Criminology Lecturer in January 2024. Prior to this, I spent 4 years as a Criminology Lecturer at Keele University leading a range of modules including Youth Justice and Crime, and sharing responsibility for directing the Criminology Undergraduate Programme. I have completed a number of research studies including a Nuffield Project on the pathways into and out of custody for care experienced children. I completed my PhD at the end of 2018 which considered the pathways into offending for care experienced children. I am currently Co-Investigating Racial Disparities in Youth Justice Diversion Decision Making with colleagues at the University of Bedfordshire (Nuffield - 2022 - 25). In addition to this I have several years’ experience teaching a range of criminology and criminal justice modules in a number of different higher education institutions.
I also have many years’ experience as a practitioner and policy maker in a range of criminal justice roles. I am a qualified Probation Officer, and have worked in the community, courts and prison. I have also held positions as a youth justice manager and for the Youth Justice Board as a Senior Policy Adviser in the areas of Prevent, Looked After Children, Domestic Abuse and Anti-Social Behaviour.
I am a board member for the Alliance for Youth Justice and am an expert adviser to the Howard League for Penal Reform, the Youth Justice Board, Cheshire Youth Justice Service, and the Home Office on various youth justice issues.
Projects
Title: ‘Exploring Racial Disparity in Diversion from the Youth Justice System’ (2022 – 25)
Nuffield Funded Project with research team comprising Dr Anne-Marie Day, Prof John Pitts, Dr Isabelle Brodie, Dr Tim Osidipe and Joe Kiff exploring the issue of racial disparity in diversion from the youth justice system. Methods include (after consultation with an advisory panel of young people) face to face interviews with children; face to face interviews with professionals; case file analysis, and quantitative analysis of a national questionnaire of youth justice practitioners.
Title: ‘Vulnerable Adolescent Support Programme (VASP) Evaluation’ (2022 – 23)
Funded by Staffordshire County Council to evaluate The VASP Programme, which aims to work with older teenage children to prevent those identified as at risk of going into local authority care. The evaluation aims to identify whether the project has achieved its primary aim of preventing/reducing the children from going into the care of the local authority; the elements of the programme that have worked well; and to make recommendations to local practitioners and policy makers regarding its future implementation.
Title: ‘Sapling Project Evaluation’ (2022 – 23)
Funded by Staffordshire County Council to evaluate The Sapling Project, which aims to work with children aged 7-11 at risk of school exclusion. The evaluation aims to identify whether the project has achieved its primary aim of preventing/reducing school exclusions; the elements of the programme that have worked well; and to make recommendations to local practitioners and policy makers regarding its future implementation.
Title: ‘Constructive Resettlement Pathfinder Evaluation’ (2020-2022)
Funded by the South and West Yorkshire Resettlement Consortium to conduct an evaluation into the Youth Justice Board’s Constructive Resettlement Pathfinder. The project aims to explore, from the perspectives of practitioners, policy makers, and children, whether the Constructive Resettlement pathfinder has improved resettlement outcomes for children on release from custody.
Title: The Pathways of Incarcerated Children in Care (2018 – 2020)
Nuffield Funded Project with research team comprising Dr Anne-Marie Day, Dr Tim Bateman and Prof John Pitts examining the pathways of children in care into and out of custody. Methods included face to face interviews with children; face to face interviews with professionals; case file analysis, and quantitative analysis of South and West Yorkshire Resettlement Consortia Tracker Data.
Title: The Pathways into Offending of Children in Care (2014 – 2018)
PhD research study considering the perspectives of children in care about their pathways into offending. Findings are based on 19 face to face interviews with children in care who were also subject to youth justice supervision.
Teaching
I am part of the teaching team for Understanding Crime and Deviance (L4) and Youth Justice (L5).
I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of youth justice, probation practice, imprisonment, neurodivergence and the justice system and disproportionality in youth justice.
Current PhD Students:
Clara Paul: ‘Understanding the experiences and perceptions of children who have been ‘criminally exploited’: reframing the debate’, ESRC CASE Studentship
Gemma Hunt: ‘Working with children who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour: A critical exploration of the factors that influence social work practice in one English Local Authority’
Research outputs
JOURNAL ARTICLES/ BOOK CHAPTERS
- Creaney, Sean; Burns, Samantha; Day, Anne-Marie. 16-06-2023. ‘Theory and practice of co-production and co-creation in youth justice’. SAFER COMMUNITIES.
- Day, A-M (2023) ‘The Place of Risk within Child First Justice: An Exploration of the Perspectives of Youth Justice Practitioners’ in S. Case and N. Hazel (eds) Child First: Developing A New Youth Justice System, Palgrave MacMillan.
- Day, AM; Clark, A; Hazel, N. 07-03-2023. ‘Hearing from justice-involved, care experienced children: what are their experiences of residential care environments and regimes?’. Journal of Children’s Services.
- Day. 01-12-2022. ‘Disabling and Criminalising systems? Understanding the experiences and challenges facing incarcerated, neurodivergent children in the education and youth justice systems in England’. Forensic Science International.
- Day. 21-02-2022. ‘‘It’s a Hard Balance to Find’: The Perspectives of Youth Justice Practitioners in England on the Place of ‘Risk’ in an Emerging ‘Child-First’ World’. Youth Justice.
- Day. 16-06-2021. ‘The Experiences of Children in Custody: A Story of Survival’. Safer Communities.
- Day, A-M. 06-04-2021. ‘Children in prison during COVID-19: the new “double jeopardy”’. Safer Communities.
- Day. 10-07-2017. ‘Hearing the voice of looked after children: challenging current assumptions and knowledge about pathways into offending’. Safer Communities.
POLICY REPORTS, BLOGS AND ARTICLES
- Bateman, T, Brodie, I, Day, A-M, Pitts, J and Osidipe, T (2023) ‘ “Race”, disproportionality and diversion from the Youth Justice System: a review of the literature’, University of Bedfordshire. Policy report: Day, A, Bateman, T and Pitts, J (2020) ‘Surviving Incarceration: the pathways of looked after and non looked after children into, through and out of custody’, University of Bedfordshire.
- PhD thesis: Day, A (2019) ‘Placing Children in Care at Centre Stage: Exploring the Experiences and Perceptions of Children in Care about their Pathways into Offending Behaviour’, University of Salford: Anne-Marie Day Amended Thesis Final (PDF 1380kb)(salford.ac.uk).
- Policy report: Bateman T, Day A-M and Pitts, J (2018) “Looked after children and custody: a brief review of the relationship between care status and child incarceration and the implications for service provision”, University of Bedfordshire.
- Online blog: Day A-M (2018) “Why are we still failing children in care?”, in Criminal Care, Howard League for Penal Reform Online Blog
- Journal article: Day A-M (2017) “Guest editorial”, Safer Communities, Vol. 16 Issue: 3, 89-91.
- Policy report: Harris A-M (2015) Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse, Home Office: London.
- Policy report: Harris A-M (2014) YOT Practitioner’s Guide: Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, Youth Justice Board: London.