Criminology

Dr Clare Griffiths joined the criminology programme as a Teaching Fellow in 2010 before being appointed as a permanent lecturer in 2011. Prior to this Clare completed her BSc (Joint Honours), MA and PhD in criminology at Keele.

Clare’s PhD research (entitled ‘Civilised Communities: Immigration and Social Order in Changing Neighbourhoods’) was interested in a controversial issue in contemporary times: that of immigration and its consequences for crime and disorder. After carrying out a survey, focus groups and interviews with both Polish migrants and local established residents in a small town in Cheshire that experienced a mass migration of Polish nationals, Clare found that new immigrants are not necessarily seen as being ‘inherently criminal’ or as a threat to the established social order as much traditional literature and popular discourse suggests. Rather, the social order in the studied locale was managed and maintained through what were termed ‘civilised relationships’ between newcomers and the established residents, thus failing to result in conflict encounters between the two groups in these changing neighbourhoods. Integration and inter-group relations are important issues in many neighbourhoods, and community tensions are often the feared response to immigration in working class areas. However, the key findings from Clare’s research suggest that neighbourhoods experiencing immigration can live in a conflict-free and civilised environment.

Clare has experience teaching on a range of modules at undergraduate level including,

Understanding Crime

Building Safer Communities

Research Methods

Policing and Security

Immigration, Communities and Crime

Clare has also taught at a postgraduate level on the MA in Criminology and Criminal Justice and the MA in Ethics of Policing and Criminal Justice.