Exploring the increasingly complex nexus between law, vulnerability and policing – particularly the positive obligations arising from law for safeguarding vulnerable people.
| Lead institution | |
|---|---|
| Principal researcher(s) |
Prof Joe Tomlinson, Dr Jed Meers and Angela Paul
|
| Police region |
North East
|
| Collaboration and partnership |
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| Level of research |
Professional/work based
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| Project start date |
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| Date due for completion |
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Research context
Four questions are at the centre of the research.
- How, if at all, does 'legal vulnerability' derived from human rights law find everyday form in the orientations, communications and prioritisations within the police, and how are positive obligations understood and enacted in practice by officers?
- How, in the policies and actions of the police and other state agencies, is 'legal vulnerability' derived from human rights law related to other legal conceptions of vulnerability found in, for example, housing or social work law?
- How are various forms of state power, once legally channelled towards these groups by legal obligations, perceived procedurally and substantively by the 'legally vulnerable?'
- In what ways do legal duties towards the vulnerable – both in substance and through processes of implementation – help to safeguard and alleviate vulnerability?
Research methodology
The project is designed to create the foundation for a major mixed-methods, interdisciplinary empirical project that will generate data and produce evidence-led reform initiatives where appropriate.
The project methodology consists of a literature-based legal and theoretical approach which will be combined with empirical findings from research with the police.