Research
Juvenile justice in Vietnam
A senior lecturer in Sociology and Criminology has
returned to Essex, after almost a year in Vietnam as a visiting scholar at
the National University of Humanities and Social Sciences in Hanoi and a
consultant for Plan International, the largest child-centred NGO operating
there.
Dr Pam Cox was carrying out research on transitions in youth justice
which are connected to major changes occurring in Vietnam, one of just
five one-party communist states remaining in the world. She explained:
'There are moves to establish a juvenile justice system in Vietnam - part
of wider law reform projects aiming to create an independent judicial and
legal system and thereby to change the basis of Communist Party control.'
Dr Cox was able to gain rare access to Vietnam’s national reform
schools run by the Ministry of Public Security, which are often places
where children’s rights are abused. Dr Cox explained: 'Corporal
punishment, solitary confinement, detention without fair trial, child
labour, risks around HIV/AIDS and very poor living conditions are all
issues which need to be brought to public, political and academic
attention.'
Until recently, 'social work’ with young offenders has been limited but
institutions, agencies and policy processes are now being created that are
independent of the Communist Party, with social work reform is a key part
of this. Last year, the government approved new social work degrees,
paving the way for professional services in social work, counselling and
probation. However, there are few university teachers to teach them. Dr
Cox has been making links with her host university in Hanoi and the
University's Southend Campus to explore ways that Essex could bridge that
gap.
Dr Pam Cox interviewing girls at Long An Reform School for Young Offenders
in south Vietnam
New play commissioned
Elizabeth Kuti, of the Department of Literature, Film, and
Theatre Studies, has been commissioned by the National Theatre Studio to
write a new full-length original play.
Elizabeth explains: ‘The Studio provides rehearsal spaces and rooms for
individuals and companies to develop new work for the theatre (that
includes actors, writers, directors, dancers etc). I've written the play
and the current draft is being read by the Scripts department at the
Theatre! The piece is a departure for me, in terms of content, as it has a
contemporary setting whereas most of my previous plays have been set in
the past.’
Elizabeth joined the Department in 2004 to teach theatre-related
courses. A playwright and actor, she won joint first prize in the coveted
Susan Smith Blackburn award last year for her work The Sugar Wife.
She is now working on another play commissioned by the Abbey Theatre in
Dublin.
Robot rights?
Essex computer scientists have joined a debate on whether
robots should be given rights.
Speaking ahead of a public debate at the Dana Centre, part of London’s
science museum, researchers criticised recent work by the UK Office of
Science and Innovation's Horizon Scanning Centre. Their discussion paper,
Utopian Dream or Rise of the Machines?, addressed the rights of
robots and examined developments in artificial intelligence as to how this
might impact on law and politics. In particular, it predicted that robots
could one day demand the same citizen's rights as humans, including
housing and even ‘robo-healthcare’.
This paper was criticised by the University’s Professor Owen Holland
who said: ‘It’s poorly informed, poorly supported by science. My concern
is that we should have an informed debate and it should be an informed
debate about the right issues.’
The robo-rights scan was one of 246 papers commissioned by the
government and compiled by a group of futures researchers.
Also in the printed May edition of Wyvern:
- Poverty conference in London
- Improving embedded systems for cars
- Developing e-learning environments
