University of Leicester to explore the significance of music in the criminal justice system

University of Leicester free public event to take place on Friday 23 June

LEICESTER, 23-Jun-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — The University of Leicester will be exploring the significance of music in the criminal justice system during a free public symposium taking place on Friday 23 June.

The conference, organised by the University of Leicester’s Department of Criminology, is an opportunity for researchers who are conducting innovative work in the area to share ideas and generate discussion with a wider community.

The event, titled ‘Music in Criminal Justice’, has been co-organised by senior research members within the University and is led by interdisciplinary research students within the Department.

PhD student Kate Herrity, who is organising the event, said: “Music is of intrinsic importance to humanity in general, some work suggesting our facility for music predates language acquisition. This is amplified in the field of criminal justice, a site on which power and the political are exerted and contested.

“This is a unique area of research and there really is nothing quite like it going on at the moment. It brings such a diverse group of people together and we are keen to foster greater interaction with our wider community.”

Dr Wendy Fitzgibbon from the University of Leicester’s Department of Criminology, who supervises Kate’s research, said: “This innovative and refreshing approach to criminal justice and prison research promises not only to gain new insights into the lived experiences of those in prison but to engage the public in a lively and creative manner. Such novel methods break down barriers making criminological research accessible to everyone.”

Talks during the event will cover the following topics:

•       In prison, music is used as a means of expressing identity and maintaining links with those on the outside

•       Projects supporting those leaving prison back in to the community have cited the power of music as a means of exploring these challenges

•       Music contributes to processes of ‘rehabilitation’ in a number of ways, whether teaching personal expression through developing music skills or encouraging civic engagement through choir singing

•       Music has been used as a punishment (and torture) and so provides a means of exploring human rights violations

•       Music has growing importance for protest and social movements, offering interesting insights in to policing the right to protest

•       Clashes between youth subcultures and the law can be usefully explored at the points where music and the law converge

Professor Teela Sanders, Director of Research in the University of Leicester’s Department of Criminology, added: “This is a fantastic first symposium of what is set to be an annual event organised jointly by PhD students and staff in the Department of Criminology. This event focusing on music in criminal justice really does show the innovation and cutting edge research taking place within our PhD community, showing the flagship nature of the research activities we are doing here at Leicester criminology.”

The symposium is part of an annual series of events run by the University of Leicester’s Department of Criminology entitled ‘Criminology at the Crossroads.’

The aim of ‘Criminology at the Crossroads’ is to explore the potential of other disciplines in order to advance criminological knowledge by incorporating creative and innovative approaches to methods and research.

The conference will take place at Brookfield Campus on 23 June 2017 between 9:30AM to 5:30PM.

To register for tickets to the event visit the website here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/criminology-at-the-crossroads-music-in-criminal-justice-tickets-33862919905 

ENDS 

Notes to editors:

For further information you can contact PhD student Kate Herrity via kzh1@le.ac.uk

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SOURCE: University of Leicester