Dr Kate Brown took part in the University of York’s YorkTalks 2023 series and spoke about how interventions for the most vulnerable can be transformed for the better.
16 January 2023
The Deputy Director of the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre focused on different aspects of vulnerability as well as the complexities of labelling people as ‘vulnerable’. In particular, she asked whether vulnerability politics deepen the exclusions and injustices faced by the most vulnerable.
Vulnerability is a well-used concept among public services in the UK and Dr Brown spoke about the importance of understanding how policing contributes to and causes vulnerability. As part of her talk, Dr Brown spoke about the importance of the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre in investigating these areas and how organisations can work together to help address vulnerability.
The Centre has an ambitious programme exploring a wide range of challenging issues such as exploitation by county lines drug networks, online child sexual victimisation, domestic abuse, modern slavery, and the policing of mental illness and homelessness. It brings together 38 local, national and international partners from different sectors and an interdisciplinary group of leading researchers from across the world.
Dr Brown spoke about the importance the Centre places on co-production with service providers, stakeholders and vulnerable populations. These form part of wider Centre aims to shape the future of policing and improve outcomes for vulnerable people through research.
Dr Brown’s bite-size talk was one of 15 that took place as part of the YorkTalks series. The talks were split into four different sessions with Dr Brown’s featured in a session looking at the University of York’s research across health and wellbeing. Other topics included patient choice in medical practice, tackling poverty and single session phobia treatment for children and young people.
Find out more about YorkTalks 2023 on the University of York website.