Across many countries, youth justice reforms increasingly promote child-friendly approaches, prevention, and diversion from punishment. But do these reforms adequately address the deeper structural conditions that shape young people’s lives?
This public event, organised as part of the Institute of Criminology’s Tuesday Seminar Series, on Tuesday, 31. 3. 2026 at 11 am, brings together researchers and practitioners to critically examine the future of youth justice.
Lecture: Rethinking Violence Reduction in the Face of Structural Harm
The seminar will open with a lecture by Luke Billingham (Open University; Hackney Quest), a youth worker and researcher whose work focuses on violence reduction policy in England and Wales. Drawing on research and frontline experience, Billingham will discuss the rise of the Public Health Approach to violence reduction and present the “Four Is” framework—inequalities, institutions, interventions, and interactions—as a way of rethinking how societies respond to youth violence.
This talk will focus on the past, present and future of violence reduction in England and Wales. Interpersonal physical violence between young people is a substantial policy problem in England and Wales, which has worsened over the past decade: between 2013/14 and 2023/24, there was a 64% rise in homicides of 13-19-year-olds. Over the past eight years, the ‘Public Health Approach’ to violence reduction has gained prominence at a national level, and has been implemented through measures such as the introduction of regional Violence Reduction Units and the Youth Endowment Fund – a ‘what works’ centre for violence reduction. Luke Billingham will present a short overview of what the Public Health Approach to violence reduction has entailed in England and Wales, before offering his perspective on how this approach could be further developed. He will present a vision for violence reduction grounded in the “Four Is” framework, which is intended to convey the different levels of change required to achieve lasting peace: inequalities, institutions, interventions, and interactions. Effective change at each of these levels would create more conducive conditions for the flourishing of children and young people – both an inherent good, and a route towards a more peaceful society.
Roundtable: Youth Justice Reform in the Face of Structural Harm
The lecture will be followed by a roundtable discussion featuring Rachel Condry (University of Oxford), Caroline Lanskey (University of Cambridge), Jasmina Arnež, Alina Bezlaj and Živa Šketa (Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law, Ljubljana). The discussion will explore the pitfalls of child-friendly youth justice policies in contexts shaped by structural harm, inequality, and institutional constraints. It will serve to introduce the edited collection, entitled ‘The Future of Youth Justice: Theoretical, Socio-Political, Methodological, and Comparative Challenges’, due to be published later this year with Routledge Criminology, and co-edited by Arnež, Condry, and Lanskey.
Luke Billingham is a youth worker at Hackney Quest, an independent charity based in Northeast London, and an academic researcher at the Open University. At Hackney Quest, he has two focuses: (1) providing support to young people who are experiencing complex difficulties, especially in relation to the education system, and (2) working alongside young people on projects to improve the Hackney Wick area. At the Open University, his work focuses on violence reduction policymaking. In 2022, he published his first book, Against Youth Violence, co-authored with Keir Irwin-Rogers, which seeks to reframe the issue of violence between young people in Britain. In addition, Luke has published a number of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on issues such as violence, school exclusions, and social infrastructure for young people. Luke is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Sociology Department of Durham University and an Associate Fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge.
Luke was part of the parliamentary Youth Violence Commission team which delivered its final report in 2020. Luke undertakes voluntary roles for Haven Distribution and New Bridge Foundation, both of which support people in prison.
Contact person and moderator of the event:: dr. Jasmina Arnež.
Video and audio recording of the event is not allowed.
