Staff profile

I am a critical criminologist at Durham University whose research focuses on youth justice, children’s participation, safeguarding and public service reform. I currently teach on the Introduction to Criminological Theory, Contemporary Criminological Theory and Research Methods in Action modules. I draw upon my research and lived experience to connect theory and research to contemporary social issues and encourage students to question taken-for-granted assumptions about crime, harm, justice and social inequality.

My work qualitatively explores how relationships, organisational cultures and institutional power shape children’s experiences of care and justice services and their opportunities to influence decisions affecting their lives. I completed my PhD in Criminology at City University of Hong Kong in 2020. My doctoral research used ethnographic methods to examine the possibilities and constraints of transformative participation within youth services for young people 'at risk' in Hong Kong. Since then, I have held teaching and research roles at Newcastle, Durham, Manchester Metropolitan and Northumbria University.  

By specialising in participation and co-production, relational practice, and multi-agency decision-making, my research aims to work collaboratively with children, young people, practitioners and organisations. My recent research projects include research on children’s participation in multi-agency risk management meetings, the longer-term outcomes of relationship-based youth support, and transitional safeguarding. I am particularly interested in: 

• Youth justice and children’s rights, including critical perspectives on policy, practice and reform.
• Children and young people’s participation, particularly their influence over decisions affecting their lives.
• Co-production and participatory research, including questions of power, inclusion and transformative change.
• Relational practice, exploring care, trust and relationships within youth justice and wider services.
• Risk, safeguarding and multi-agency decision-making, including tensions between protection, control and children’s agency.
• Social justice and public service reform, including how organisational cultures and institutional structures enable or constrain change.
• Qualitative, ethnographic, participatory and co-produced approaches to research.

Prior to my role in academia, I worked in education and youth work settings, including coordinating a regional Youth Commission on Police and Crime, and working with advocacy organisations to improve young people's lives. Therefore, my research is grounded in both my personal and professional lived experiences

I am also currently a co-chair of the National Association for Youth Justice and an associate at the Children and Young People's Centre for Justice, where my research expertise influences policy and practice. I also co-founded the Child Centred Youth Justice Network, bringing together a range of professionals to campaign for children's participation rights within the youth justice system. 

• Children and young peoples’ participation and co-production
• Exploring theory and application of risk in young people’s lives
• Social care and justice response to children, young people, and families
• Vulnerability, deviance and power/control
• Youth justice policy and practice

Chapter in book

• Unravelling the conceptual ambiguity of co-production for transformation
  
  Burns, S. (2026). Unravelling the conceptual ambiguity of co-production for transformation. In S. Creaney & S. Burns (Eds.), Co-production in Youth Justice. Routledge.
• Embracing children’s Voices: Transforming Youth Justice Practice Through Co-production and Child First Participation
  
  Burns, S., & Creaney, S. (2023). Embracing children’s Voices: Transforming Youth Justice Practice Through Co-production and Child First Participation (S. Case & N. Hazel, Eds.; pp. 333-365). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19272-2_12

Journal Article

• The veneer of progress: Child First as a ‘magic concept’ for youth justice systems
  
  Burns, S., & Smithson, H. (2026). The veneer of progress: Child First as a ‘magic concept’ for youth justice systems. Youth Justice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/14732254261468528
• The Achilles heel of Child First: High-risk panels in youth justice service policy and practice
  
  Creaney, S., & Burns, S. (2025). The Achilles heel of Child First: High-risk panels in youth justice service policy and practice. Probation Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505251353719
• Mechanisms That Promote and Support Family Preservation for Children at the Edge of Care: A Realist Synthesis
  
  Redgate, S., Smart, D., Barrett, S., Barron, C., Burns, S., Frost, H., McGovern, W., Peart, V., Adams, E., Alderson, H., Kaner, E., & McGovern, R. (2024). Mechanisms That Promote and Support Family Preservation for Children at the Edge of Care: A Realist Synthesis. SAGE Open, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241260998
• Freedom From Symbolic Violence? Facilitators and Barriers to Participatory Practices in Youth Justice
  
  Creaney, S., & Burns, S. (2024). Freedom From Symbolic Violence? Facilitators and Barriers to Participatory Practices in Youth Justice. Youth Justice, 24(1), 31-52. https://doi.org/10.1177/14732254231156844
• Interventions to Reduce Parental Substance Use, Domestic Violence and Mental Health Problems, and Their Impacts Upon Children’s Well-Being: A Systematic Review of Reviews and Evidence Mapping
  
  Barrett, S., Muir, C., Burns, S., Adjei, N., Forman, J., Hackett, S., Hirve, R., Kaner, E., Lynch, R., Taylor-Robinson, D., Wolfe, I., & McGovern, R. (2024). Interventions to Reduce Parental Substance Use, Domestic Violence and Mental Health Problems, and Their Impacts Upon Children’s Well-Being: A Systematic Review of Reviews and Evidence Mapping. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 25(1), Article 152483802311538. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380231153867
• Guest editorial: Theory and practice of co-production and co-creation in youth justice
  
  Creaney, S., Burns, S., & Day, A. (2023). Guest editorial: Theory and practice of co-production and co-creation in youth justice. Safer Communities, 22(3), 149-155. https://doi.org/10.1108/sc-07-2023-054
• Exploring partnerships with justice-involved children in Hong Kong: the role of social workers and barriers towards transformation
  
  Burns, S. (2023). Exploring partnerships with justice-involved children in Hong Kong: the role of social workers and barriers towards transformation. Safer Communities, 22(2), 133-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/sc-09-2022-0042
• Guest editorial: Theory and practice of co-production and co-creation in youth justice
  
  Creaney, S., Burns, S., & Day, A. (2023). Guest editorial: Theory and practice of co-production and co-creation in youth justice. Safer Communities, 22(2), 73-77. https://doi.org/10.1108/sc-04-2023-053
• Young People as Co-producers in Policing across England. An Evaluation of the ‘Youth Commission’ on Police and Crime
  
  Burns, S. (2019). Young People as Co-producers in Policing across England. An Evaluation of the ‘Youth Commission’ on Police and Crime. Children & Society, 33(4), 347-362. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12312