Untangling Safety and Security with/for Children and Young People

The Department of Sociology and St Cuthbert's Society at Durham University are delighted to host IAS Fellow Associate Professor Diana Johns (University of Melbourne) this autumn.

What does safety/security feel like in the worlds of children and young people?

Safety and security are words that are often used in relation to children and young people (think ‘child safety’, ‘attachment security’, ‘emotional security’, and so on) and often in the context of children who have experienced harm, or are at risk of harm, through adults’ violence, abuse, indifference or neglect. Safety and security are invoked in relation to young people who have caused harm or used violence, too, in terms of ‘public safety’, ‘community safety’, or physical, procedural and relational security in custodial settings. Similarly, principles of safety and security are central to the overarching philosophy and purpose and everyday practices of secure mental health and welfare settings.

The language of safety and security is ubiquitous, yet critical engagement with these concepts – specifically in youth and child contexts – is scarce. Crucially, the perspectives of children and young people themselves are frequently forgotten, sidelined, disregarded, overlooked. In the worlds of children and young people, what does safety feel like? How is security experienced? What sense do these concepts hold? For adults, in terms of their relations to/with children, what does the use of safety and security language conceal and reveal, limit and foreclose, open and make possible? This conversation aims to create space for thinking through these questions, and for imagining safety/security otherwise.

Event Details:

The event will begin with a series of short presentations and reflections by key guest speakers, including Associate Professor Diana Johns (University of Melbourne), Professor Ali Fraser (University of Glasgow), Dr Sam Burns (Durham University), Professor Hannah Smithson (Manchester Met University), the Contextual Safeguarding team (Durham University) and others. This will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by Dr Hannah King (Durham University) and small breakout group discussions with event participants.

The event will take place in person at St Cuthbert's Society (Tom Percival Annex) at Durham University and online on zoom. Refreshments will be provided for those joining in person.

Sign up via Eventbrite at Untangling Safety and Security with/for Children and Young People Tickets, Thu 30 Nov 2023 at 10:00 | Eventbrite