Not sure full riot police at the entrance is a good look for a criminology conference…

The use of swearing to relieve stress, anger, pain or frustration is known as ‘lalochezia’.

wonkhe.com/blogs/differ... Me talking about the value of higher education – for fear we may lose what we have failed to adequately value.

50 free e-copies via www.tandfonline.com/eprint/56EAB...

Still accepting abstracts! :) let me know if you’d be keen to contribute.

Also: “crime has subsided, but its memory hasn’t” might be the sentence that finally kills me. Even if murder drops—at historic rates, to pre-pandemic levels, in one of the fastest drops in US history—it really didn’t, bc … MEMORIES. (And why do ppl still cling to these memories? WHY, MEDIA?!)

Really happy that the articles in a themed issue of Incarceration on the Moral and Ethical Worlds of Coercive Confinement, edited by me and Ryan Williams, are beginning to come out. Over the next few days, I'll post about them all, starting with our prologue: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

At a remote prison in Virginia, a number of incarcerated people are resorting to an extreme form of protest: they're setting themselves on fire. Jennifer Black and Noel Hanrahan of @prisonradio.bsky.social on what's driving these men to assert their humanity this way.

Criminology people with interest in experiences of families of people in prison! I am keen to finally get this idea moving: an edited collection of chapters on stigma. Quite a lot to explore and lots of policy interest. Get in touch and pls share! docs.google.com/document/u/1...

The Guardian view on the Gauke review: prison isn’t working | Editorial

Punishment has been conflated with revenge. It’s myopic and counter-productive: we need to look beyond vengefulness when holding people accountable for the harms they have done.

Did you know that women were being taken to prison ‘as a place of safety’? www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

I’m just an academic asking job reference requests to come with a simple text box and not two pages of instructions and a requirement for two uploaded documents… I have to write dozens of these. Take pity.

Hi everyone, to kick off my maiden post please read our newly published paper in the BJC which argues for the abolition of all short term custodial sentences for children, and presents an alternative, viable, cost effective model @drkathyhampson.bsky.social academic.oup.com/bjc/advance-...

"Our prisons are so broken that we can't carry on. Politicians may disagree on how we fix the penal system, but everyone can agree that reform is needed." Our Chief Executive, Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), wrote an opinion piece for @bigissue.com: www.bigissue.com/opinion/pris...

My former PhD supervisee is hilarious. 😂

A New Complaint System for Prisoners in Belgium - > chapter in Just Prisons - free to read via this link: rdcu.be/d5qcr link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Word of the Day is one I keep posting at the end of the year, hoping its time will come. ‘Respair’, from the 16th century, is fresh hope, and a recovery from despair. Here’s to a few drops of respair in 2025.

How can Louboutins be simultaneously so gorgeous and so torturous to wear…

Happy new year! May 2025 be happier, healthier and more productive than the last. May your dreams come true and the world be just a little bit kinder.

Who had such a bad allergic reaction to some kind of bite that she ended up in A&E with suspected anaphylaxis/rash all over her body? Me. It’s me.

This review was a joy to write!

So the other day a medical consultant was so rude to me (and belittled me by calling me, pointedly, MISS), that I indignantly fell over and twisted my ankle on stairs. Her reason? I sent too many emails. Reality - I emailed once on request of her secretary. Now I’m indignant AND in pain.

New Publication: "The Rehabilitation Industry: Lived Experience and Performance" (10min read) Andi Brierley & I explore our observations of what we describe as a Rehabilitation Industry and reflect on our roles within it We pose tough questions for all CJS stakeholders—read & join the discussion!

Oh wow! We could learn from this.

New @ofstednews.bsky.social Annual Report notes that prison education can have a "transformative effect" but also that "prison education remains weak, almost without exception". www.gov.uk/government/p...

For the early birds, I’ll be on Times Radio tomorrow at 5.45 am, discussing the costly policy failure that is the prison building programme

I created a starter pack for Sociologists/Social Scientists of Punishment. Please share and let me know if you’d like to be added! go.bsky.app/CpCJb3J

I know that about 70% of my followers are hardworking academics. I encourage you to read this fascinating article that brilliantly captures our dramatic lives. It’s a sharp & witty reflection on the realities of academia that will resonate deeply with many of you. www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-f...

I feel so seen.

Since when is it ok to *smoke*, scream filthy abuse and harass people on a packed train…? Come on, people.

Curious about teaching on atrocity and the issues it raises in the seminar room? Annalisa Battista & I are in conversation here with @alettesmeulers.bsky.social and Nicola Quaedvlieg on just that topic. open.spotify.com/episode/4luP... (and other services) #Criminology #Atrocity #Pedagogy 1/2

If you care about prison reform, there are some excellent orgs working for change in this #StarterPack👇 Includes: 💪 @thehowardleague.bsky.social 💪 @prisonersadvice.bsky.social 💪 @prisonersed.bsky.social 💪 @prtuk.bsky.social 💪 @revdoors.bsky.social Lmk if you want to be added! go.bsky.app/2sQ9xmz

Last year I gave the Prisons’ Week lecture at Liverpool Cathedral, on Changemakers and women’s justice. I talked about Elizabeth Fry, and hopeful uncertainty and where imagination might take us. I’ve discovered it’s on YouTube so sharing it (& my Betsy Fry obsession) m.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jgb...

Me, a criminologist: I go to the theatre to relax and unwind from work. New musical I go and see blindly: Here’s a show about investigating a girl’s murder.

Policing priorities are like choosing jam in the supermarket: choice overload leads to not being able to choose or ignoring options and just doing what you normally do.

Did you know that by substituting your morning coffee with green tea, you can eliminate up to 93% of what little joy you have left?

A joy to host the delightful Paula Harriott at the University of Birmingham yesterday; talking about the importance of listening to prisoner voices, challenging orthodox notions of expertise and activism as a driver for social change.

🚨 The Carceral AI report is out! 🚫 Read the recommendations of global activists and researchers to resist technologies designed to police, incarcerate, surveil, and control human beings. carceral-ai.com Download the pdf on SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

#criminology #prison #ipm thehighlandtimes.com/voices-behin...

As term (and gosh does it feel long…) is slowly but surely drawing to and end, and it’s cold and dark and generally bleh, I am so grateful I have musical theatre to keep me going. It’s so important to have a safe happy place and people to retreat to. 💜

Criminologist Dr Marty Chamberlain is one of the co-authors of a new article: 'A Qualitative Systematic Review of the Barriers and Facilitators of the Reintegration of Men Convicted of a Sexual Offense From Prison or Secure Care into the Community' journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #Criminology

There are some bloody brilliant people on this #CriminalJustice #StarterPack Lawyers, commentators and NGOs working in/ discussing topics from the police to the courts to prisons (hi 👋) to probation… Please do share - and let me know if you’d like to be added go.bsky.app/2sQ9xmz

Deterrence (in criminal behaviour context) doesn’t usually seem to work despite what literally every layman I’ve spoken to thinks.

A quick blog post by yours truly on early release of people in prison.

Lord Timpson up before the House of Commons Justice Committee tomorrow (Tuesday) at 2.30 pm Watch it here www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

Successful end to the People’s Panel - range of recommendations on what Scotland should do differently to reduce drug harms have been produced alongside a comprehensive collective statement. A mammoth effort from the team. #demopart

Bluesky academics, lets get to know each other! Quote this & tell me: 1) a project you are working on & 2) an odd idea/theory you aren’t working on but keep thinking about 1) Exploring power and “freedom” in women’s open prisons 2) Not a theory, but the bureaucratisation of research ethics

May the spirit of creativity attack you when you least expect it