Surveillance or support? policing harmful sexual behaviour among young people in schools

Emily Setty
,
Jonny Hunt
,
Jessica Ringrose

University of Surrey
,
Institute of Applied Social Research (IASR)
,
University College London

Research Output:

Contribution to journal

Article

Peer-review

Open access

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Abstract

This paper examines the policing of harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) among young people in schools, drawing on qualitative research conducted with police and schools in southeast England. Utilising a Foucauldian surveillance perspective, we explore the challenges police experience in balancing punitive measures with relationship-building efforts. We highlight contradictions between policing objectives and strategies, with police engagement often emphasising surveillance, intelligence gathering and detection, including among officers endorsing relationship-based practice with young people. The overarching concern with behaviour management and discipline of young people in schools, combined with inadequate training and resourcing, perpetuates authoritarian policing practices, with implications for police–youth relations. We identify how tensions between deterrence and trust play out through a wider crisis of legitimacy regarding the capacity for legal frameworks and criminal justice to adequately capture and respond to HSB. We suggest these limitations undermine young people's rights, erode trust between young people and police, and ultimately compromise safety through hindering the effectiveness of HSB prevention and response efforts.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:

Contribution to journal

Article

Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 929-939 (11 pages)

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Children and Society (Volume 39, Issue 5)

Publication milestones

Accepted/In press - 14/03/2025
Published - 27/03/2025

Publication status

Published - 27/03/2025

ISSN

0951-0605

Publication IDs

handle.net: 10547/626640
Scopus: 105001639370

Access to documents

10.1111/chso.12960

Children Society - 2025 - Setty - Surveillance or Support Policing Harmful Sexual Behaviour Among Young People in.pdf

Final published version, 244.23 KB

License:CC BY

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/chso.12960

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