Commissioned Book Review: Luke Billingham and Keir Irwin-Rogers, Against Youth Violence: A Social Harm Perspective
| Published date | 01 May 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14789299231191425 |
| Author | Ruth Woolsey |
| Date | 01 May 2024 |
Political Studies Review
2024, Vol. 22(2) NP3 –NP4
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
Commissioned Book Review
1191425PSW0010.1177/14789299231191425Political Studies ReviewCommissioned Book Review
book-review2023
Commissioned Book Review
Against Youth Violence: A Social Harm
Perspective by Luke Billingham and Keir Irwin-
Rogers. Bristol: Bristol University Press, 2022. 283
pp., GBP 28.99, ISBN: 978-1529214062
This book is based on firsthand experience
working with young people and extensive aca-
demic research. Billingham and Irwin-Rogers
provide a strong argument to show that interper-
sonal violence should be placed in the context of
the social harms that are caused by Britain’s
political, economic, cultural and social arrange-
ments. The authors are fully aware of the devas-
tating impact interpersonal violence has, but
state that ‘emphasising individual responsibility
does not advance the cause [of reducing vio-
lence] very far’ (p. 230). Instead, what is pro-
posed is that socio-historical factors of
discrimination and inequality have to be
addressed to provide a long-term solution.
Although not new, inequality has increased sig-
nificantly under Conservative governments
since 2010 (Dorling, 2015; Lansley and Mack,
2015). State welfare retrenchment stemming
from neoliberal ideology has exacerbated pov-
erty, as have the effects of a low-wage economy
(Dorling, 2015; Lansley and Mack, 2015).
Severe cuts have been made to support and pro-
vision for children, young people and families
such as Children’s centres and youth clubs (p.
87). This book details the impact this has had
and the links to interpersonal violence. It shows
how current responses often cause further dam-
age and obscures social harms that are signifi-
cant to violence.
The authors offer detailed definitions of key
concepts they use. They define social harm as
something that compromises human flourishing
and they emphasise that these harms are prevent-
able. These harms include interpersonal violence
as well as structural harms such as poverty, inse-
cure, undignified and low-paid employment;
school exclusions and precarious housing.
‘Flourishing’ is conceptualised as ‘needs fulfil-
ment and subjective well-being’. ‘Needs’ include
subsistence, affection, freedom, leisure and secu-
rity, whereas ‘subjective well-being’ is conceived
of as ‘what people feel and think about their
lives’ (p. 48). The psycho-social concept of ‘mat-
tering’ can be used to understand the develop-
ment of young people’s subjective well-being. In
order ‘to flourish, and to achieve a sense of sub-
jective well-being’, the authors argue that a per-
son needs to feel that they matter (p. 73). Case
studies and theoretical insights are used to show
how structural harms can have a damaging
impact on young people’s sense of mattering (p.
73). For instance, even where subsistence needs
have been met, relative poverty can undermine
human dignity. Billingham and Irwin-Rogers
write that when a young person in poverty lives
in close proximity to great wealth, this can be a
‘fundamentally belittling experience’.
Additionally, the authors have a good under-
standing of inequality and injustice in the United
Kingdom. They show how interpersonal vio-
lence is ‘typically treated more severely than
those that are committed with indifference or
general disregard’ (Reiman 1998: 37). Billingham
and Irwin-Rogers give the example of the harm
inflicted on millions worldwide after the 2008
financial crisis (p. 37). Few responsible were
prosecuted and ‘business as usual’ continued.
They also highlight how individualistic narra-
tives of personal responsibility have dominated
the political and media landscape over the last
half century. In a supposedly meritocratic soci-
ety, poverty is seen as an outcome of personal
deficits such as a lack of motivation. Referring to
Royce’s (2015: 245–247) work on structural
inequality, the authors show that rather than poor
choices and bad behaviour being to blame, the
options of people experiencing poverty ‘are
shaped in large part by economic, political and
social forces which are beyond their influence’
(p. 79). Yet, the ‘have nots’ and the ‘have yachts’
are still both encouraged to believe they receive
their just deserts (p. 207).
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