My current role at TONIC, as Head of Criminal Justice Research, means I have been fortunate enough to oversee a number of fascinating projects. In the last few years, I have been involved in work for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse interviewing people convicted of Child Sexual Exploitation, three evaluations of the newly accredited offender behaviour programme Building Choices, for the Ministry of Justice and the evaluation of the Prison Leaver Programme also for the Ministry of Justice. However, one recent project that has truly captured my attention is a piece of work for the Department of Education. As part of this TONIC interviewed 41 young people who had been involved in serious youth violence and 9 parents whose sons or daughters had also been involved in violent crime. Partnering with Catch 22 and St Giles, as well as having support from a number of organisations across the Country; we adopted a life history approach to our interviews.

I have been conducting qualitative research in prisons for 19 years and yet, these interviews were some of the most compelling, insightful and fascinating I have completed. The level of engagement from the young people, their openness but also the trauma they have experienced was profound. Despite a diverse sample, there were striking similarities in their narratives. They were able to share their earliest memories and experiences of violence as well as make suggestions about what services and systems can do to prevent young people engaging in serious offences.

The project also comes at a time where our TV screens and media outlets are dominated with headlines about serious youth violence. Almost weekly, the team and I will share a relevant podcast or documentary about the topic we are currently researching and I nod my head vehemently as I listen and watch these; the same stories and narratives that we heard in our interviews.

The TONIC team are currently wading through reams of data, of quotes and powerful testimonies to produce a report for the Department for Education. We are also working to make a short film to sit alongside this output. It has been a difficult writing process, one which I have taken as a huge responsibility to adequately convey the voices of the young people and parents who generously gave their time. People who it was a privilege to listen to. People who describe not always feeling heard, valued or seen.  We look forward to being able to share the findings of our work later in the year and hope that it can, in some way, contribute to better outcomes for young people and their families.

Written by Dr Sarah Senker, Head of Criminal Justice Research. February 2026.