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School of Social Sciences

Social Control, Crime & Criminal Justice

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Since 1991 the primary focus of research and postgraduate teaching by this group has been one of comparative criminology and criminal justice. The aim is to promote research, postgraduate teaching and consultancy on matters relating to crime and deviance, law, order and social control. It was one of the first academic units to focus on internationally comparative work. It has since interpreted ‘comparative criminology’ to include not only transnational research but also historical, spatial and cultural comparisons. Members of the group frequently cross disciplinary boundaries, using perspectives from law, history, sociology, anthropology and geography in their research.

Research projects conducted by staff have taken place across regions such as North America, Europe, North Africa and South Asia, and postgraduate students have been drawn from countries such as Greece, Belgium, Spain, Mexico, Bhutan, Syria and the USA. There is also significant emphasis placed on research and postgraduate teaching concerned with the Welsh and rural context. Several policy-oriented projects have been commissioned by local statutory and voluntary agencies, concerned with issues such as homelessness, substance abuse and anti-social behaviour. Some of our postgraduate students have been involved in such research.

Research has attracted funding from bodies such as the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the British Academy and the National Assembly for Wales. In 2003 Bangor hosted the annual conference of the British Society of Criminology, and staff and postgraduate students have organised regional conferences attended by criminal justice professionals. A number of doctoral students have been in receipt of ESRC bursaries, and the completion and successful award rates for doctoral students is high.

Current and recent areas of research interest include:

• Support for the police
• Political violence and terrorism
• Media and public opinion
• Begging in North Africa and South Asia
• Popular legal culture
• Violence in intimate relationships
• Rural criminology
• Postcolonial societies, crime and deviance
• Theoretical criminology
• Criminal justice systems
• Lay participation in the administration of justice

If you require any further information please contact:

School of Social Sciences
Bangor University
BANGOR
Gwynedd
LL57 2DG
United Kingdom

Tel: +44(0)1248 382007
Fax: +44(0)1248 382085
Email: soss@bangor.ac.uk