'It's our anxiety that keeps them locked up.' Protection for whom? Responding to the needs of 'at risk' young women in Scotland.

In recent years the number of young women in contact with the criminal justice system has been an international subject of concern, with a focus on the apparent rise in their offending. Despite increased academic, political and media attention, there are still few initiatives specifically designed for young women in Scotland and the wider UK, with limited understanding of effective practice. There is also very little research that focuses on practitioner experiences of working with this population, meaning that their insights, influence and support needs are often overlooked. The PhD research involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews that were conducted over the course of a year with 50 practitioners who work with young women in a range of criminal-justice related settings in Scotland, including prison, secure care, social work and community based projects. Shaped by feminist concerns, a key concern of the PhD study was to contribute to the growing body of knowledge and understanding about this population of young women, and thus to influence the development of good practice.
The key findings of the PhD fit into four areas:
(i) they add to the limited body of UK-specific knowledge regarding young women's pathways into cjs contact, illustrating how these are usually given at the (micro) level of the individual and family unit with other influences minimised.
(ii) they contribute to feminist concerns regarding the changing modes of social control to which young women are subjected, illustrating how descriptions of young women as highly vulnerable serves as one such mode of social control.
(iii) they detail aspects of working practice that practitioners viewed as key to their work, giving context to understanding why so many describe this a 'difficult' group with whom to work.
(iv) they contribute by exploring the the personal experiences of practitioners in conducting their work, and the working environment and conditions surrounding these.
The PhD research has significance both for academic and nonacademic audiences, as it has implications for policy and practice as well as adding rigorous academic research findings to the existing knowledge base. The Fellowship will enable these contributions, and has a number of distinct but complimentary aims. These are aimed at supporting my career aspirations for a future role that has strong links between academia and practice in terms of knowledge exchange, learning and impact. One of the key aims is to write and publish academic articles for peer reviewed journals based upon the key findings of my PhD as described. In addition to this, further research will be conducted in order to observe the working lives of practitioners through the collection of ethnographic, observational case studies within the different research settings: these will serve to illustrate the complicated, challenging nature of everyday practice. Engaging with non-academic audiences is a very important part of the fellowship, in order to collaboratively share, discuss and develop research findings. Building new, and upon existing academic networks will also be key to developing impact opportunities and informing further research and development. These networks includes local and national contacts, as well as offering an international comparison and perspective through collaborating with colleagues (for example in Europe and North America). Whilst the focus of the fellowship is the development of research and research networks and skills, a limited amount of teaching and supervising will also take place. Delivering adhoc lectures in relevant areas such as gender and crime, or research methods will enable academic engagement and exchange with students as well as providing valuable experience for my career progression. Finally, undertaking various training opportunities will both enable the different objectives of the fellowship to be realized, contributing to my research and professional skills.