Crime and Social Exclusion takes centre stage at LJMU
14 February 2011
Academics from the Faculties of Media, Arts and Social Science, Health and Applied Social Science and Education, Community and Leisure have taken their crime and social exclusion research to the community to help the voluntary, public and private sectors through the launch of a new centre, bringing together the work that LJMU has been doing with local, regional and national communities.
The Centre for the Study of Crime, Criminalisation and Social Exclusion (CCSE) was formally launched on 3rd February, with over 100 invited guests, from local statutory and voluntary agencies, campaigning groups, charities, and universities across the North West, and a keynotes address from Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography in the University of Sheffield on “"Injustice, inequality, harm, crime and criminality".
The aim of the Centre is to produce rigorous, critical inter-disciplinary-based research on and around crime, criminalisation and social exclusion. The Centre also aims to make its resources and skills available on local, regional, national and international levels for policymakers, practitioners, user communities and other ‘stakeholders’ in criminal justice, social policy and related fields. The CCSE is proactively engaging with academic and non academic communities to optimise the social impact of the Centre’s work, and knowledge exchange with a wide range of organisations.
Dr Yates, Co-Director of the CCSE, said: “As academics we have a duty to ensure that our research is accessible, not only for other scholars, but importantly for professionals and community groups who can make use of our work. Through the CCSE, we will not only produce robust research, but engage with local, regional and national communities across all sectors.”
Professor Andy Young, LJMU Director of Research, commented: “LJMU is an engaged University, working with the community and industry in many innovative ways, which is exactly what this Centre has set out to do. Research centre status at a University has to be gained through a significant amount of hard work and most importantly, particularly at this time, a demonstration of impact. The CCSE has been driven from grass roots and has had a substantial amount of external engagement so far. I therefore believe it will go onto great success, bringing people together and using research for the benefit of wider society.”
Lisa Earle, Area Housing Manager (St Helens, Knowsley, Sefton, Wigan, West Lancs) commented: “LJMU’s assistance has proved to be an invaluable tool for the funders and partners of our project. It was comprehensive, clear to understand and honest. They used their research and expertise to help us through any areas of concern; they suggested improvements and also brought out the positives of the project, even those which were not immediately obvious, which from a funding point of view is essential information. As our funding comes directly from residents it’s important for us to be able to demonstrate value for money and that the projects we support make a real difference out in the communities.”
For further details about the CCSE please visit: http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/HSS/CCSEresearchcentre.htm
Photo 1 (l-r): Dr.Giles Barrett, Director of the CCSE and Senior Lecturer in Geography, Dr. Joe Yates, Co-Director of the CCSE and Principal Lecturer in Criminology, Professor Andy Young, LJMU Director of Research, Prof. Steve Tombs, Co-Director of the CCSE and Professor of Sociology, Prof. Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sheffield , Samantha Fletcher, LJMU Research Support Officer
Photo 2: Prof. Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sheffield keynote address on "Injustice, inequality, harm, crime and criminality".
