DPhil alumni

2011

Justin Abold

Justin Abold took leave from the Federal government to pursue his DPhil in Law/ Criminology at Oxford University, focused on international policing and international/ transnational crime. His last assignment before beginning graduate studies was as Acting Director of the recently established National Applications Office. Previously, he served for over a year as Acting Director, Plans and Integration Division and before that as Deputy Director, Plans and Integration and Deputy Director, Policy within the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Homeland Security. Before leaving the analytic side of the house, Justin was Chief, Current Assessments Branch, where he led a team of homeland security analysts supporting the Secretary, DHS with assessments of the terrorist threat to the homeland, helping fulfill the departmental mandate to administer the Homeland Security Advisory System. Justin joined DHS in October 2003 as a Senior Intelligence Analyst in the Homeland Security Operations Center (now called the National Operations Center).

James Ogg

James Ogg began his DPhil in Law in October 2007 under the supervision of Professor Lucia Zedner. He completed a Bachelor of Social Science in Criminology (Honours) at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and was awarded the University Medal. James' DPhil research at Oxford examines a new measure that has been introduced in the United Kingdom to deal with organised crime, the Serious Crime Prevention Order.

James' broader research interests include: comparative criminal justice, the criminal trial, crime prevention and serious/organised crime.

Dr Gavin Slade is now teaching in Georgia. He began his DPhil in October 2007 under the supervision of Professors Federico Varese and Ian Loader and graduated in 2011. His thesis is entitled: Mafia and Anti-Mafia in the Republic of Georgia: Criminal Resilience and Adaptation Since the Collapse of Communism. The thesis was based on prolonged fieldwork and draws on expert interviews, police-data, court cases, and archival sources. The thesis comprises an in-depth case study of the resilience of a mafia known as 'thieves-in-law' in Georgia and argues that during periods of socio-economic upheaval mafias also struggle to adapt and survive. The unsettling effects of quick change in the external environment goes some way to explaining the apparent success of the Georgian state's anti-mafia policy since 2005, the first of its kind in the post-Soviet space. Generally Gavin's broad interests lie in applying the insights of analytical sociology and criminology to problems of crime and transition in post-communist countries. Particularly, the themes I am interested in are: * the formation and spread of penal subcultures under communism and their effect in framing the practices of post-communist organised crime; * the privatisation of the formerly all-pervasive communist security services and the general pluralisation of security provision following the collapse of the authoritarian state; * police reform in Georgia and Russia. His publications include:

Georgia and Thieves-in-Law, Global Crime, 8/3, 2007

Book Review: Democratic Policing in Transitional and Developing Countries. Theoretical Criminology 12/2, (Sage) 2008

Book Review: Investigating the Russian Mafia Global Crime 9/4, 2008

Qurdebi: The Resilience of a Soviet Social Institution Tskhovreba da Kanoni, Tbilisi, July 2008

The Georgian Mafia, Caucasian Analytical Digest, October 2009n

Export Dependent: Georgian gangs strengthen Russian presence, Jane's Intelligence Review, March 2010

Georgia/Europe: Coordinated Police Action Deters Organised Crime, Oxford Analytica, April 2010

Georgia's Mafia: the Politics of Survival Open Democracy, August 2010

2010

Dr Stephen Noghuera graduated with a DPhil in Law (Criminology) in 2010. He came to the Centre for Criminology in 2005 after having obtained his BA in Jurisprudence (Law) at Oriel College, Oxford University. He completed his MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Centre in 2006, and was awarded the Roger Hood Prize for overall best performance on the course. Building upon the research he carried out as part of his MPhil in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Stephen undertook his DPhil studies under the joint supervision of Dr Ros Burnett and Professor Julian Roberts. His doctoral thesis entitled ‘Taking Account of Young Offenders’ Interpretations of the Purposes and Impact of Community Sentences’ purports to explore the concept of punishment as a ‘communicative enterprise’ from a theoretical and empirical perspective by investigating what different aspects of community sentences mean to young people serving these punishments. These insider perspectives may not only be critical to an informed understanding of the operation of these sentences, but may also shed light on the nature and role of punishment’s normative and instrumental messages. Stephen’s core research interests revolve around youth justice and sentencing; public opinion on crime and justice; restorative justice, and the philosophical and theoretical tenets of punishment. His publication list includes:

