Contact
Biography
I joined the School of Sociology and Social Policy as an Assistant Professor of Criminology in September 2022. My research interests lie in the areas of war, state violence and social harm.
I have worked with third-sector organisations and charities to support ex-military people who have been imprisoned, and share research in accessible ways with local communities and practitioners. My research, teaching, and wider activism are anchored to social justice.
Professional memberships include the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control, where I recently became a coordinator of the Crimes of the Powerful working group; the European Society of Criminology; the British Society of Criminology; and the University of Nottingham Centre for the Study of Post-Conflict Societies.
I am also an External Examiner for Criminology programmes at the University of Stirling, Scotland.
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9569-4775
ResearchGate Profile
Expertise Summary
My work is broadly interested in state harm and 21st century warfare. More specifically, my doctoral research explored British veterans' experiences of the US and UK led 'war on terror', as well as military to civilian transitions amid a time of violent austerity. In addition to the theoretical lens of harm (zemiology), I use Bourdieusian 'field theory' to trace forms of capital throughout the life course. My research seeks to understand how identities and experiences are shaped through interactions with state institutions. I have recently published work on the harmful traces of criminalisation and imprisonment for ex-military communities.
I use narrative and creative visual methods, including photo and object elicitation. After teaching the mechanics of atrocity, my research interests are grounded in philosophies seeking to understand the complexity of mass state violence, human suffering and resistance.
Teaching Summary
I convene the third-year Criminology module, War and State Violence (SOCI3042). In addition to criminological, sociological and philosophical theories of atrocity and resistance, the module is… read more
Research Summary
I am currently working on publications from my doctoral research, exploring military to civilian transitions and former British soldiers' experiences of delivering state violence in the 'war on… read more
Selected Publications
I convene the third-year Criminology module, War and State Violence (SOCI3042). In addition to criminological, sociological and philosophical theories of atrocity and resistance, the module is grounded in my research with ex-military personnel who delivered British state violence in the 'war on terror'.
I also contribute to the first-year module, Investigating Social Worlds and supervise undergraduate research on the third year Dissertation module.
I previously convened the core second-year Criminology module, Contemporary Theories of Crime, Justice and Society and contributed to the third-year module, Crimes and Harms of the Powerful.
I am interested in supervising PhD projects exploring areas of harm, including:
War; border violence; authoritarianism; the climate emergency; local and global conflict; abolition and transformative justice; social exclusion; and the illegalisation of protest.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss a potential PhD project.
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I co-supervised Dr. Emma Thacker's interdisciplinary professional doctorate, with thesis title: Contract Cheating and Academic Literacies: Exploring the landscape (viva passed June, 2022). I have also been an external MRes supervisor at Birkbeck University of London.
I previously contributed to the following modules as a Lecturer in Criminology at Keele University:
Undergraduate
State Crimes and Crimes against Humanity - module author & convenor
Dissertation - supervisor
Crime and Justice in a Global Context
Research Methods in Criminology
Mental Health and Offending
Understanding Crime
Criminal Justice: Process, Policy and Practice
Psychology and Crime
Introduction to Criminology - module author & convener
Postgraduate
Contemporary Criminology: Theory and Practice (MA);
Researching Crime and Criminal Justice (MA);
Advanced Topics in Criminology and Criminal Justice (MA);
Dissertation (MA, Supervisor)
Current Research
I am currently working on publications from my doctoral research, exploring military to civilian transitions and former British soldiers' experiences of delivering state violence in the 'war on terror'. You can listen to me speaking about the research, methods and what led to the project (along with how and why I became a 'criminologist') in the Locked Up Living podcast - Home as a continuation site of conflict (2022). I am in the process of writing the thesis into a book, with working title: War and Social Harm.
Past Research
I have evaluated third-sector housing projects designed for ex-military people leaving imprisonment, and have worked with charities to support militarised communities and their families across Birmingham, Stoke and the Midlands.
In 2017 I worked as a Research Assistant with Dr Samantha Weston to evaluate the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) prevention programme delivered by Staffordshire Police. I also worked with Sam in 2016 to evaluate early intervention and community-based prevention of solvent (ab)use in the UK, provided by the charity Re-Solv.
My PhD research explored the experiences of former military personnel leaving the armed forces and areas of conflict in the 21st century. The project used photos, objects, and narrative story telling methods to understand the embodied impact of delivering violence on behalf of the British military in the 'war on terror'. The research also offers rich insights into military to civilian transitions and experiences of (re)shaping identities after institutionalisation.
Alongside academic colleagues, artists, policy makers and advocates with veteran communities, I took part in the multi-disciplinary project 'Reimagine the Veteran' led by Dr Emma Murray, Liverpool John Moores University. The 2016 project included making a short video about my PhD research and theoretical concept of 'combat capital'.
I recently published findings around the harms of criminalisation for military veterans, including the complex 'dance of disclosure' faced by ex-armed forces communities navigating life with a criminal record amid a time of violent austerity.