In his latest article for The Guardian, Mark talks about the Baby P case, and the mirror it holds up to all of us in our “dysfunctional society breeding dysfunctional individuals who breed still more”. Read the full article at www.guardian.co.uk.
In his latest Guardian column, published today, Mark explains how it’s personal communication that offers the best way for youth and social workers to make a real difference in the lives of youngsters branded by society as ‘offenders’: “At a conference recently, I learned that the people who are supposed to be “managing” our offenders now spend up to 80% of their time in front of a computer. Too much passion and enthusiasm ends up channelled into an office, not with the people who need human contact.” Read the full article at www.guardian.co.uk.
Mark’s latest article for The Guardian was published in April and can be read online atwww.guardian.co.uk. In this piece, Mark talks about the very real need for the authorities to actively engage with young people in order to help them start solving their problems, and how a small amount of money spent on intervention and support at the right time could help save millions in social costs throughout the life of a troubled teen. In two accompanying pieces, some of the teenagers that Mark introduced to Government officials at a Downing Street meeting share their impressions of the visit and young people from Birmingham describe their own harsh life experiences.
In a new article written for The Guardian, Mark talks about the way in which society regards drug addiction and drug addicts: as a problem to be stigmatised rather than a sickness to be recognised and treated. “As a crack and heroin addict who managed to stop using and then wrote about the experience, I get quite a few letters from the relatives of addicts, and they are all saying the same thing in different ways: how can I help my loved one to change?” Read the full article at www.guardian.co.uk.
In his latest piece for The Guardian, published and posted online today, Mark tackles the problem of scaremongering in the media that was fuelled by last week’s Centre for Social Justice report. “The CSJ deserves credit for expanding thinking in this area and recognising the huge underlying problems. But I admit to reading the report with a sinking feeling. Here we go again … a lot of stuff about enforcement, but nothing about incentives to change or about the power of the community to change itself from within. And there just isn’t enough emphasis on the emotional deprivation at the heart of the problem.” Read the rest of Mark’s latest article for the Guardian newspaper
“I believe that if the government wants to reduce reoffending, then the employment of ex-offenders is the secret weapon. Go to any drugs treatment centre and you will find it mostly staffed by ex-drug users. It is crucial for those recovering from addiction that they learn to support others who are doing the same.”
Read Mark’s latest article for the Guardian’s Society section, on the subject of violence towards children, and its effects.
Mark has an article in the Guardian this week on the UK government’s response to knife crime: “The government’s response to knife-crime hysteria, the youth crime action plan, is an expensive package of measures, almost exclusively punitive in nature. No surprises there. And let’s not be surprised when it all ends in failure.”
Read Mark’s article in the Society section of today’s Guardian newspaper, titled “It’s time the great and good met some real scary kids”.
