The seminar series Work in Progress in the Social Studies (WIPSS) is convened by Prof. Paul Clough (Anthropology), Prof. Peter Mayo (Education) and Dr Michael Briguglio (Sociology).

WIPSS seminars have always had two main aims: to provide researchers in any branch of the social studies with a forum in which they can obtain feedback for their ideas or findings in an informal setting marked by lively discussion; and to act as an interface between the University community and civil society in Malta.

On Wednesday, the 19th of February, the 17th annual series of WIPSS starts its Second Semester meetings with a paper by Dr Damien Spiteri entitled School aged drug abusers and narratives of desistance. Dr Spiteri writes:

‘Desistance implies both the desire not to perpetuate crime and the stopping of the committing of crimes. Various theories have been developed to explain desistance sociologically. Added to this, different therapeutic models have been applied in the ‘rehabilitation’ of offenders.

This seminar will give an overview of central tenets of these different aspects of the desistance literature and will gauge their applicability to the context of school aged drug abusers in the Maltese context, with a particular emphasis on children’s rights.

The seminar will incorporate a “conversation” with Mr Leon David Madden who is a facilitator with several years experience at the Caritas New Hope programme. This conversation will add a ‘hands-on dimension’ (based on Mr Madden’s experiences of working at Caritas) to the seminar.

Dr Damian Spiteri’s area of expertise is the sociology of education. He obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Malta in 2007. His doctoral dissertation, under the supervision of Prof. Ronald Sultana, focused on the school-to-work transitions of youth at risk. Since then, Dr. Spiteri has researched different aspects of education in the Maltese context. His research has been published in several local and international journals. Dr Spiteri lectures at MCAST in the area of health and social care. He also works part-time as a social worker at Caritas.

The venue is University of Malta – MDT 122, at the end of the glass corridor behind HSBC on Campus, between 6-7 pm, it will be followed by discussion; Students are encouraged to attend and the general public is also cordially invited.

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