Biography
Mary Corcoran joined the Criminology programme at Keele University in September 2005. She has published a monograph on imprisonment and resistance of women political prisoners in Northern Ireland, as well as journal articles in the ‘British Journal of Criminology’ and ‘Criminal Justice Matters’, and chapters in edited collections.
Research and scholarship
My research and published output to date spans prisons, resettlement and community-based justice; women in criminal justice; and civil society/voluntary sector actors in criminal justice. My PhD thesis, a feminist, Foucauldian ethnography of women political prisoners in Northern Ireland, appeared in print in 2006 as Out of Order: The Political Imprisonment of Women in Northern Ireland, 1972-1996. My current research responds to changes in the relationship between markets, states and civil society and their consequences for criminal justice. That work critically engages with the ethics, practice and politics of civil society and private sector actors in criminal justice spheres. I seek to develop theoretical insights through the analysis of grounded practice in research projects on diversionary and resettlement projects for women, peer mentoring and support for released prisoners. I have recently published on the challenges posed by marketisation in criminal justice. Secondly, I have published on the mobilisation of communities in ‘partnerships’ in local justice and community-based punishment. Thirdly, I have conducted empirical research on community-based ‘alternative’ disposals for criminalised women. My current research projects are on mentoring for and by women in custody and the community, and integrated offender management in Staffordshire.
Postgraduate Supervision
I have supervised several Masters dissertations in the areas of imprisonment; women in custody and community-based programmes; inter-agency work among criminal justice professionals; commissioning and procurement; voluntary sector agencies in criminal justice, among other topics. I have supervised successful doctoral projects on the Listener peer mentoring programme in prisons, and desistance amongst minority ethnic offenders as well as M Phil projects on women’s transition from prison to the community and men prisoners’ experiences of mandatory life sentences. I am currently supervising PhD projects on the post-sentence identities of ex-offenders and The voluntary sector role in peer-mentoring for and by former-offenders .
Teaching
I teach or have recently taught on courses on penality; ethics in criminal justice; gender and social control; criminal justice policy; criminological theory; qualitative research methods. I have completed accredited training in doctoral Supervision. I have been nominated twice for a Keele University Teaching and Learning Excellence Award (2012 & 2013) for my course on Prisons and Imprisonment and for the innovation of Working for Justice, which integrates personal, career and academic development in answer to the employability agenda. I am currently Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Criminology Programme.
Current courses:
Prisons and Imprisonment
Working for Justice
MA in Criminology and Criminal Justice
Selected Publications
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A bolder cost-benefit approach to capture the contribution of the voluntary sector. Criminal justice evidence library. link> full text>2020.
- 2020.
- 2020.
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'Penal drift' and the voluntary sector. Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 430-449, vol. 58(3). doi> link> full text>2019.
- 2019.
Full Publications Listshow
Books
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The Voluntary Sector and Criminal Justice. Springer.2016.
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Out of Order: The Political Imprisonment of Women in Northern Ireland, 1972-1999. Willan Publishing.2006.
Journal Articles
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'Penal drift' and the voluntary sector. Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 430-449, vol. 58(3). doi> link> full text>2019.
- 2019.
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Five years of Transforming Rehabilitation: Markets, management and values. Probation Journal, 3-7, vol. 66(1). doi>2019.
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Encountering offenders in community palliative care settings: Challenges for effective care provision. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 112-119, vol. 24(8). doi> link> full text>2018.
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Resilient hearts: making affective citizens for neoliberal times. Justice, Power & Resistance. full text>2017.
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The Penal Voluntary Sector in England and Wales: Adaptation to Unsettlement and Austerity. POLITICAL QUARTERLY, 187-196, vol. 89(2). link> doi> full text>2018.
- 2016.
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La Evolución de los mercados Penales en tiempos de Austeridad: el caso de Inglaterra Y Gales. Criticalpenal Y Poder, vol. 8.2015.
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The trajectory of penal markets in a period of austerity; the case of England and Wales. Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance, 53-74, vol. 19. doi>2014.
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The market revolution in criminal justice. Criminal Justice Matters, 2-3. doi>2014.
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How the public sphere was privatised and why civil society could reclaim it. Prison Service Journal, 39-45. link>2014.
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'Be careful what you ask for': findings from the seminar series on the 'Third Sector in Criminal Justice'. Prison Service Journal, 17-22.2012.
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'A seamless partnership?' Developing multi-agency interventions in a non-custodial diversionary project for women. Criminology and Criminal Justice. doi>2012.
- 2011.
- 2011.
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Snakes and Ladders: circuits of penal reform for women under New Labour. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 233-251, vol. 22(2).2010.
- 2008.
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Normalization and its Discontents: Constructing the ‘Irreconcilable' Female Political Prisoner in Northern Ireland. British Journal of Criminology, 405-422, vol. 47(3). doi>2007.
