New Podcast ‘Young Warriors’ Sheds Light on Youth Violence and Justice

Every major city in the UK has a story to tell about gangs and youth violence on their streets but the voices of young people are rarely heard. In a major new podcast series, Criminologist Alistair Fraser travels to six cities where he passes the microphone to young people and youth workers, who tell him what they think needs to be done to resolve the issues they face.

The new series called Young Warriors follows Alistair, a Professor in Criminology at the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, as he makes his first stop in London where he learns about the role food is playing in building strong communities.

He then takes listeners to Manchester where young people tell him about the healing powers of writing rap lyrics, he visits an exhibition in Birmingham where knives have been made into jewellery, and in Cardiff he hears from a fiery group who have taken their fight from the streets to the Welsh Assembly.

In Scotland Alistair hears the unlikely story of how gang jumpers in the 1970’s were knitted by grannies in Dundee, before ending the series back in his hometown of Glasgow to meet young people who are finding new opportunities in the great outdoors.

Alistair, who has spent the last 20 years studying why young people get involved in violence and street crime, said: “Young people are often stigmatised by the media and made to feel they don’t have a voice in the very issues that affect them the most. The podcast series offers a space for young people, and those who work closely with them, to express themselves and their opinions about what’s going on in their communities and what changes they want to see.

“I’ve spent much of my working life trying to understand the issues that young people face in cities around the world – from violence to gangs, exclusion to inequality. I started the podcast thinking I knew something about these issues but by the end I felt like I’d been taken to school myself. I met some completely amazing, inspiring young people and by the end I felt like I was the pupil, and they were the teachers.”

The Young Warriors podcast, which is produced by The Big Light, will be available to listen to on Apple, Spotify and on their website.

Series Producer, Robbie Armstrong said: “It has been a joy working on Young Warriors, amplifying the voices of young people who all too often are silenced.”

Flora Zajicek, from the production company The Big Light, added: “We are passionate about creating a nurturing media landscape in Scotland and the UK that challenges stereotypes and supports independent voices – this podcast series is doing just that and we’re proud to support its creation.”

As part of the project, Alistair and colleague Dr Fern Gillon have produced a series of resources in collaboration with a group of young people from the east end of Glasgow called The Wise Men. These include a rap, a music video, an extended recorded interview with award-winning author Graeme Armstrong, and a prototype boardgame based on Snakes and Ladders which encourages discussion about youth violence.

These resources will be available on the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research website soon.

Search ‘Young Warriors’ wherever you get your podcasts and hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss an episode. 

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Notes to Editors:

1. The Young Warriors podcast was produced by David Allan, the series producer is Robbie Armstrong, sound design by Joel Cox and additional support by The Big Light. Send your feedback to youngwarriors@thebiglight.com
2. The Young Warriors podcast was funded by The British Academy and the University of Glasgow.
3. The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research is a collaboration between the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier, Stirling and Strathclyde. SCCJR aims to produce research that informs policy and practice and advances our understanding of justice. sccjr.ac.uk