Beth Wilburn

Research Student

Behind the ‘Front Line’: Non-confrontation Responses to Youth Crime by the Manchester and Salford City Police Forces 1938-1968 (Supervisors Chris Williams and Deborah Drake)

After completing a Degree in Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, specialising in Ecclesiastical History (1996-2000), I went on to obtain a PGCE in Religious Education (2004-2005). Later, pursuing my passion for history, I completed a MA in the History of the North West Region at the University of Manchester (2007-2009), this along with my teaching experience enabled me to secure a job as the Education Officer at Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archives (2009-2011) firing my curiosity about the History of Crime and Policing. The position was funded by the Home Office through the Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) as I worked on various preventative initiatives regarding youth crime. Wondering about the historical precedent of such initiatives, I decided to embark upon a part-time PhD with the Open University (2012-). I currently work as the Careers/Humanities Leader at the English International School Prague, in the Czech Republic.

Current Research

My academic interests and experience of working with young people have combined to create the strands that form the basis of my current research that focuses on preventative policing of youth in the Manchester and Salford areas from the 1930s-1960s. Aspects of my research include: police-run Lads’ Clubs and their place within the wider Lads’ Club movement, ideals of working-class masculinity, working-class agendas for reform and the police officer as role-model. Essentially I hope to add worthwhile comment to the growing field of literature on the post-war attempts to reform juveniles and offer historical insight on current governmental policies regarding youth crime.