Daniel Alati was born and raised in Toronto, and attended the University of Toronto from 2004 to 2009 and received his Honours B.A. and M.A.in Criminology during that time. Daniel then decided to attend Osgoode Hall Law School in order to further pursue the criminological and international law issues he had developed a passion for in his previous studies. His L.L.M. thesis, entitled ?Responding to Global Problems Locally: Understanding and Evaluating Canada's Domestic Response to Terrorism?, analyzed Canada's response to terrorism in comparison to that of the international community in order to gain a better understanding of the process whereby states develop and implement domestic measures that are cognizant of both their international obligations and domestic realities. There are several research topics that Daniel is interested in exploring during his time at Oxford, including: international policing; transnational organized crime and terrorism and; philosophical dimensions of criminal law, including the security versus freedom debate. Daniel is interested in a number of future career paths outside of an academic career, including doing research for or working in a variety of international agencies, such as Interpol or the United Nations. Daniel is looking forward to pursuing these interests and ambitions whilst making connections with down to earth and brilliant colleagues and professors at Oxford. Outside of academics, Daniel has many other passions in life, including travel, volunteer work and fine dining. He has traveled large parts of Canada, Europe and the Caribbean and one day hopes to be able to say he has seen every continent in the world. In Canada, Daniel developed solid relationships working in a high-end restaurant for over six years and volunteering with a young man through a youth mentoring service. Although it was difficult to leave those relationships behind, Daniel is looking forward to a new challenge and experience and is excited to meet new people and get involved in the vibrant communities at St. Anne's College and Oxford.

Ana Aliverti

Ana has submitted her doctoral dissertation in December 2011. Before starting her doctorate degree, she completed a MSc. in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Oxford in 2008 with Distinction and received the Proxime Accessit to the Roger Hood Prize for Best Performance. As part of her studies, she successfully finished a Master (Magna Cum Laude) at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law in 2006 and a B.A. (Honors) at the University of Buenos Aires in 2002. After graduation, she worked as a practitioner in Argentina and the United States. 
Her dissertation, under the supervision of Dr Mary Bosworth, is an analysis of the role of criminal law for the enforcement of immigration rules and the regulation of immigration flows. It looks at both the formal criminalisation of immigration breaches -through the enactment of so called 'immigration offences'- and their enforcement in practice. Focused in the United Kingdom, her work is both a theoretical enquiry about the use of criminal powers to control immigration as well as an empirical examination of how these offences are used in everyday enforcement practices and what the function of criminal punishment is.

Harry Annison

Harry read Law at the University of Southampton, obtaining First Class Honours. He completed the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Research Methods) at the Centre for Criminology in 2009, receiving the Willan Publishing Prize for Criminological Research. His MSc dissertation was entitled ‘Imprisonment for Public Protection: A Consideration of the Concept of Risk in an English Context’.

The recipient of an ESRC 1+3 Studentship, he began his DPhil in 2009 under the supervision of Professor Ian Loader. His thesis examines British penal politics in the early 21st century, using the Imprisonment for Public Protection provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 as his case study.

He served as Assistant Editor for the European Journal of Criminology from 2009 until 2011, has a range of teaching experiences and was a visiting academic at the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia) in Autumn 2011.

