Doctorate student helping girls in youth justice

Jeanette Williams studied her undergraduate degree at the University of Bedfordshire, where she achieved a First Class Honours degree as well as being awarded the Gill Blowers prize for the best overall performance in Criminology. The Gill Blowers prize is awarded for outstanding achievement in the field of Criminology and is named after the first co-ordinator of what has now become the Safer Luton Partnership.

Jeanette has been invited to work with the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) on good practice guidance for girls and young women in the youth justice system.

The University of Bedfordshire’s first student to complete a Professional Doctorate in Youth Justice was invited to contribute after researching the treatment of girls and young women in the criminal justice system for her thesis.

Her research aimed to increase understanding of girls’ offending patterns and their needs as well as considering how the youth justice system can respond more effectively to girls and prevent them from offending and reoffending.

Her work was assessed by London School of Economics professor and Chair of the British Society of Criminology, Professor Tim Newburn.

Jeanette, who is now the Policy Officer with the Hertfordshire Youth Offending Service, said: “The doctorate has helped me in my professional work. I have been able to promote good practice for girls in the Youth Offending Teams (YOT) I work in.

“We now run a regular YOT Girls’ Group Programme and a practitioner forum to co-ordinate this work. I am now working on a guide to effective practice with girls and young women in the youth justice system so that my findings can be more widely distributed.”

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