Gary Reynolds: “County lines and the criminal exploitation of children and young people: An exploratory and critical study of the system response to child criminal exploitation and the local authority care provision for children and young people in Cumbria”

In Students by General Account

My PhD research, supervised by Dr Kate O’Brien, Dr Michelle Addison, and Dr Jenny Lloyd, seeks to forefront the lived experience of children and young people placed in local authority care with the aim of uncovering how different forms of care settings enable an environment of risk in terms of criminal exploitation in the context of ‘county line’ drug dealing. Through in-depth interviews with children and young people in the care system and experts and practitioners from a range of key stakeholders and by gathering robust statistical data, this research will critically examine the system response to child criminal exploitation within local authority care settings. In doing so, the research will contribute to theoretical debates in youth studies and contextual safeguarding and make recommendations which will address failures within the care provision for children and young people placed in the care of the local authority.

I previously graduated with a BA (hons) in Criminology and Criminal Justice and an MA (by research) from the University of Central Lancashire, before gaining several years of voluntary and professional experience working with young people and adults involved in criminal justice, homelessness, substance misuse and social services.