Justice Futures – Resources of Hope: Violence Prevention and the School of the Wise Men

This online seminar is the first in SCCJR’s new series for 2026 called ‘Justice Futures’.

Professor Alistair Fraser, University of Glasgow and Dr Fern Gillon, University of Strathclyde will give a presentation on, ‘Resources of Hope: Violence Prevention and the School of the Wise Men’.

Abstract:

Violence involving young people in the UK is a topic of widespread and growing concern, yet public discourse on violence is often framed in a narrow way that drives social policy toward criminalisation, and too often excludes the voices of the young people most affected.

In creating practical steps toward a more ‘just’ future for young people, in this talk we introduce a new resource on violence prevention that has been co-produced by a group of young men affected by violence, who call themselves the ‘wise men.’ The resource aims to change the narrative on youth violence through a new set of multimedia tools platforming youth culture as source of hope and empowerment, including an original boardgame, rap, film and podcast co-created with young people. In the words of Raymond Williams (1989) in Resources of Hope, the project has sought to ‘make hope practical not despair convincing.’

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