Research – British Society of Criminology

BSC Research

This page contains examples of research by BSC members and links to other sites containing criminological material.

BSC research

BSC Challenging Behaviour Report 2022

‘Challenging Behaviour? Findings from a British Society of Criminology member survey on sexual violence and harassment in higher education’, May 2022. This report was compiled for the BSC by Dr Marian Duggan, University of Kent, and Natalie Walton, Greenwich University.

Click to here to read.

Member research

Misogyny as Hate Crime. 1st Edition. Edited By Irene Zempi, Jo Smith. 2021. Routledge.

Misogyny as Hate Crime explores the background, nature and consequences of misogyny as well as the legal framework and UK policy responses associated with misogyny as a form of hate crime. Taking an intersectional approach, the book looks at how experiences of misogyny may intersect with other forms of hate crime such as disablism, Islamophobia, antisemitism and transphobia.

Victims and Victimology

In recent decades, a growing emphasis on meeting the needs and rights of victims of crime in criminal justice policy and practice has fuelled the development of research, theory, policy and practice outcomes stretching across the globe. This growth of interest in the victim of crime has seen victimology move from being a distinct subset of criminology in academia to a specialist area of study and research in its own right.

The work of BSC members on victimological research includes some of the highest quality research in the field which has helped to shape the field.

Coming soon from BSC members publishing with Palgrave

2019 Revisiting the Yorkshire Ripper Murders Interrogating Histories of Violence, Gender and Victimhood -L. Wattis
Victimology Research, Policy and Activism -J. Tapley and P. Davies
A Victim Community? Collective Stigma and the Legacy of the Media in High Profile Crime -N. O’Leary

For further information please email Josephine Taylor, Commissioning Editor for Criminology:

Josephine.Taylor@palgrave.com

Race, Racialisation and the Death Penalty in England and Wales, 1900-65 – Principal Investigator: Lizzie Seal, University of Sussex; Research Fellow: Alexa Neale, University of Sussex

‘Race, Racialisation and the Death Penalty in England and Wales, 1900-65’ is an interdisciplinary project at the University of Sussex funded by the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2016-352). It draws on concepts, methodologies and modes of analysis from both history and criminology to explore the over-representation of black and other minority ethnic (BME) people among those capitally punished in the twentieth century (roughly 5% of civilian executions were BME compared to 0.3% of the British population in 1950).

Though case studies have previously analysed the significance of racism and racist discourse in individual trials, including in relation to miscarriage of justice (Minkes and Vanstone, 2006; D’Cruze, 2007), there have been no larger, more thoroughgoing studies of race and the death penalty. This omission leaves a gap in scholarship regarding the history of racialized punishment – the ways in which punishment was part of the maintenance of racial inequality, particularly in relation to the ‘importance of colonialism in structuring ideas about crime and punishment’ (Cuneen, 2014: 390).

By examining, as far as possible, all cases of BME individuals sentenced to death in England and Wales 1900-65, the project will explore issues of racial discrimination in relation to capital punishment, including the ways in which prosecutions for murder were in practice made racist. Narratives and stereotypes of racial difference and racialized interpretations of defendant’s behaviour will be explored through critical readings of archival material and newspaper reporting on individual cases.

The project launched in April 2017, initially focusing on identifying capital cases in England and Wales with black and other minority ethnic defendants, and copying the files on those cases at The National Archives.

More information can be found here: https://raceanddeathpenalty.wordpress.com

ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative project on Anti-Social Behaviour

This 18-month project officially started on 17^th July 2017. Identifying those most vulnerable to anti-social behaviour is the aim of the study at Nottingham Trent University.

The project, which also seeks to develop a better understanding of the harm these individuals face, is being led by criminologists in the university’s School of Social Sciences.
Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) it is set to be one of the most comprehensive studies of anti-social behaviour to date.

It is hoped that the findings will impact upon policing policy and practice such as police patrolling strategies, housing planning policy and victim support services. The 18-month study will examine the different ways in which the police across England and Wales can manage anti-social behaviour and crime in the context of diminishing budgets and the growing number of calls for public safety and welfare.

The study will build a detailed picture of the individuals and areas most likely to experience high levels of anti-social behaviour. Data will be collected from crime surveys, statistics on deprived areas and the UK census. The experts will work in collaboration with a range of stakeholders including the Nottingham Crime and Drugs Partnership; East Midlands Policing Academic Collaboration (EMPAC); police forces; local authorities and third sector organisations.

