Academics from Manchester Met. work with practitioners to understand local concerns, which are then addressed via research-based placements of students in Greater Manchester’s youth justice services. This practice enables the application of student resource to address real issues while also providing our students with the opportunity to gain valuable workplace experience.

Graham Smyth, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Man Met., said:

“We think these applied dissertations can be a real win-win: a great experience and real world research for the students and for youth justice services, answers to questions they want to explore but haven’t the time”

Susan Scott, Team Manager at Stockport Youth Offending Service, said:

“Our dissertation student was asked to do research on an arts trail project we were delivering. She provided me with a very well written and balanced piece of research that I have been able to use for evidence of both positive and negative outcomes. She highlighted some issues that we will use to help with planning future projects. We had funding from the heritage lottery and have been able to use Chloe’s piece for this and as a point of discussion in team meetings around the usefulness of running arts programs. It was great to hear the feedback from the young people who attended the project and how positively they felt about it”

These arrangements are now entering their fourth year. The research topics have been varied, and include:

• The impact of police restorative justice disposals
• Referral order practice
• Instrumental & expressive violence
• Youth offending profile & impact of LASPO
• Legal Highs & available support
• Sex offences committed by young people
• Looked after children and completion of referral orders
• Young males’ perceptions of females
• Assessment of different youth justice interventions
• Experiences of Looked After Children within youth justice
• Assessment of out-of-court disposals
• resettlement arrangements
• drug issues
• transitional arrangements from youth to adult services.

In future years we are exploring the possibility of researching a common topic across a number of YJS’s which would allow a cross-GM view of issues of concern to youth justice services. 

You can see some examples of prior applied dissertation projects below.

• Assessing the current practice of a Greater Manchester Youth Justice Service in the delivery of Referral Orders
  - View this project
  
  
• Violent crime by young people in a Greater Manchester Youth Justice Service- to what extent is it instrumental?
  - View this project
  
  
• An assessment of a Greater Manchester Youth Justice Service arts trail programme
  - View this project