Missing and Lost: Missing Children, Social Harm and Structural Violence

Summary:

In this webinar Dr Paul Andell will discuss the phenomenon of children going missing from care, situating these experiences within wider frameworks of structural violence, social harm, and institutional neglect. Drawing on personal reflections, policy analysis, case studies, and recent qualitative research, the presenter suggests that episodes of missing children are not isolated events but symptoms of systemic failure.

Children in care are disproportionately vulnerable to criminal and sexual exploitation, often misrecognised as offenders rather than safeguarded as victims. The webinar will explore how social inequalities, race, class, and gender intersect to compound marginalisation, leading children to become not only physically ‘missing’ but institutionally ‘lost.’

Accounts from frontline practitioners highlight the limitations of fragmented, risk-averse systems and the contradictions faced by residential staff. The presenter calls for trauma-informed, relationship-based, and structurally aware safeguarding practices that prioritise protection, equity, and systemic reform over procedural compliance.

Note: This webinar is based on a chapter Dr Andell has recently written for a new book, Legacies of the Lost in Criminology, edited by Tammy Ayres, Daniel Briggs, Craig Kelly and Stuart Taylor, due to be published in April 2026 by Bristol University Press. Pre-order your copy.

Biography

Dr Paul Andell is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Suffolk. His research focuses on serious youth violence, child criminal exploitation, and gangs, with a particular interest in co-produced and policy-relevant approaches to harm reduction and safeguarding.

Paul was awarded a British Academy Innovation Fellowship in 2022, supporting his work on practitioner-informed interventions in response to County Lines. In recognition of the real-world impact of his research, he also received a Prize for Policy Impactful Research from the American Society of Criminology.

On behalf of the University of Suffolk, Paul has co-produced the National Lived Experience Training on Child Criminal Exploitation in partnership with the National County Lines Coordination Centre, shaping national safeguarding practice through lived experience insights.

He has published widely on criminal exploitation, serious youth violence, and gang dynamics, including academic books, peer-reviewed articles, and commissioned reports that have influenced both national and international policy agendas.