William Berry III is a Green Templeton College student currently pursuing his DPhil in Criminology. His DPhil thesis, supervised by Dr. Carolyn Hoyle, is entitled "The culture of capital punishment in America's swing state: the case of Ohio." This research project explores the use of capital punishment and the ?cultural? explanations for such usage in a narrow but representative context -- the state of Ohio. The state of Ohio has been a classic swing state in American presidential politics, voting for the winner in every presidential election since 1964. Despite its seeming political balance, Ohio has been sending a disproportionate number of criminal defendants to death row in the post-Furman era (since 1976) and currently houses the fifth-largest death row population in the United States. This study seeks to explain this phenomenon by exploring the relationship between political culture and capital punishment in Ohio by identifying the procedural factors that influence the capital sentencing rate. Specifically, it examines the various aspects of Ohio?s criminal procedure that may account for its disproportionate death row population. Having determined what best accounts for the high rate of capital conviction, the study also evaluates the political and cultural elements that underlie the relevant procedural causes. Finally, this research will evaluate whether these elements reflect local or state-wide consensus concerning capital punishment policy, and more broadly, the degree to which the findings in Ohio are applicable to the United States as a whole. Will's primary research interests are in the areas of capital punishment and sentencing, and his research examines the relevant legal doctrine in the context of broader cultural and sociological concepts. Prior to coming to Oxford, Will was a practising attorney in Washington, D.C. He has previously received his BA in English from the University of Virginia and a JD from Vanderbilt University. In addition, he has served as a law clerk for the Honorable Gilbert Merritt on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the Honorable Thomas Wiseman on the District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Alex Shang Huan Chung came to the Centre in 2005 to read for the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice. His dissertation was entitled ?The Impact of Mandatory Minimum Sentences on the Volume of Firearm-related Serious Crime in Canada.? Alex transferred to the MPhil in Criminology in 2006, and upon completion of the thesis the subsequent year, he returned to the Centre to begin his DPhil under the supervision of Professor Federico Varese. Building upon his MPhil study, his doctoral thesis examines the activities and structure of ethnic-Chinese criminals known as the ?Big Circle Boys?. Based mainly on first-hand data derived from court documents and interviews with relevant parties, his thesis addresses three issues in relation to the Big Circle Boys: their typological classification according to analytic definitions of criminal entities; the extent to which their reputation is maintained as a socially constructed label; and how organisational and operational changes have occurred over time and what these represent. Alex holds a BSc (Hons) in Physical Anthropology from the University of Toronto as well as an MSc in Forensic Archaeology from Bournemouth University. His research interests include the following areas: organised crime, Asian/ Chinese criminal groups, triads, mafias.

Kristi M Cooper

Kristi Cooper worked for a number of years as an Electorate Officer for an Independent MLA of the Parliament of New South Wales, researching policing and drug matters, after completing a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Kristi then completed a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, after graduation in 2005 joining the Attorney General's Department of New South Wales, working first within the Criminal Practice Group of the Crown Solicitor's Office and then in the Criminal Division of the NSW District Court.

In 2006 Kristi was appointed Chief Researcher to the Justices of the New South Wales Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of New South Wales, assisting the Justices with a range of criminal and civil matters. She was admitted as a Solicitor and Barrister of the New South Wales Supreme Court in 2007. 

In late 2007, Kristi moved to the United Kingdom, completing an MPhil in Criminological Research at the University of Cambridge.  Her research concerned the Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS, a radical US movement of the 1960s and precursor to the Weathermen / Weather Underground.

Kristi's interests include group and organizational behaviour, security, social control, desistance, radicalization and radical movements.  She is an expert on current counter-ideological legislation, as well as WWII and Cold War ideologies and counter-ideological methods.

Kristi's prizes and scholarships in Criminology and Law include the Wakefield Scholarship 2007-2008, a Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Bursary 2007 - 2008, the Tuh Fuh and Ruby Lee Memorial Prize in Law, the JH McClemens Memorial Prize in Criminology, the Sybil Morrison Prize for Jurisprudence, and an Australian Institute of Criminology Research Internship, Canberra, 2005.

Kristi is a Wingate Scholar for 2009 - 2012, the Wingate Scholarship generously supporting Kristi's DPhil research at Oxford.

Kristi lectures in the Law of Evidence, Criminal Behaviour Analysis, Advanced Criminal Justice Theory and Application, Criminal Law, Criminological Theory, and Research Methods for a prominent international University.

She has presented papers on counter-ideology and counter-terrorism, as well as upon various legal and jurisdictional matters under the Australian and UK legislative framework, at conferences in Barcelona, Quebec, Stockholm, Sheffield, and most recently presented on her current research in Singapore at the International Conference on Community Engagement (ICCE), September 2011. 

Her work at Oxford concerns British WWII efforts regarding Control Council denazification and the ideological re-education of Axis Prisoners of War.

Kristi's research and professional associations include: the Cambridge University Intelligence Committee (Cambridge); the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War; the Oxford University Strategic Studies Group; the Oxford Intelligence Group; Brasenose Lessons in Government Seminar Series; the Public International Law Discussion Group; the Cambridge Union; the Commonwealth Society (Cambridge); and the Glanville Williams Society, Jesus College (Cambridge).

