Can we learn anything from the horrific “joyriding” crash that took place recently on the M9?

In its immediate aftermath, many people felt conflicted. Demonising the five teenagers who died seemed callous and counterproductive. Yet trying to understand why they would engage in such reckless behaviour, which caused serious harm to three women and a boy, risked being perceived as naive or insensitive to the injured victims.

For Andy West, who has spent more than a decade working in the UK with both young offenders and adult prisoners, there is a balance to be struck when talking about criminality. “It’s really tricky because you don’t want to condemn, but you also don’t want to collude.”

West’s interest in the subject is deeply personal. Three members of his family – his brother, his father and an uncle – each served jail time during formative years of his life.

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A teacher and researcher in philosophy, West uses his academic background to host classes with prisoners on everything from ethics to the meaning of life. His memoir The Life Inside........

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