I ask newspapers to ensure they are reporting fairly and equally on matters of such a nature this time around. Sensationalism makes matters worse, not better.
End.
9/9
We can't allow a new "War on Neds", and we cannot accept such language around young people, as a means to divert from the fact, there is a very real war going on, that our government are absolutely complicit in.
8/9
But more than this, why are we ALWAYS focusing on the negative when it comes to young people?
A few hundred people do not reflect an entite Ultras scene and any suggestions that it does, is quite frankly wrong, and ignorant.
7/9
Ultras are not saints, but have a look at the alternatives. Where are the positive role models in a mainstream capacity? Where is the positive outputs or ways to vent? When you strip away assets, when you make leisure unaffordable, when the choices are limited, what is to be expected?
6/9
As you will see from the media images, that are courtesy of the Mitchell Library Archives, and part of the 2003 Daily Record collection, history is now repeating itself.
5/9
Indeed, there is plenty to say about the issues in Ultras groups, especially after the scenes last week. But this is very much a moral panic. I'll be on a BBC series in the coming month or so discussing some of these issues, but the reason why I was asked on was because of my work on this area.
4/9
The panic produced police brutality and higher incarceration rates, especially for first time offenders.
These are things I have discussed in my previous work, so it is interesting to see the same party, same global conflict, same newspaper, all central to a similar panic. Coincidence?
3/9
The response was new legislation around young people. This included the ASBO for children as young as 12. It saw the introduction of dispersal orders which young people in groups of "two or more", who were seen to be causing alarm or distress could be moved om at the police officer's discretion.
2/9
In 2003, the Daily Record supported Labour and the illegal invasion of Iraq. A few months later, Jack McConnell announced his 'War on Neds'.
🧵 1/9
But more than this, why are we ALWAYS focusing on the negative when it comes to young people?
A few hundred people do not reflect an entite Ultras scene and any suggestions that it does, is quite frankly wrong, and ignorant.
7/9
Ultras are not saints, but have a look at the alternatives. Where are the positive role models in a mainstream capacity? Where is the positive outputs or ways to vent? When you strip away assets, when you make leisure unaffordable, when the choices are limited, what is to be expected?
6/9
As you will see from the media images, that are courtesy of the Mitchell Library Archives, and part of the 2003 Daily Record collection, history is now repeating itself.
5/9
Indeed, there is plenty to say about the issues in Ultras groups, especially after the scenes last week. But this is very much a moral panic. I'll be on a BBC series in the coming month or so discussing some of these issues, but the reason why I was asked on was because of my work on this area.
4/9
The panic produced police brutality and higher incarceration rates, especially for first time offenders.
These are things I have discussed in my previous work, so it is interesting to see the same party, same global conflict, same newspaper, all central to a similar panic. Coincidence?
3/9
The response was new legislation around young people. This included the ASBO for children as young as 12. It saw the introduction of dispersal orders which young people in groups of "two or more", who were seen to be causing alarm or distress could be moved om at the police officer's discretion.
2/9
This is it. And how many times have we heard about innocent people and children being killed out of panic?
Exactly.
All the evidence points to the opposite. And in a country with such an entrenched disdain for the poor, this would be incredibly problematic.
So, shame on Jim Spence and the Courier for publishing such sensationalist and fascistic nonsense.
No to Guns!
www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/opinion/c...
And so, if these are the harms such forces can inflict upon young people without guns, then God help us all if such ideas ever materialise. Particularly at times of moral panic, when police themselves embody the panic, and become moral enforcers of a deep-rooted conservative ideal.
This included humiliating strip searches, verbal insults, and beatings in cells and the back of vans, the latter of which was often followed by being dropped in a rival scheme or territory.
One female participant remarked that "you knew it would happen. That was just part of the culture".
www.sccjr.ac.uk/publication/...
It is also not so long ago when questions were raised around the potential institutional racism and misogyny within the same force.
Furthermore, in my own research on Neds and Ned Culture (1995-2008), participants spoke about violence at the hands of police.
As highlighted in the work of Sarah Armstrong, Scotland's records for deaths in police custody or following an encounter with the police, sits amongst some of the worst in Western Europe. Scotland also holds some of the worst rates for incarceration. So, in terms of culture, this is concerning.
Though, the most significant and striking issue here I believe is the data which suggests that culture and policing philosophies also play a role in police brutality and executions at the hands of such forces.
Evidence also suggests that where police are routinely armed with guns, these countries generally experience higher rates of police-involved fatalities compared to countries with unarmed or rarely armed police.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Firstly, there is not a single piece of evidence that supports this claim.
In fact, almost every study points to the opposite, as the introduction of guns is not a deterrent, but is often grounds for deviancy amplification.
"Scotland would be safer if our police had guns".
The @thecourier.co.uk published this article by Jim Spence claims that was later picked up on by BBC Radio Scotland.
Here are some thoughts.🧵
www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/opinion/c...
Best of luck. ❤️
This final PhD opportunity is EU funded and so candidates must have residency in the EU:
Inclusive Innovation and Community-Led Circular Economy Strategies for Sustainable Electronics
www.qub.ac.uk/courses/post...
Social Infrastructure - The Role Community Anchor Organisations
www.qub.ac.uk/courses/post...
QCAP Queen's Communities and Place's currently has three fully-funded PhD opportunities available:
Developing Measurement Tools for Community-Academic Partnerships: Building Capacity, Sustainability, and Replication Across Place.
www.qub.ac.uk/courses/post...
