The intersectionality of race, gender, age and class is key to understanding a possible life trajectory illustrated by the fictional case study of Michael.’ Critically discuss this statement. Michael is a 22-year-old Black male of African origin from Nottingham. He is currently serving a five-year sentence for robbery with knife injury. Demographics and family history Michael’s parents came to the UK from Nigeria. Michael had only extremely limited contact with his father who moved to the US when Michael was four years old, and for much of his childhood he was brought up by his mother. Most of his extended family members live in Nigeria so Michael grew up rather isolated from close relatives living in a household with his mother and younger brother (who is a year younger) on a Nottingham housing estate. His mother works as a teaching assistant at the local primary school. Growing up, Michael’s mother had different partners over the years, but the relationships never lasted longer than a year or two. Some of these partners were violent and several times Michael witnessed his mother being violently beaten by her partner. Michael often found himself trying to protect his mother and brother from these men. When Michael was 12, his mother remarried. His stepfather is a white British male who works as a branch manager at a local fast food restaurant. Since Michael’s first custodial sentence at age 15 (in a young offender institution), he has only had extremely limited contact with his mother and stepfather. Neither Michael’s biological parents nor his stepfather have a criminal record. Michael’s brother works as a nurse in a Nottingham hospital. Michael has remained in contact with him periodically over the years. Lifestyle Michael sometimes obtained occasional work as a labourer, working cash in hand on a day-rate basis, but had no other income and did not receive government benefits or any housing benefit. He admits to having handled stolen goods as a way to get by. Until his current prison sentence, Michael was living with a friend in a flat on the tenth floor of a 12-floor tower block. At a young age Michael became involved with gangs and knife crime after being drawn into it through friends. Michael was frequently stopped by the police which led to him gaining a criminal record at a young age for a variety of offences of theft, criminal damage and possession of weapons. Michael is outgoing and social and has many friends, albeit mostly ‘drinking mates’ at the local pub. He is heterosexual and has had frequent sexual relationships with women but these rarely last more than a few nights/dates. Michael is not a regular drug user, but prior to being in prison he made occasional recreational use of cannabis and cocaine at weekends. Violence and criminal activity As a gang member from his early teens, Michael was regularly involved in local gang fights. He committed the robbery and violent assault as part of the gang and has himself been a victim of grievous bodily harm in the past. Michael’s violence is often associated with loss of temper. During his previous prison sentence for actual bodily harm, he obtained a number of Governor’s reports for violence towards other prisoners and, on one occasion, towards a member of staff in the education block. He therefore obtained a reputation for bullying behaviour. Current offence Michael is currently serving a five-year sentence for aggravated burglary with knife injury and is one year into his sentence. Michael armed himself with a kitchen knife and slashed at the arm of a shop proprietor before stealing the contents of the till and running to a waiting getaway car. Michael felt he was poorly represented at court by a junior barrister and has felt let down by the judicial system. Although Michael has appealed against his sentence, he was unsuccessful and has been denied the possibility of any further appeal. Mental health and education Michael has no known mental health diagnosis as an adult, although as a child he was referred for psychological assessment to an educational psychologist and was diagnosed with ADHD. Michael has three GCSEs: maths, biology and PE. School reports suggest that Michael was a frequent truant and displayed early violent behaviour (in playground incidents). He was regularly suspended from school but was never formally excluded. Initial assessment One of the prison psychologists briefly assessed Michael and considered that he might be suitable for psychological therapy. He reports that Michael was dismissive of any suggestion that he might be suffering from any sort of mental health difficulty saying, ‘I don’t trust therapists’.