Dr Kirsty Squires, Lecturer in Forensics and PG Course Leader, has had a paper published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, on the Wiley Online Library. The paper can be viewed here.
Homeless numbers set to rise – but lockdown shows government can solve this
Fiona Hassett, is a PhD Scholarship Student, researching on homelessness, addiction and mental health issues and the lack of service provision.
“…as lockdown rolls on, it seems some homeless people are choosing to leave or even being evicted from their temporary accommodation. This is despite efforts from support workers, local councils and the government to enable them to “stay at home”.
With many hotels and B&Bs now reopening for tourists, there is also a real risk that many other homeless people will simply be returning to rough sleeping in the coming days and weeks. And along with the risks that come with rough sleeping, being homeless also increases the likelihood of contracting and spreading COVID-19.”
Read the full piece on The Conversation, here.
To Kill a Mockingbird – Some thoughts on World Day for International Justice
On World Day for International Justice (17th July), Law Lecturer, Dr John McGarry shares some thoughts on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.
The other day, some friends mentioned that their daughter who, after years of saying she wanted to become an engineer, had decided that she now wants to study law. Part of the catalyst for her change of mind had been the death of George Floyd in the US, as well as other allegations of police brutality, heavy-handedness and injustices against black people, and other members of BAME communities, both in the US and in the UK.
I suggested that she might enjoy the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird. The book had lately been on my mind because, being one of my favourites, I had recently persuaded my 12 year old son to read it. Also, as it happens, I am writing this in July 2020, the 60th anniversary of the book’s publication in July 1960.
The book’s narrator is Scout Finch who tells of events from her and her elder brother Jem’s childhood. It is set in the 1930s, Depression era America, in Maycomb, Alabama, a society rigidly and deeply divided by racial bigotry.
At the story’s heart is the false accusation of rape made against a black man, Tom Robinson, by a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Scout and Jem’s widowed father, Atticus Finch, who is the town lawyer and a representative in the State legislature, is appointed by the local Judge to represent the defendant. He explains to Scout that, despite there being some ‘high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn’t do much about defending this man’ he was morally compelled to do so because ‘if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.’ So, contrary to the sentiments of many of his neighbours, Atticus defends Tom fully and to the best of his ability. Despite this, and despite his obvious innocence, Tom is found guilty of the rape. He is later fatally shot while trying to escape from custody.
What shines compellingly throughout the book is the outright simple decency of Atticus Finch. Even in his questioning in court of Mayella and her father, he acts with courtesy and humanity. This is especially so with Mayella; he recognises the ignorance, poverty and brutality that blights her life. And it is clear that it causes Atticus significant anguish to reveal beyond any doubt that Mayella is lying, which humiliates Mayella and her father, but which Atticus must do to defend Tom and attempt to save his life.
Scout and Jem’s relationship with their father is also central to the book. Jem, in particular, as the older child, gradually begins to realise with dismay the inherent injustices of the society in which they live and to appreciate the remarkableness of his father. Atticus, in turn, tries to instil in his children his own values, including that they should try to understand those around them and see things from their perspective, saying to Scout ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’ (incidentally, Barack Obama adopted this quotation in his farewell address as President).
I have always been struck by one particular vignette in the book: Atticus teaching his son about courage by making him read every afternoon to their dislikeable neighbour Mrs Dubose as punishment for Jem attacking the camellias in her front garden. We later learn that Mrs Dubose was dying, that Atticus asked Jem to read to her in order to provide a distraction while she weaned herself off the morphine to which she was addicted, and that this was because she wanted to leave the world free of her addiction. Atticus later explains to Jem:
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”
This, of course, is also true of Atticus’s defending of Tom Robinson – that in a society like Maycomb in the 1930s, Atticus was beaten before he began in trying to defend accusations against a black man made by a white woman, but that he saw it through anyway, no matter what.
Many find To Kill a Mockingbird to be poignant and uplifting; and many lawyers were motivated to pursue their careers because of it and they continue to be inspired by the character of Atticus Finch. An illustration of this enduring influence is the erection, in 1997, of a monument to Atticus Finch by the Alabama Bar Association in Monroeville, Harper Lee’s hometown.