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Finding the Eye of the Octopus: The limits of regulating outsourced probation services in England and Wales. Revue Française de Civilisation Brittanique/French Journal of British Studies. full text>
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Finding the Eye of the Octopus: the Limits of Regulating Outsourced Offender Probation in England and Wales. Revue française de civilisation britannique. doi>
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The access to justice crisis in England and Wales: the state of the legal and advisory third sector. full text>
Chapters
- 2020.
- 2020.
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Voluntary sector practices and the risk management of offenders. In Contemporary sex offender risk management. Volume I: Perceptions. McCartan K and Kemshall H (Eds.). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. doi>2018.
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Bereavement work in the criminal justice system. In Bereavement and Criminal Justice. Routledge. full text>2018.
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The third sector role in managing serious offenders: partners, collaborators or buffers?. In Contemporary Sex Offender Risk Management, Vol I: Perceptions. McCartan K and Kemshall H (Eds.). (vol. 1). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. link> doi> link> full text>2017.
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Deconstructing the panacea: the benefits fallacy in volunteer recruitment in criminal justice. In The Voluntary Sector in Criminal Justice. Hucklesby A and Corcoran MS (Eds.). Palgrave macmillan. doi> link> full text>2016.
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Gendered dynamics of mentoring. In Women and Criminal Justice: From the Corston Report to Transforming Rehabilitation. Annison J, Brayford J, Deering J (Eds.). (14 vols.). Bristol: Policy Press. link> full text>2015.
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Integrated offender management: A microcosm of central and local criminal justice policy turbulence. In Who Knows Best? The Management of Change in Criminal Justice. Palgrave Macmillan.
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A bit neo-liberal, a bit Fabian: interventionist narratives in a diversionary programme for women. In Women Exiting Prison: Critical Essays on Gender, Post-release Support and Survival. Carlton B and Segrave M (Eds.). London: Routledge.2013.
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'Talking about resistance' : women political prisoners and the dynamics of prison conflict, Northern Ireland. In Expanding the Criminological Imagination: Critical Readings in Criminology. Barton A, Corteen K, Scott D, Whyte D (Eds.). Willan Publishing.2006.
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Researching women political prisoners in Northern Ireland : ethnographic problems and negotiations. In Researching Gender and Violence. Skinner T, Malos E, Hester M (Eds.). Willan Publishing .2005.
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‘We just had to be stronger’: the political imprisonment of women in Northern Ireland. In Irish Women and Nationalism. Irish Academic Press.2004.
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Mapping carceral space: territorialisation, conflict and control in Northern Ireland’s women’s prisons. In Ireland in Proximity: History, Gender and Space. Routledge.1999.
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Constructive ambiguity, market imaginaries and the penal voluntary sector in England and Wales. In Privatisation and Marketisation in Criminal Justice. Albertson K, Corcoran M, Philips J (Eds.). (20 vols.). Bristol, UK: Policy Press. full text>
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Constructive ambiguity, market imaginaries and the penal voluntary sector in England and Wales. In Privatisation and Marketisation in Criminal Justice. Albertson K, Corcoran M, Philips J (Eds.). (20 vols.). Bristol, UK: Policy Press. full text>
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Constructive ambiguity, market imaginaries and the penal voluntary sector in England and Wales. In Privatisation and Marketisation in Criminal Justice. Albertson K, Corcoran M, Philips J (Eds.). (20 vols.). Bristol, UK: Policy Press. full text>
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Market society utopianism in penal politics. In Privatisation and Marketisation in Criminal Justice. Policy Press. full text>
Other
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A bolder cost-benefit approach to capture the contribution of the voluntary sector. Criminal justice evidence library. link> full text>2020.
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The Voluntary Sector in Criminal Justice: A Study of Adaptation and Resilience. Summary of Early Findings.
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Youth in Focus ‘Sisters’ mentoring project: Final report of an independent evaluation.2015.
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Integrated Offender Management Research Project: Commissioned by Staffordshire Police and Partners. full text>
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Researching Third Sector Organisations' Contribution to the Criminal Justice System. Fifth report from the ESRC seminar series ‘The Voluntary Sector in Criminal Justice’. Keele: Keele University. link>2012.
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After Corston: the rehabilitation revolution?.2011.
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Chepstow House Community Project for Women Offenders.2011.
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‘There’s no altruism in volunteering’: unpaid work in graduates’ lives.2004.
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Widening definitions of ‘employability’ in non-vocational degrees.2003.
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Adapting problem based learning to non-vocational modules; some preliminary insights.2002.
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Building statutory, private sector and civil society partnerships: insights from research. EuroPris and European Confederation of Probation. link> link> full text>
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The mixed economy of criminal justice: the challenges of contestability, privatisation and partnership working. Fourth Report from the ESRC seminar series ‘The voluntary Sector in Criminal Justice’.
