I re-joined the University in 2022 from the University of Birmingham. I have also worked at the University of Leeds where I completed my PhD. From September 2021 to September 2023 I was a Parliamentary Academic Fellow at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST).
Influenced by realist methodology, my research straddles the disciplines of criminology, social and public policy, sociology and political science. It has three main strands
a) Understanding the scientific and political battles in policymaking;
b) understanding the role of evidence use in Parliaments and
c) understanding the harmful effects of the criminalisation of young people and the harms of policy in addressing this.
I have recently completed (as co-I) a Nuffield Foundation funded realist review project on the criminogenic influences on youth offending. With colleagues from Kent, Sheffield, the Open University and College of Policing and I am currently undertaking a large-scale evaluation of Police-Led Drug Diversion Schemes funded by the UK Cabinet Office.
I teach mainly in the area of Criminological Theory.