Yet, the book has also been subject to criticisms. It has been criticised for perpetuating a white saviour myth whereby the poor black man needs to be saved by the good, honest white man. I acknowledge the charge but think that, in depicting a particular time and place, the book probably accurately reflects the reality: that in 1930s Alabama a black person would need a white lawyer if charged with a crime as serious as rape. It has also been said that Atticus does not sufficiently challenge the bigotry of those around him, his friends and his neighbours. This criticism seems to me to have some strength; indeed, as I have already indicated, Atticus advises his children to try to rub along with those around them. But I also wonder whether it is completely valid. How many of us call out every injustice that we see or every illiberal opinion that we hear? Not many, I imagine; most of us pick our battles and try to do good where we can.
Besides, when it would have been easier to do otherwise, Atticus defends Tom Robinson to the full extent of his capabilities. And he does so even though this comes at significant emotional, and sometimes physical, cost to himself and his children – even camping outside Tom’s prison cell the night before the trial to protect him from a lynch mob.
So, despite the criticisms, I see Atticus Finch as a hero and, while a work of fiction, To Kill a Mockingbird, like all fiction, reveals truth – that injustices are perpetuated by human beings, not monsters; and that people are complex, they may be thoroughly abhorrent in some ways while being noble and virtuous in many others. The book also serves as a worthwhile reminder to would-be lawyers of the good they can do in a world where justice is sometimes in short supply and where lawyers often acquire a poor reputation; indeed, it is a reminder that lawyers may sometimes be the only ones that stand between people and the injustices they face, that it may take real courage to do this when the client or the case is unpopular but that they do it anyway because it is the right, the decent, the just, thing to do.
How do police officers talk about their encounters with ‘the public’? Group interaction, procedural justice and officer constructions of policing identities
Bear with a Care – The Final Chapter
The time has come to say goodbye to our favourite bears. Let’s see what they have been up to in their final week.
Baby Bear is such a good helper
Linda Wilson was the lucky winner of the Donna Louise bear
What do we have here: an important letter?
Divoc is excited by his letter
Time to pack (one day to go)
…and just like that, it’s time to say farewell.
Farewell to Divoc, Margie and Tootsie.
Thank you to Kath for the wonderful Bears with a Care, and everyone who donated.
Kath has said “thank you to everyone who has supported us. We have raised an awesome £2610 for the Donna Louise Hospice.”
Supporting the Probation Service During COVID-19
Farida Zerglanie is a Criminal Justice with Offender Management student who is volunteering for Change Grow Live (CGL) and working at HMP Foston Hall with the resettlement Team. She has written a blog on her experiences of volunteering under COVID-19 conditions.
Change Grow Live (CGL) is a charity funded by councils and local authorities to support the Probation Service. I have been a part of CGL since November 2019, after beginning my [Criminal Justice with] Offender Management course at Staffordshire University. I was soon made aware of CGL by several students who were volunteers from Staffordshire University. Some of the Level Five students were already in fully paid managing roles; their successful reputation was admirable. I knew that getting involved with this organisation would enhance my knowledge and skills. In only a short time I have taken part in various support strategies, such as ‘Through the Gate’ which entails greeting the prisoners being released (service user) at the gate of various prisons in Staffordshire and South Derbyshire. My role as a volunteer is to support people who have been released from prison and take them home or to the Probation Centre. We then support them as they reintegrate back into the community; each case is tailored individually to meet the needs of our service users.
We have all been placed under restrictions in this current pandemic, and this has affected our positions, roles, activities and social contact. This seems to be the new norm for our society currently. At CGL we are aware that our support is crucial for people being released in these difficult times; our continued support is a necessity to many. We feel that our service users rely on our effective through-the-gate support.
Other students and I have continued our volunteering duties in supporting people through this pandemic. We have successfully continued to provide the support that our service users require, to the best of our ability. We have been following Government guidelines and taken the appropriate safety precautions, such as adopting social distancing and wearing PPE whilst providing support to our service users. Staff from CGL have temporarily stopped escorting in vehicles to maintain the two meters social distancing and adhere to Government guidelines.
However, we have continued the travelling assistance support and the community support with adjustments. This has been achieved by the CGL team applying safety measures in place for volunteers, to continue providing support to service users ‘in and out’ of custody as safely and effective as possible. Measures such as on the day of release volunteers have been waiting for the service user at the visitation centre, where once released they are greeted maintaining a two-metre social distance, wearing PPE as per the Government guidelines.