Dr Rebecca Thompson, a senior lecturer in criminology at the university, said the project was vital because reducing anti-social behaviour could have a positive impact on society. She said: “The study will enable us to work alongside a variety of organisations to undertake what is likely to be one of the most comprehensive studies of victimisation, harm and vulnerability linked to anti-social behaviour. Becoming a victim of anti-social behaviour can have very serious financial, physical and psychological consequences. Its persistent, and often targeted nature intensifies these negative consequences. The research should be of benefit to victims and their communities; the police; local authorities; landlords; third sector organisations; businesses; the NHS; and wider society as a whole”.

The research team includes Nottingham Trent University’s Dr Rebecca Thompson, Professor Andromachi Tseloni and Dr James Hunter, as well as Professor Nick Tilley of University College London.

East Midlands Policing Academic Collaboration (EMPAC)

This is an exciting, partnership of seven universities, five regional police forces and their Police and Crime Commissioners. In 2015, the collaboration was awarded funding from the College of Policing, HEFCE and Home Office Police Knowledge Fund. This grant funded an extensive, innovative programme of collaborative activity (see https://www.empac.org.uk/ for more detail). Nottingham Trent University was involved in four of the collaborative research projects as well as hosting events and developing a new Postgraduate Certificate in Policing Research.

‘Good’ police custody: theorizing the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’ – Layla Skinns, Andrew Wooff and Amy Sprawson at the University of Sheffield

Project start date: September 2013
Project end date: August 2017
Funding awarded by the ESRC: £518, 508

This study examines what ‘good’ police custody is, taking into account recent shifts towards civilianisation and privatisation in how police custody is delivered. The data from the study, including a survey of all police forces in England and Wales followed by follow up interviews and observation in four areas, will be used to create a set of benchmarks and a survey tool for police organisations to measure their performance.

More information can be found at: www.shef.ac.uk/law/research/projects/police

British Society of Criminology joint crime impact booklet with Academy of Social Sciences

Making the Case – Crime

The fourth in a succesful series published by the AcSS to demonstrate the impact of the social sciences, was launched on June 29 2011 to a packed audience of politicians, policy officials and academics at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills conference centre at Westminster with an introduction by Lord McNally, Minister of State for Justice and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords.

The BSC worked with colleagues from the AcSS to produce the booklet. Contributors included David Farrington, Shadd Maruna, Fergus McNeill, Stephen Reicher, Clifford Stott, John Drury, Fiona Brookman, Mike Levi, Peter Squires, Mike Hough, Paul Turnbull, Alex Hirschfield, Andrew Millie, Jessica Jacobson, Martin Innes, Andromachi Tseloni, Ken Pease, Amanda Robinson, Kevin Haines, Stephen Case, Jane Ireland, Colin Aitken, Graham Pike, Nicola Brace, Richard Kemp and Tim Valentine.

The ‘Making the Case’ series is designed to showcase the policy impact of social science research. Previous editions have focused on Wellbeing, Ageing and Sustainability, the Environment and Climate Change. The publication and launch of Making the Case – Crime were supported by the British Psychological Society and SAGE publishers.

Making the Case: Crime (opens as a pdf)

British Society of Criminology Statement of Ethics 2015

Please read our Statement of Ethics here.

QAA revised benchmarks for Criminology

The subject benchmark statement establishes academic standards for criminology. The revison benchmarking working group included six members of the BSC Executive Committee:

Chaired by Dr Helen Jones
Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe
Dr Nic Groombridge
Professor Andrew Millie
Dr Mark Simpson
Professor Azrini Wahidin

Useful Links

NOTE: The BSC are not responsible for the content or reliability of websites to which we link, nor should a link be taken as endorsement of any kind. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and we have no control over the availability of linked pages.

Links are grouped as follows:

UK Government Departments and Criminal Justice Agencies
UK Criminal Justice Related Organisations
Some European links
Policing/Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Ethics
Journals
Funding Bodies
Statistics
University Centres (with extensive links to other resources)
Some North American sites (many with extensive links to other resources)
Some Australian sites (many with extensive links to other resources)
International Organizations