An inveterate traveller, Kristi most recently returned from a road trip from Istanbul to the Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai, journeying through the forts of Aleppo and Krak Des Chevaliers, and spending time with the Bedouin in Jordan's magnificent Wadi Rum, where she reacquainted herself with mansaf and the correct way to guide an obstreperous camel across the desert.

Matthew Davies will be pursuing his DPhil under the supervision of Ian Loader. He intends to examine the impact of Elected Police and Crime Commissioners, set to be introduced across England and Wales in 2012. His study will monitor the way in which the policy unfolds in practice and will explore the broader theoretical implications with regard to police governance and accountability.

Matthew completed an MPhil in Criminology at the University of Cambridge, Wolfson College. Prior to this, he received a first class BA degree in Criminology at the University of Leeds, where he also worked as an advisor at the university's legal advice clinic. During his third year, Matthew spent a year studying at Carleton University, Ottawa.

Aside from his interest in policing, Matthew has enjoyed various experience in other aspects of criminology. Whilst in Canada, Matthew worked for Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA), assisting the reintegration of offenders back into the community. Subsequently, his undergraduate dissertation focused on the release of elderly prisoners and was published in the Internet Journal of Criminology. Whilst at Cambridge, Matthew additionally became interested in crime prevention under the supervision of David Farrington and completed research relating to the effects of street lighting on crime. Outside of these interests, Matthew plays a wide variety of sport and represented Wolfson College's football first team. He also enjoys the great outdoors, travelling and volunteering.

Roberto Durrieu is an MSt and DPhil student at Oxford. Previously, he obtained a Specialization Degree in Criminal Law at Austral University (2003), a Master in American Law (LLM) at Duke University (2001) and a BA in Law from the Argentine Catholic University (1998). Roberto's DPhil research at Oxford is entitled: 'The Global Fight against Money Laundering: Are we doing enough?'. Taking an international and comparative perspective the main purposes of the research are, first, to design a new definition of the international crime of money laundering and, second, to suggest the inclusion of this new definition of the offence under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Both aims intent to structure a more effective fight against money laundering. Roberto?s broader research interests include: comparative criminal justice, business crimes, crime prevention, corruption, serious/organised crime, security and human rights.

Andrew Faull Before his leap of faith back into academia, Andrew Faull was employed as a Senior Researcher in the Crime & Justice Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), a policy research institute with offices across Africa. At the ISS he was lead researcher on a three-year project exploring police corruption and integrity management in the South African Police Service (SAPS). During that time he published numerous articles, papers and co-authored a monograph on the subject, and helped drive related policy reform. He was a regular public commentator on police related matters and presented papers and inputs at various workshops, seminars and conferences together with other members of civil society, government and academia.

At Oxford, under the supervision of Prof. Ian Loader and Dr. Jonny Steinberg, Andrew?s doctoral research explores issues of police professionalism in South Africa. His interests include the lived experience of police officials and how these inform police culture and the ?doing? of police work.

Andrew holds BA, BsocSc(Hons) and Mphil degrees from the University of Cape Town and has spent time as a visiting student at New York University. He holds certificates from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, The New School for Social Research and, after a period of self-discovery - the Foundation School of Art. In addition to his ISS publications, Andrew has authored a monograph on diversity training in the SAPS, and a book sketching the working lives of twenty-eight SAPS officials.

When not pondering crime and police, Andrew enjoys travel, exercise induced highs, long walks on the beach, rationalism, pragmatism and sunshine.

Fernanda Fonseca Rosenblatt has been awarded a scholarship from CAPES Foundation, an agency under the Brazilian Ministry of Education, to pursue her doctorate degree here at the Centre for Criminology. Her supervisor is Dr. Carolyn Hoyle and the provisional title of her thesis is 'THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY IN RESTORATIVE PRACTICES WITH YOUNG OFFENDERS IN ENGLAND AND WALES: Some Implications for Brazilian Youth Justice'. She obtained her BA in Law in 2003 at the Universidade Católica de Pernambuco, Brazil. In 2005 she completed her MSc in Criminology, with distinction, at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. From 2006 to 2009 she worked as a lecturer in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure at Faculdade Integrada do Recife, where she was head of the law course for one academic year. In 2009 she was invited to lecture Criminal Law at Universidade Católica de Pernambuco, from where she received a three year sabbatical to pursue her DPhil studies at the University of Oxford. During her lectureships at Faculdade Integrada do Recife and Universidade Católica de Pernambuco, Fernanda supervised many undergraduate dissertations on topics related to Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Criminology and Victimology. Since 2006 she has been invited to speak at important international events such as the 1st World Congress on Restorative Juvenile Justice (Lima, Peru) and the 1st International Seminar on Restorative Justice (São Paulo, Brazil). Since August 2007 she has been an associate member of the Brazilian Society of Victimology and since March 2008 she has been a researcher of the Center for Study on Coercive Institutions and Criminality (NICC) of Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (Brazil). During her first year as a DPhil student here at the University of Oxford (academic year 2010/11) Fernanda has co-convened the Criminology Research Students Discussion Group (CDG) and presented a paper at the International Graduate Legal Research Conference 2011 (King's College London).

