Children in conflict with the law: challenges for Scotland

This event has been co-organised with the Glasgow Latin American Research Network (GLARN) and the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR). No booking required. 

Speaker: Trevor Stack, University of Aberdeen

Abstract:

Now that Scotland has incorporated the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child, it must determine how to reform its approach to children in conflict with the law. I will draw on my research on the case of Mexico, a country seldom compared to Scotland, which embarked in 2005 on a journey of radical reform to align its own system with the UNCRC. Mexico’s system has significant challenges, but it has innovated in two ways that are relevant to Scotland: it closed its equivalent of Secure Care Facilities and it has incorporated victims by offering mediation with children in conflict with the law. Reversing the usual flow of knowledge from Global North to South, I will ask what we might learn in Scotland from Mexico’s experience.

Bio: 

Trevor is a Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Aberdeen. His recent book is titled, ‘Citizens Against Crime and Violence: Societal Responses in Mexico’ (U Rutgers, 2022).

No booking required, just make your way to Room 102 of the Clarice Pears Building at the University of Glasgow.

Photo is a stock image by Frederik Trovatten taken in Ciudad de México, Mexico: https://www.pexels.com/photo/grayscale-photo-of-group-of-children-941125/