Academic Profile

In September 2007 I took up a post of Reader in Criminology in the Law School at Sheffield University, lecturing to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. I was promoted to Chair of Criminology in January 2010. Prior to that I have taught at the Universities of Oxford and Keele. I have held visiting positions at ANU (Asutralia) and the Department of Criminology at Keele University.

My research has focused on the fear of crime (especially how best to measure it), why people stop offending, middle-class crimes, and crime histories. I have recently completed a 5th sweep of interviews with a cohort of probationers who were originally supervised in 1997-98.

Qualifications

October 1989 – July 1993 B.Sc. in Applied Sociology (2i), University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
October 1993 – September 1994 M.Sc. in Social Research Methods, University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
October 1998 – March 2001, D.Phil. St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University. Probation, Social Context and Desistance From Crime. Awarded: 15th June 2001.

Teaching and Learning

I have taught in the areas in which I research for almost 20 years. I have been interested in why people stop offending since I completed an internship at the Home Office in 1992 and have been researching this topic (on and off) since that point. These research insights feed into my own teaching for Life After Punishment (a specialist module I teach to undergraduates at 2nd and 3rd year levels). I also supervise a number of PhD students on life after offending/desistance from crime, and so am abreast of the latest developments in this field.

I also used my general research experiences when teaching Introducing Criminological Research and when I lecture to post-graduate students on research methods and research design. Many of the lessons from research have transferable skills, and so generic insights can be distilled easily.

The modules I teach are:

Undergraduate	Postgraduate and MA
Understanding Criminology: Advanced Level Introduction (Convenor)	The Research Process
Life After Punishment: Leaving Crime Behind (Convenor)

Research Interests

• Impact of neo-liberal social and economic policies on crime
• Desistance from crime
• Fear of crime
• Qualitative longitudinal research
• Designing survey research tools
• Crime histories

Director of the CCR Research Cluster.

Key Publications

Farrall, S., Sparks, R., Hough, M. and Maruna, S. (eds) (2011) Escape Routes: Contemporary Perspectives on Life After Punishment. London, Routledge.

Godfrey, B., Cox, D. and Farrall, S. (2011) Serious Criminals: A Historical Study of Habitual Criminals. Clarendon Studies in Criminology, Oxford University Press, Oxford. With a Foreword by Professor Pat Carlen, Westminister University.

Farrall, S., Jackson, J. and Gray, E. (2009) Social Order and the Fear of Crime in Contemporary Times. Clarendon Studies in Criminology, Oxford University Press, Oxford. With a Foreword by Professor Wesley Skogan, Northeastern University, USA.

Godfrey, B., Cox, D. and Farrall, S. (2007) Criminal Lives: Family Life, Employment and Offending. Clarendon Studies in Criminology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Farrall, S. and Calverley, A. (2006) Understanding Desistance from Crime, Crime and Justice Series. Open University Press, London.

Farrall, S. (2002) Rethinking What Works With Offenders. Willan Publishing, Cullompton, Devon. With a Foreword by Christine Knott, Chief Probation Officer, Greater Manchester Probation Area.

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

The Long-Term Impact of Probation Supervision: Is Impact Detectable After  15 Years? (with B. Hunter, G. Sharpe and A. Calverley), British Society of Criminology Yorkshire & Humberside Branch, Leeds, 22nd March, 2012.

The Long-Term Impact of Probation Supervision: Is Impact Detectable After 15 Years? (with B. Hunter, G. Sharpe and A. Calverley), West Yorkshire
Probation Area Trust, Wakefield, 22nd February, 2012 [Invitation].

The Spatial Dynamics of Desistance from Crime, School of Law, Manchester University, 15th February 2012. [Invitation].

The Long-Term Impact of Probation Supervision: Is Impact Detectable After 15 Years? (with B. Hunter, G. Sharpe and A. Calverley), Ministry of Justice Offender Engagement Seminar, Ministry of Justice, London, 27th September 2011 [Invitation].

Making Strategic Choices When Studying Desistance from Crime, PhD Seminar on Making Strategic Choice in Criminological Research, Ghent University, Belgium, 8th September 2011 [Invitation].

What did Mrs Thatcher do to Crime in the UK? (with W. Jennings), Seminar on Exploring and Theorising the Long-Term Impacts of Thatcherite Social and Economic Policies, British Academy, London, 19-10th July 2011.

Where Might We Be Headed? Some of the Possible Consequences of Climate Change for Crime and Policing, Presentation to Lothian & Borders Police, Edinburgh, 28th June 2011 [Invitation].

Theorising Structural and Individual-Level Processes in Desistance and Persistence: Outlining an Integrated Perspective”, Stockholm Criminology Symposium, Stockholm, 14th June 2011.

Rethinking Evaluation: Lessons from studying desistance from crime, Scottish Government, Glasgow, 16th May 2011. [Invitation].

How do we Explain the Relationship Between Public Opinion, Crime Rates and Politics?: An Enquiry Using the 1979-1997 Period as a Reference Point, Teeside University, 9th February 2011. [Invitation].

Key Projects/Grants

Title/Description:	Research into the Quality of Engagement in Probation Practice
Awarding Body:	Ministry of Justice
People Involved:	Professor Joanna Shapland, Professor Sir Tony Bottoms, Dr Gwen Robinson, Sheffield University and Fergus McNeill, Glasgow University
Years Funded for:	September 2010 - July 2012
Amount:	£176,536

Title/Description:	Tracking Progress on Probation: long-term patterns of desistance and reform (F/00118/BS)
Awarding Body:	Leverhulme Trust
People Involved:	Dr Gilly Sharpe
Years Funded for:	February 2010 - April 2012
Amount:	£191,346

Title/Description:	Mrs Thatcher’s Criminological Legacy – A Scoping Project (RES000222688) Graded as 'good' by the ESRC.
Awarding Body:	Economic and Social Research Council
People Involved:	Jonathan Jackson, LSE
Years Funded for:	July 2008 - October 2008
Amount:	£32,043

Professional Activities and Recognition

May 2010 - present: Member of Editorial Board of the British Journal of Criminology (5 year appointment).
March 2010 - present: Member of Howard League for Penal Reform’s Research Advisory Group.
September 2008 – present: Editor, International Series on Desistance & Rehabilitation, Willan Publishing (now Routledge).

Areas of Research Supervision

• Impact of neo-liberal social and economic policies on crime
• Desistance from crime
• Fear of crime
• Qualitative longitudinal research
• Designing survey research tools