The Glasgow miracle? Storytelling, violence reduction and public policy

Like the New York miracle before (Zimring, 2007), which led to the exportation of the ‘broken windows’model of policing, the dramatic reduction has led to policy transfer of the ‘Glasgow model’ to England and Wales through the funding of 20 new regional VRUs. [...] In this article, based on a study of violence reduction in Scotland and England, we focus on the discursive construction of the so-called ‘Glasgow miracle’ and interrogate the role of storytelling and narrative in its constitution. [...] Methods and data The methodological framework for this article involves a reconstruction of the develop- ment of public health approaches to violence reduction in Scotland, of which the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit was a major proponent, and is drawn from a broader study of public health and violence prevention in the UK.3 The broader study seeks to establish a new evidence base on public heal. [...] In the section that follows we analyse the role of charisma, structure and story- telling in the abiding influence of the VRU, and its message of violence prevention and public health. [...] The example of the VRU, and its founders, give credence to the centring of the individual agent, particularly as a way of understanding and approximating change.