Research Institute for Social Sciences

I hope to use my doctoral studies as a platform for future research projects which assess the impact of state criminal justice interventions on the future life chances of individuals.  Additionally I hope to work as a lecturer in criminology within higher education.

The post-sentence identities of ex-offenders: Insider perspectives on stigma and rehabilitation.

My research will investigate the existential experience of stigma and marginalised identity which can result from previous criminal convictions for those who have completed their sentences.  The National Policing Improvement Agency have recently stated that there are 9.2 million individuals in the UK with a criminal conviction listed on the Police National Computer, therefore this is an issue relevant to a substantial proportion of the population.

The research will involve exploring how the 'ex-con' is constructed in the popular imagination, how the notion of 'rehabilitation' is contested within political discourses and, critically, how the 'ex-con' identity is experienced on an individual and personal level.

My short post 'The mark of a conviction' on the School of Sociology and Criminology blog discusses further the purposes of this research and is available to read at: http://socandcrimatkeele.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-mark-of-conviction.html

• Drake, D. and Henley, A. (under review) ‘Victims’ versus offenders’ rights in British political discourse.’

• Henley, A. Hudson, K. and Taylor, C. (forthcoming) 'Trends in the management of registered sexual offenders across England and Wales: Do MAPPA agencies take a consistent approach to risk?'

• 'Tough but intelligent: Can prison really punish and rehabilitate at the same time?' (Inside Time, November 2012) - Available at: http://www.insidetime.org/articleview.asp?a=1324&c=tough_but_intelligent

• 'A dangerous dichotomy' (The Justice Gap, January 2012) - Available at: http://thejusticegap.com/2012/01/a-dangerous-dichotomy/