Chris Giacomantonio

Chris Giacomantonio began his DPhil at the Centre for Criminology under the supervision of Professor Ian Loader in 2009. His doctoral project examines how public police units work with one another inter- and intra-organizationally.  For this project he completed fieldwork and interviews with multiple police agencies in the Lower Mainland, British Columbia, Canada from September 2011 to February 2012.  Alongside his thesis work, Chris has been co-teacher of the MSc Qualitative Methods option at the Centre for Criminology, and currently does learning technologist work for the Law Faculty and others in the university.  He also convenes the Police and Policing Research Discussion Group through the Centre for Criminology, which holds fortnightly discussions on various issues of police research during term time.

Chris's broader research interest is to understand how we conceptually distinguish ‘new’ policing from ‘traditional’ policing, and which distinctions are analytically useful in understanding how citizens relate to the state across space and time.  He has also developed an interest in the normative and theoretical implications of multijurisdictional police practice.  He has previously worked as part of research teams studying topics including Canadian policing, municipal governance and strategic planning, feminism in Canada, and young offenders.

Chris is a member of Wolfson College, and currently holds a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) Doctoral Scholarship. He completed his Master of Arts degree at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, Canada in 2009, where his research was an ethnographic account of foot patrol policing.  He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology from Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada completed in 2005. He lives in Oxford with his wife Rachel and son Jacob.

Michelle Grossman holds two Masters Degrees, one in Criminology and the other in Social Work, both from The University of Toronto in Canada. For three years following completion of the MA in Criminology, Michelle worked with Professor Anthony Doob at the Centre of Criminology at The University of Toronto as a Research Officer. During this time she also worked as a Researcher in the Forensic Division at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto. Following completion of the MSW degree, she worked at Toronto Child Abuse Centre (TCAC - now known as BOOST), an NGO in Toronto, as Manager of two of the Agency?s clinical programmes, one working with child victims of sexual abuse, the other, working with adult male sex offenders in a relapse prevention programme. After five years at TCAC, Michelle moved to Ottawa to assume a position with the Canadian Federal Government?s Department of Justice. For three years she worked for the Research and Statistics Division as the Senior Research Officer leading the research agenda for the Department?s Policy Centre for Victim Issues. She followed this with one year at the Canadian Department of Public Safety (formerly Solicitor General Canada). Michelle's doctoral research, under the supervision of Professor Andrew Ashworth, involves crime victims and international criminal law.

Rudina Jasini is currently pursuing a DPhil in Law at Oxford, focusing her doctoral research on victim participation as partie civile in international criminal proceedings. She has taught tutorials in Public International Law and International Criminal Law at New College and Christ Church in Michaelmas 2010 and Hilary 2011. In 2009, she received an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Oxford. She also holds an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University Law Center (2006) and a B.A. in Law from the University of Tirana (2001).

Rudina has focused her studies and work as an attorney on rule of law, international criminal law and human rights. Prior to coming to Oxford, she worked for the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague as a legal officer on the Defence Team in the case of Haradinaj et al, the trial of the former Prime Minister of Kosovo and two co- defendants. In March 2009, she worked pro bono with the legal team providing representation and assistance to victims of the Cambodian genocide, in the prosecution of Kaing Geuk Eav (a/k/a Duch), which was the first trial before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Emma Kaufman Emma received degrees in Philosophy and Gender Studies from Columbia University before coming to the Centre for Criminology as a Marshall Scholar in 2009. She was awarded the Roger Hood Prize for her performance in the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice and continued her studies with an MPhil in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She started her MPhil research in September 2009 under the supervision of Dr Mary Bosworth and graduated with Distinction in July 2010. Her DPhil dissertation focuses on the treatment and management of foreign nationals within the prison estate in England and Wales. This work examines the role that nationality plays in prisoners? experiences of incarceration, the relationship between immigration and penal policy, and the methodological implications of ethnographic research. Her central question is how the challenges posed and felt by foreign nationals alter contemporary accounts of state power. Her wider research interests include race and gender, preventive and immigration detention, sociology of punishment, and sentencing.