The volunteers give the released prison a mask, a bus pass with unlimited travel, and an email address, to pass on to their probation officer if they require any support in the community. The re- settlement team have adapted new measures to maintain Government guidelines and follow legal requirements that the ex-offender must abide by following licence conditions. In addition to being greeted by the volunteer, a member of the re-settlement team is also present to provide a telephone to maintain contact with the allocated Probation Officer, which would also then be used to communicate with the volunteer offering community support.
All the students who are part of CGL will continue to volunteer under these challenging circumstances as we feel that we provide a crucial but not well publicised service to the community.
Bear with a Care – Chapter 8
Let’s find out how Divoc, Margie and Tootsie have been getting on since last week.
Time for Tootsie’s weigh-in
Weaning starts
Tootsie is getting big now
What’s going on here?
Bake Sale!
Sunday jobs
Astronomy lessons with Daddy Bear
The link to the Donna Louise Hospice Care is here for Facebook and here for Just Giving, if you would like to help Kath’s Bears with a Care raise money.
Check out the blog every Monday for your weekly update of Bear with a Care.
Step Up to Policing and Criminal Investigation
If you are thinking of studying at university, but are worried about your qualifications or haven’t studied in a long time, then have you seen Staffordshire University’s Step Up to HE programme? Robyn Leese, now a Policing and Criminal Investigation student, is one of many of our undergraduate students who progressed through the programme and has shared with us what she thought of it.
What motivated you to apply for Step Up?
I applied to the Step-up Course after doing 2 A-levels which did not guarantee me a place on my desired course. During the Step-up course you will develop new skills which help you progress in your higher education course.
How do you feel now you have progressed onto your degree? Did Step-up help prepare you?
Now I have completed the 1st year of my degree I am glad I did the Step-up course as it enabled me to learn new skills which have been needed for my course such as, correct grammatical techniques along with learning how to reference correctly. It also gave me the confidence to interact with new people which has benefitted me not only with my course, but outside the lectures too.
Would you recommended the Step-Up Course? What advice would you give to students considering returning to education?
I would definitely recommend doing the Step-up course, as it has helped me with my course and all the members of staff are so lovely and supporting through the whole process. If you are a student returning to education then I would advise you to interact with those on your course, as well as your lecturers as it makes it so much more fun and easier. I would also advise you to take as many opportunities as you can as it will make your university experience so much better.
Bear with a Care Chapter 7 – Baby’s Name Reveal
Last week we saw Divoc and Margie’s first week of parenting. Now, Baby Bear has a name. Let’s find out what he is called.
It rained a lot last week! The dog still needs to be walked…
Baby’s first swim
Story time with Daddy Bear
Time for Baby Bear’s name reveal…
…Tootsie!
Mums and Tots time.
Divoc’s first Father’s Day
Margie is on a mission to lose the baby weight.
The link to the Donna Louise Hospice Care is here for Facebook and here for Just Giving, if you would like to help Kath’s Bears with a Care raise money.
Anyone who donates is in with a chance to win their own bear (winner announced 30th June).
![](https://i0.wp.com/blogs.staffs.ac.uk/law-policing-forensics/files/2020/06/win-a-bear.jpg?resize=584%2C779&ssl=1)
Win Your Own Bear
Check out the blog every Monday for your weekly update of Bear with a Care.
Bear with a Care – Chapter 6: The New Arrival
Last week we found out that Divoc and Margie were expecting a baby bear. Let’s see how they are getting on with parenthood…
First though, it’s time for the Baby Shower
Margie, it’s time!
Hello Baby Bear!
Time to take baby home
The perks of parenthood
Here come the visitors
Time for a family photo shoot
![](https://i0.wp.com/blogs.staffs.ac.uk/law-policing-forensics/files/2020/06/photo4.jpg?resize=584%2C438&ssl=1)
Poor dog
The link to the Donna Louise Hospice Care is here for Facebook and here for Just Giving, if you would like to help Kath’s Bears with a Care raise money.
Anyone who donates is in with a chance to win their own bear (winner announced 30th June).
![](https://i0.wp.com/blogs.staffs.ac.uk/law-policing-forensics/files/2020/06/103377759_10158198195229693_7965201156210011402_o.jpg?resize=584%2C785&ssl=1)
Win Your Own Bear
Check out the blog every Monday for your weekly update of Bear with a Care.