Criminology@Oxford: Methods, Modes, and Motivations

The Centre for Criminology will present a special two-hour seminar before its Annual Roger Hood Lecture on Friday, 5 June 2015, with Dr Alison Liebling. Criminology@Oxford: Methods, modes, and motivations will showcase some of the research being conducted within the Centre, and by people associated with it. The seminar will focus on the current contexts of criminological research and the ways it’s communicated within and outside the discipline.

There will be four presentations, outlined below, that will each engage with one or more of the issues raised above.

The challenges and rewards of knowledge exchange, Rachel Condry

Knowledge exchange in its present form is a relatively new activity for academics. Many in criminology have long conducted collaborative work with institutions outside of academia, but ‘knowledge exchange’ as currently constructed takes a particular shape that brings with it a number of rewards, but also significant demands and challenges. This session will address some of these challenges through the example of an eighteen-month project developed from the findings of a three-year ESRC-funded study on adolescent violence towards parents.

Police research in a climate of austerity, Chris Giacomantonio

In this presentation, Chris will discuss the benefits, challenges and opportunities for policy- and practitioner-oriented research with police organisations, with a particular emphasis on the effects of changing economic circumstances on the possibilities for institutional research. The presentation will reflect on recent and ongoing work with police forces in the UK, including projects undertaken through the Centre for Criminology and at RAND Europe.

Doing research without impact: Policing studies as a global field of interest, Ben Bradford and Ian Loader

The pressure on academics to produce research with ‘impact’ is intense, and increasing. In this presentation Ian Loader and Ben Bradford will outline the motivation behind their forthcoming edited volume, The Sage Handbook of Global Policing Studies, which was conceived partly as a riposte to this new orthodoxy, one that is perhaps particularly prevalent within police studies and other areas of criminology. Researching institutions such as the police has value in and of itself, and taking a step back from ‘impact’ opens up the space for new ideas and ways of thinking. It may also help maintain an importance sense of distance between the academy and other institutions.

Blogging and social media in criminology, Ines Hasselberg and Sarah Turnbull

Drawing on their experiences in developing and managing the Border Criminologies research webpage, Ines and Sarah will discuss how blogging and social media can be used to engage the public, disseminate research, and advance professional visibility.

The seminar will run from 14:30-16:30 on Friday, 5 June 2015, in the Lecture Theatre in Manor Road Building.