International expert to speak at Teesside's new campus

International authority on children's services and health, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, will be the keynote speaker at a Teesside University conference in Darlington.

Sir Al Aynsley-Green will be speaking at the University’s Social Futures Institute (SOFI) one-day annual conference, to be held on 23 September at the University’s new £13m Darlington campus, at Vicarage Road, Darlington.

Sir Al was appointed Chair of the NHS Taskforce for Children and then the first National Clinical Director for Children in government in 2001. He later served as first children's commissioner for England from 2005 to 2010.

In these roles he played an integral role in influencing government policy and its translation into practice at the front line as well as raising public awareness of the circumstances and value of children and young people in society today. Sir Al was knighted for his services to children and young people in the Queen’s 80th Birthday Honours list in June 2006.

The conference title is ‘Law, Policy and Practice for Children and Young People: The Role of Social Science Research.’ It will critically examine the relationship between social science research and the design and implementation of law and policy concerning children and young people.

Of interest to a wide audience It will be of interest to a wide audience including researchers, policy makers, judges, lawyers, psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, educators, and professionals in many other allied disciplines who address the subject of childhood and youth.

Diverse research papers will be delivered under the following four streams:

• Young people and the criminal justice system • Young people’s capacity to decide • Provision of support for young people • Policies affecting families and young people.

Selected papers from the conference will be invited to submit for publication in a special edition of Contemporary Social Science - Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences to be published in 2012.

Conference organiser Dr Ray Arthur, Reader in Law in the University’s School of Social Sciences & Law, said: 'This conference will bring together researchers and practitioners to build on their experiences and knowledge to contribute to current debates on the role of social science research within policy making and practice.'

For more details email r.arthur@tees.ac.uk.

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