Research
research in sociology and social sciences fits broadly within five key themes:
Globalisation, Power and Post-Colonialism
This research theme, supported by and associated with the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation, is concerned with theorising global processes and systems of power, critically interrogating Western ideologies and addressing issues of governance, citizenship and social change in the contemporary world.
- Modern slavery and trafficking in human beings
- Inequalities, class and power in the UK
- The policing of minority communities
- ‘Race’ and multiculturalism
- Racism and anti-fascism
- Globalisation and resistance
- Social justice
Staff: Dr Mick Wilkinson
- Postsocialist transformations
- Central and East European ethnography
- Russian / Ukrainian relations
- Nationalisms, identities and conflicts
- Communities and development
- Experience of loss and dispossession
Staff: Dr Julia Holdsworth
Gender and Sexualities
The theme of gender and sexualities, supported by a dedicated Centre for Gender Studies, brings together a critically engaged and intellectually diverse body of work.
- Gender and crime
- African theatre
- Restorative justice
- South Africa - women and political change/ sex and sexuality
- Violence against women
- Women's narratives
- Youth and crime
Staff: Dr Bev Orton
Culture, Religion and Society
This emerging area of work draws together studies of contemporary cultural practices, their inter-relationships and their social impacts, including in the media and the digital world.
- Media, culture and society
- Digital culture
- Cyberethnography and online research
- Internet safety
- Media and religion
- Film and religion
- Religion and digital culture
- Technology and religion
Staff: Dr Denise Carter, Dr Alexander D. Ornella, Paul Dearey
- The body in culture, politics and society
- Historical sociology
- Political sociology
- Cultural politics
- Classical and contemporary social theory
- Warfare, security and military power in theoretical perspective
- Literary sociology (fictions as social theory/sociology)
- Memorialisation (funerals, monuments, remembrance practices, collective mourning)
- The body and religion
- Visual and material study of religion
Staff: Dr Alexander D. Ornella
- Children and families
- Professional education
- Professional ethics
- Religion and spirituality
- Sport, religion and spirituality
Staff: Dr Denise Carter, Dr Alexander D. Ornella, Paul Dearey
Health, Well-being and Social Inclusion
This theme encompasses work that theorises notions of health, illness and well-being integrated with empirical studies and evaluations of health, social work and social care provision.
- Sociology of chronic illness
- HIV and AIDS
- Obesity
- Health and the family
- Marginal masculinities
Staff: Professor Liz Walker
- Adolescent development
- Domestic violence
- Young people and suicide
Staff: Dr Jo Bell
- Disability studies
- Equality and diversity
- Social Identities
Staff: Dr Ruth Butler
- Kinship care
- Foster care
- Looked after children
- Child sexual exploitation
Staff: Dr Karin Cooper
- International population health (focus on sub-Saharan Africa)
- HIV/AIDS
- Maternal/child health
- Adolescent sexual and reproductive health
- Quantitative research (including multilevel modelling) and mixed methods research
Staff: TBC
- Sexualities
- Chronic illness
- Music and well-being
Staff: Dr Liz Price
- Youth work and youth studies
- Professional practice learning in higher education
- Health and wellbeing of young people
- Student experience of teaching, learning and assessment
Staff: Julie Rippingdale
- Youth offending
- Youth justice
- Problematic drug use
Staff: Dr Luke Cartwright
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Criminological research is supported by a dedicated Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice. It has built on our strengths in evaluative criminal justice and penological research while developing an increasing focus on the research questions posed by new forms of surveillance, terrorism, information and communication technologies, and the transnational agenda in criminology.
- Alcohol and crime
- Violence prevention
- Knife and gun crime
Staff: Dr Iain Brennan
- Victims and victimisation
- Restorative justice
- Cultural criminology / social theory
- Community justice and punishment
- Reducing reoffending
Staff: Dr Simon Green
- Areas of the history of crime and punishment between 1750 and 1950, particularly those interested in imprisonment, penal policy and other custodial settings
- Contemporary imprisonment and penal policy
Staff: Dr Helen Johnston
- The social impact of ‘new surveillance’ technologies
- Media representations of crime and surveillance
- Contemporary theoretical perspectives on penal transformation
Staff: Dr Mike McCahill
- Modern slavery and trafficking in human beings
- Inequalities, class and power in the uk
- The policing of minority communities
- ‘Race’ and multiculturalism
- Racism and anti-fascism
- Globalisation and resistance
- Social justice
Staff: Dr Mick Wilkinson
- Restorative justice
- Mediation and conflict management
- Peacemaking criminology
Staff: Dr Margarita Zernova
- Gender and crime
- African theatre
- Restorative justice
- South Africa - women and political change, and sex and sexuality
- Violence against women
- Women's narratives
- Youth and crime
Staff: Dr Bev Orton
- Media representations of crime
- Victims and victimisation
- Victimisation, identities and narrative
- Ethical methods of researching with victims
Staff: Dr Nicola O'Leary