Responding to the riots and social disorder of August 2011

Jan. 23, 2012 - PRLog -- United Kingdom, January 2011 - The social disorder and riots that took place across England in August 2011 are continuing to provide the primary context for developments in criminal justice, police and community safely practice. With this in mind, the Safer Communities journal is pleased to announce the publication of a themed issue featuring a series of papers providing responses to these events and their aftermath.

Content includes the following:
•    Guest editorial: a personal response to the riots (Briggs)
•    How and why did the social unrest evolve? (Briggs)
•    Did the police play a role in triggering the ‘riots’? (Klein)
•    Were there clear political motivations for the disturbances? (Angel)
•    What was the ‘profile’ of those who were apprehended and charged? (Clarke)
•    What is different about this social unrest and how is it new? (Baker)
•    Was it a symbol that society is ‘sick’? (Durkin)
•    How can we seek to disaggregate the political rhetoric which subsequently followed? (Heap and Smithson)
•    How can social media networks generate reflexive discussions on the riots? (Kelly and Gill)

This issue is in free access until 31 January 2012.
Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=1757-8043

Dr Daniel Briggs, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of East London and guest editor of this themed edition of Safer Communities says, "The rationale behind this special edition is to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how and why the social unrest evolved when it did in August 2011, while simultaneously countering the one-sided media depictions as well as the unbalanced political rhetoric, which restricted the behaviour to an ideology of 'criminality, pure and simple'."

Dr Tim Bateman, Reader in Youth Justice at the University of Bedfordshire, and Professor Chris Fox, Professor of Evaluation at Manchester Metropolitan University, editors of Safer Communities say “The urban disturbances of August 2011 have an ongoing relevance for research, policy and practice in this area and are a theme that the journal will continue to revisit throughout 2012, including a piece in the next issue (11.2) that considers what makes some areas more susceptible to riots than others.”

This themed issue appears as Volume 11, Issue 1 of Safer Communities journal.  Published by Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, it aims to bring readers high-quality research papers and other topical articles with the key purpose of promoting evidence-based policy and practice. The journal reflects the broad range of topics that now constitute community safety. Peer-reviewed, this practice-based journal offers vital access to information on how to tackle and reduce crime, and acts as a forum for the dissemination of latest research, best practice, opinion and policy updates.

For more information, visit www.emeraldinsight.com/sc.htm or contact Jo Sharrocks, Publisher, at jsharrocks@emeraldinsight.com

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