A Teacher's Perspective:

Applying critical race theory to understand how structure, behaviour policy and institutional racism affect the disproportionate exclusion of Black Caribbean and Mixed Black Caribbean male students in a United Kingdom secondary school in Hackney.

By Kate Bonhote,

London Metropolitan University.

This dissertation examines the disproportionate exclusion of Black Caribbean and Mixed Black Caribbean male students in a secondary school case study in the diverse borough of Hackney. It uses critical race theory to centralise ‘race’ and to discredit the application of a deficit theory to the affected students and their communities. This research investigates the objective factors relating to discrimination in this topic. The focus is on the impact of structure, behaviour policy and institutional racism and how they affect the teacher-Black student dynamic. The study uses qualitative research to capture the teacher’s perspective and gain a deeper understanding through their professional knowledge and lived experience of the phenomena. The research found that inadequate resources and failure to correct racist structures undermine targeted policies.

This work received the 2023 JCJD Dissertation Prize.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8309671

Click Here To Download

Exploring the Meanings

Underlying Recreational Drug Use within the Electronic Dance Music Scene in England.

By Jasmine Cavargna-Sani,

London Metropolitan University.

Raves and clubs have long been targeted as sites of excessive risk among health and law practitioners due to their relationship with dance drugs. Scholars who have also been interested in understanding drug use have focused on two contrasting traditions: the epidemiological tradition, which focuses on risk and protective factors of drug use, and the cultural studies tradition, which instead focuses on the pleasures and subjectivities of drug use, as well as its social context. Taking into account the perspective of cultural studies research and by including discourses around agency and risk management, this qualitative interview-based study explores drug use through the lived experience of the participants. This research has been specifically interested in the social context of underground raves and commercial nightclubs in England. This research adopts an appreciative approach which contrasts with official/government discourse and the epidemiological tradition. Indeed, this research portrays drug use as a meaningful and rational activity based upon discourses of risk management and pleasure.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8373010

Click Here To Download

Overcoming the Risks:

Can the Addition of Yoga, Mindfulness and Meditation in UK Prisons Help to Tackle Reoffending?

By Chenaii Crooks,

London Metropolitan University.

The use of yoga, mindfulness and meditation within prison to aid in the reduction of recidivism is a limited but evolving area within criminological research. HM Prison Service provides methods of rehabilitation to its offenders with the intention of reducing reoffending rates, although the recidivism rate in the UK is one of the highest among western nations. Scandinavian prisons utilise alternative methods of rehabilitation, such as yoga, mindfulness and meditation which may be a contributing factor to the low rates of recidivism in Nordic countries. This research report aims to understand the consequences of incarceration upon a prison population that already present distinct deprivations and how yoga may aid in the rehabilitation of these deprivations to ultimately tackle reoffending. Utilising secondary data analysis in the form of a literature-based approach, this research made use of journal articles, official statistics and academic research to achieve its objectives. This report specifically aims to understand the population to which this research pertains to by considering the official statistics that underpin criminogenic behaviours, the consequences of imprisonment, the costs of rehabilitation and how yoga, mindfulness and meditation helps to alleviate risk factors to aid in the reduction of recidivism. The report found that yogic practices in prisons may hold a basis in rehabilitative theories such as the Good Lives Model and Desistance theory by changing the perspective of an offender to eventually desist from crime. By compiling research that supports existing studies that propose yoga may be beneficial for the prison population to help to tackle reoffending, this report suggests that yoga may yield considerable benefits for this population in terms of addressing the risks a prisoner may present. These findings can be observed to improve rehabilitation in the prison system in the UK, although further analysis on this topic is advised.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8332175

Click Here To Download