C. Hoyle and S. Noguera, ‘Supporting Young Offenders Through Restorative Justice: Parents as (In)Appropriate Adults’, British Journal of Community Justice, 6, 3, 2008, pp. 67-85.

2009

Dr Alisa Stevens completed her DPhil in Law in August 2009. Her thesis was entitled "Rehabilitation, 'The TC Way': Experiences of Prison-based Democratic Therapeutic Communities". Her research examined the experience of rehabilitation for residents of the democratic therapeutic communities at HMPs Gartree, Grendon, and Send, and was superbly supervised by Ros Burnett over four (long) years. Her thesis, which argued that 'the TC way' can enable people to reconstruct their identity, transform their self-concept, and embrace a desistance-focused future, was examined by Mary Bosworth and Ben Crewe (University of Cambridge). Alisa is now a Lecturer in Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Kent.

Dr Gráinne McMahon was awarded her DPhil from the University of Oxford (Christ Church) in January 2009. The title of her doctorate is: ‘Education training and employment’ as a turning point in criminal careers. The perspectives of persistent young offenders. Gráinne’s doctoral research involved collecting in-depth case study data on a sample of persistent young offenders to investigate: (1) the extent to which education, training and employment provide a turning point in the criminal careers of persistent young offenders; and (2) how existing theories on desistance from crime, particularly life-course theories, can explain the processes involved in persistent young offenders’ movement away from criminal behaviour. Previously, Gráinne was awarded her undergraduate degree (BSc (Hons) Social Psychology and Sociology) from the University of Ulster, and her Masters degree (MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice) from Queen’s University, Belfast.Gráinne was a Research Officer in the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford from 2000-2006, and was appointed as a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Huddersfield in October, 2009.

2008

Dr Catherine Appleton, a former research officer and doctoral student at the Centre for Criminology, was awarded the '2011 Criminology Book Prize' for the book based on her doctoral thesis Life after Life Imprisonment (Oxford University Press, 2010). It offers a major insight into how societies respond to serious crime, why offenders are recalled and identifies important elements of successful reintegration for released offenders.

The Criminology book prize was established in 2001 originally sponsored by Willan Publishing and continues to reflect the desire of the British Society of Criminology and now Routledge, to encourage and recognise the achievements of new or aspiring members of the criminology profession. The judging panel looks for a book which shows evidence of particular distinction and/or innovation in methodology or theorising in the general field of criminology, or in the application of criminological theory or research to crime policy or penal practice. In essence the winning book must make a valuable contribution to the further development of criminology. For details on previous winners of the prize, please check the British Society of Criminology Prizes webpage.

Catherine Appleton was a Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the School of Law the University of Leeds and is now a research associate there. Her staff profile is available online.

Dr Emma Disley studied for a Law degree at the University of Manchester and came to Oxford in 2002 to read for the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She began her DPhil at the Centre for Criminology entitled Challending the Bounderies of Criminal Justice and Social Policy: Responses to Prolific Offenders. in 2004 under supervision of Dr Carolyn Hoyle and Professor Andrew Ashworth, and graduated in October 2008. Her thesis is as based upon empirical research into a government initiative - the Prolific and Priority Offender Scheme - which aims to reduce offending by persistent offenders. Using data collected about the implementation and operation of this initiative in four local areas, the thesis aims to conceptualise and understand some aspects of this policy which exemplify broader trends in contemporary, UK criminal justice policy. Particularly, the thesis looks at the interaction between criminal justice and social policy, and engages with the implications of the multi-agency nature of this Scheme, including the nature of information and intelligence sharing between criminal justice and non-criminal justice agencies, and the effects on police and probation officers of working in multi-agency environments.