Marie Manikis is currently pursuing her DPhil in Law under the supervision of Professor Andrew Ashworth and Dr Carolyn Hoyle after successfully completing her MSt thesis in Law at Oxford in 2009-2010. In 2009, she completed her LL.M. thesis on the constitutionalization of victims' rights from the Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, in Canada where she also taught as a teaching assistant a course on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and judicial review. Prior to this she completed her law degree at the University of Montreal where she graduated with Honours on the Dean's List and clerked for a Superior Court Justice. As a member of the Quebec Bar, she has practiced in a law firm in Montreal.

Her MSt thesis evaluated the information provisions and complaints mechanism available for victims in England and Wales under the recent Code of Practice for Victims of Crime. Her current doctoral dissertation is an extension of her MSt thesis and compares victims' rights and policy in the criminal justice process in England and Wales, Canada and the United States. More specifically, her dissertation focuses on the various mechanisms of enforceability and redress available for victims when their rights have been breached. Marie's wider research interests include criminal law, victims, sentencing, human rights, constitutional and administrative law as well as theories of judicial review.

Michelle Miao started her DPhil in Law in October 2008 under the supervision of Dr Carolyn Hoyle and Dr Mary Bosworth, which involves death penalty and international law.

She holds two Masters Degrees, one in Criminal Law from Renmin University of China and the other in International Legal Studies from New York University Law School. She worked for Tsinghua University Law School as a research assistant in comparative criminal law and worked for the Chinese Judge Training Programme in New York University as a teaching assistant. She was a research assistant on the topic of death penalty for the Asian Law Society, New York University Law School.

Michelle was a law clerk in Trust and Justice Law Firm, Shanghai, China and an associate with HellerEhrman LLP New York and Hong Kong offices.

Stephen Noguera 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 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, 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 has attended a viva voce and will shortly resubmit his dissertation with minor corrections. 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.

Sophie Palmer read law at Keble College, Oxford continuing to the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Centre for Criminology. She began her DPhil in 2007 under the supervision of Dr Mary Bosworth. Her thesis, ?The Responsibilisation Project: Governance at a Distance Inside the Private Prison? explores, through empirical study, the role of the private prison within a neo-liberal democracy. Sophie was Stipendiary Lecturer in Law and Graduate Admissions Coordinator at Balliol College, Oxford between 2009-2010. In addition she served as Junior Dean at Keble College, Oxford between 2008-2009. She was research assistant on the forthcoming Hart publication ?Emotion and Crime? and has previously worked as research assistant to Professor Roger Hood and Dr Carolyn Hoyle on ?The Death Penalty' (OUP, 2008). Sophie?s wider teaching and research interests include criminal, constitutional and family law, the prison estate and the privatised prison and the sociology of punishment.

Daniel Pascoe

Sylvia Rich is working on a DPhil on the sentencing of corporations, under the supervision of Professor Julian Roberts. After graduating from an LL.B./B.C.L. at McGill, Sylvia had the honour of serving as a law clerk for Justice Ian Binnie at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2007-2008. In 2008-2009 she worked as an associate at a law firm in New York.

Lea Sitkin came to the Centre for Criminology in October 2010, having completed her MSc in Comparative Social Policy (Research) at Oxford University that same year. She was awarded a distinction overall for her Masters and for her dissertation, which looked at the relationship between economic insecurity and punitive social/penal policy. Lea is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Mary Bosworth and Prof. Nicola Lacey. Building on her previous interest in the political economy of punishment, her thesis looks at the way in which the measures, politics and impacts of policy measures criminalising migrants (in particular, migrant workers) differ across the varieties of capitalism. To this end, Lea will be conducting extensive field work in the UK and in Germany next year. Outside of her thesis, Lea volunteers as a detention support worker for detainees at a local detention centre. She is also looking forward to conducting research on poverty, social exclusion and social cohesion in London this summer.

