John Croft CBE MA (Oxon and London) PGCE
I strongly support the principle of a British Society of Criminology. My interest goes back to the forerunner of the BSC – The Scientific Group for the Discussion of Delinquency Problems – established around 1953. My membership of the BSC dates roughly from 1961.
I became head of the Home Office Research Unit in 1972. The output of the Research Unit was published in an official Home Office series and some of the more significant outputs included the launch of the British Crime Survey. I recently had an article published on the website of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/research-policy ) which dealt with the problematic relationship between research and policy. In this, I argue that a clearinghouse in the form of an independent Institute of Justice would be ideal but probably unaffordable.
I have published some 50 articles on criminal justice issues.