Emma worked as a research officer at the Centre for Criminology during the first two years of her DPhil, and then went on to work part-time as a research assistant at the National Policing Improvement Agency (NIPA). Her research and teaching interests include criminal law, criminology and penology, criminal justice policy, probation and policing. Her publications include:

Neyroud, P., & Disley, E. (2007). Management of Criminal Investigations. In T. Newburn, T. Williamson & A. Wright (Eds.), Handbook of Criminal Investigation. Cullompton: Willan.

Dr Karen Cooper completed a Master of Philosophy degree in sociology at the University of Glasgow in 2000. Prior to this she obtained her BA (Hons) in Sociology from the University of Exeter. She began her DPhil in 2004 at St Edmund Hall, under the supervision of Dr Ros Burnett and graduated in September 2008. Her thesis, entitled, Engaging Young Offenders in Education, Training and Employment: The Roles of Learning Orientations and Motivational Support’, explored the process of engaging young offenders in education, training and employment (ETE). It utilises social-cognitive theories to examine how self-perceptions about learning and achievement influence engagement among young people with a history of persistent offending behaviour. The research also addresses the extent to which these perceptions are recognised and influenced through inter-personal relationships with youth justice practitioners. Her research interests include: youth justice and education policy, persistent young offenders, education and crime prevention, restorative justice. Her publication list includes the following publications with then and current Centre Members:

Cooper, K., Sutherland, A. and Roberts, C. (2007) Keeping Young People Engaged: Improving Education, Training and Employment Opportunities for Serious and Persistent Young Offenders.
London: Youth Justice Board.

Cooper, K., Haslewood-Pocsik, I. and Roberts, C. (2005) Keeping Young People Engaged: Year 2 Final Report. London: Youth Justice Board.

Young, R., Hoyle, C. Cooper, K. and Hill, R. (2005) Informal Resolution of Complaints Against the Police: A quasi-experimental test of restorative justice. Criminal Justice 5(3).

Roderick Hill, Karen Cooper, Richard Young and Carolyn Hoyle. (2003) Meeting Expectations: The Application of Restorative Justice to the Police Complaints Process. Occasional Paper No. 21. Centre for Criminological Research.

Roderick Hill, Karen Cooper, Carolyn Hoyle and Richard Young. (2003) Introducing Restorative Justice to the Police Complaints System: Close Encounters of the Rare Kind. Occasional Paper no.20. Centre for Criminological Research.

Dr Marie-Helen Maras graduated with a DPhil in Law in 2008 and is working at a law firm.Marie completed her DPhil in Law at the Centre for Criminology, under the supervision of Professor Lucia Zedner in October 2008. Her research concerned the costs and consequences of the EU Data Retention Directive, which places the electronic communications of all EU citizens under surveillance, regardless of their links with terrorism and serious and organised crime. Her DPhil Thesis is entitled: "From Targeted to Mass Surveillance: The Consequences and Costs of the Data Retention Directive". Marie first arrived at the Centre for Criminology in September 2005 to study the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She completed her MSc in 2006 and was awarded the Roger Hood Proxime Accessit Prize. She stayed on at the Centre to complete her MPhil under the supervision of Professor Lucia Zedner. Her MPhil thesis was entitled: "From Targeted to Mass Surveillance: Is the Data Retention Directive a Justified Measure?" Before coming to the Centre, Marie completed an MA in Psychology at the University of New have in 2005. Before that, from 1997 to 2004, she served in the U.S. Navy. Her posts in the military, as a Navy Law Enforcement Specialist and Command Investigator, involved in the investigation of major and minor infractions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Her duties included crime scene analysis, search and seizure, evidence collection and storage, protective service detail, and interviewing and interrogating suspects, victims, and witnesses. She was also a liaison between the United States Navy and Greek authorities and officials in Souda Bay, Crete.