Marie Tidball

After reading her BA in Jurisprudence (Law) at Wadham College, Marie did a year's journalism traineeship at Channel 4 News before returning to Oxford to do the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice - for which she obtained a distinction. Her MSc dissertation 'Mad, Bad or Disabled?' looked at the importance of developing a coherent disability perspective in Criminology for the governance of offenders with learning disabilities and mental health problems (LD&MHP) in England and Wales. Arguing Lord Bradley's Report (2009) made this theoretical venture all the more pertinent, Anti-social Behaviour Orders were used as a practical case-study of the application of such a disability perspective since they have posed a particular problem for perpetrators with LD&MHP. This study received a top first class mark and led her to work as Policy and Legal Officer at Autism West Midlands. Here she co-ordinated and produced a number of consultation responses to national and local government consultations including the Autism Statutory Guidance Implementing fulfilling and rewarding lives (see DH, 2010) and Birmingham City Council's A Vision for Adult Social Care (see, 2010). Gaining insight into the application of the Big Society in practice and knowledge of the changes in Local Government, Health and Adult Social Care (see Localism Bill 2010-11; Health and Social Care Bill 2010-11; DH, 2010) and the interaction of these changes with the English Criminal Justice System, her role inspired her to return to Oxford to pursue the DPhil in Criminology. Marie received an ESRC +3 Studentship and began her DPhil in October 2011 under the supervision of Dr Carolyn Hoyle. Her thesis explores the governance of offenders with Autistic Spectrum Conditions in the English Criminal Justice System. Marie's wider interests include administrative law, the role of elite decision-makers in the criminal justice system, restorative justice, victimology and the relationship between politics, the media and criminal justice policy.

Elizabeth Vartkessian came to Oxford in 2003 to read for an MSc in Comparative Social Policy after obtaining a BA in Philosophy and Political Science from The George Washington University, in Washington D.C. Elizabeth’s MSc dissertation analyzed the impact of public opinion on capital punishment policies in Britain and the United States. From Oxford Elizabeth moved to Houston, Texas where she began work as a mitigation specialist charged with the task of collecting life history information for the defense of clients facing capital murder charges in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Elizabeth began her DPhil in October 2007 under the supervision of Dr Carolyn Hoyle. Her research focuses on the construction and presentation of mitigation evidence in death penalty cases in Texas.

Irina Vasiliu holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the National School of Public Administration in France (2006, ENA). Prior to this she obtained a BA in Romanian Law from the Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest (2004) and a BA in European Law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne (2004). Her research interests have been focusing on the field of Human Rights and on that of European Criminal Law ever since her university studies. She took part in European Moot Courts on Human Rights, actively participated in the activities of the Human Rights Centre of the University of Bucharest and wrote her BA and MA dissertations on topics falling within the two areas mentioned above. Irina began her DPhil in October 2007 under the supervision of Dr Benjamin Goold. Her thesis, entitled 'An evaluation of the EU's legislative developments in the fight against terrorism and possible implications for human rights and fundamental freedoms' seeks to analyze the added value of the EU in this area and the possible shortcomings in terms of human rights. The interactions between this policy and the policies of some Member States will also be observed along her thesis.

Mark Walters is in his final year of DPhil study under the supervision of Dr Carolyn Hoyle. The doctorate is entitled 'Hate Crimes Hurt More: Can Restorative Justice Help Heal the Wounds of Hatred?'. The thesis' main aim is to explore whether restorative justice practices help victims to recover from their experiences of hate victimisation. Using observations of restorative meetings and interviews with participants the thesis also examines whether restorative processes help to bridge the empathetic divide between offenders and victims. Before this Mark completed his MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Research Methods) at the Centre for Criminology University of Oxford (2008). Mark also has an LLM specialising in criminal justice at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (2006), and an LLB (honours) from Sussex University (2002). Mark currently teaches criminal law at Oxford Brookes University where he has also taught the course Communication Skills for Lawyers. His previous positions include: Lecturer in Law at UNSW (2004-2006) where he lectured criminal law, foundations of law and advanced legal research; Tutor in Criminal Justice and Penology at St Catherine's College, Oxford University (2009); and Visiting Fellow at UNSW (2011).

Kate West

From January 2012 I will serve as the editorial assistant for Theoretical Criminology.