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News

SCCJR Announces New Director

20th January 2020

We are delighted to announce that Dr Alistair Fraser has taken over as the new Director of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research. He has replaced Professor Sarah Armstrong who has led the Centre for the last three years. Dr Fraser, who is a senior lecturer in criminology based at the University of Glasgow, said he was looking forward...

A Fond Farewell to Dr Donna Yates

6th January 2020

We bid a fond farewell to our friend and colleague Dr Donna Yates, University of Glasgow, who is moving on from SCCJR to join the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology in the Faculty of Law at the University of Maastricht as an Associate Professor later this month. Donna will soon begin work on her 5-year project “Trafficking...

GlassWalls, a collaborative community art project, launches this month.

4th November 2019

GlassWalls, a collaborative community art project, launches this month. The stained glass art installation aims to raise awareness of domestic abuse and creatively reflects the research findings of Dr Emma Forbes, University of Glasgow, on how victims of domestic abuse experience the justice process in Scotland. The installation will launch during...

SCCJR to carry out major new project on repeat violence victimisation in Scotland

1st November 2019

SCCJR has been commissioned to work on a major new report on repeat victimisation of violence by the Scottish Government. The extensive 16-month research project will be led by Dr Susan Batchelor and assisted by Dr Caitlin Gormley as the main researcher, along with Dr Marguerite Schinkel who will conduct a secondary analysis of her Lives Sentenced...

Updated Learning Resource for Schools

29th October 2019

The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research has recently updated its Learning Resource for Schools. These briefings, which were originally prepared by Dr Rebecca Foster and Greg Duncan, have become a popular source of information for Modern Studies teachers and students alike. We have received numerous emails from teachers over the years to...

Multi-million pound award for domestic abuse research

19th October 2019

Researchers have received a multi-million pound grant to investigate innovative interventions to support children and young people impacted by domestic abuse. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has awarded just over £2 million to a team led by the University of Stirling and comprising researchers from the universities of Edinburgh,...

Major new report takes stock of violence in Scotland

17th September 2019

Researchers based at the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research have published a major new report which consolidates existing knowledge on violence in Scotland. A wealth of research has been conducted in Scotland over the last decade which has been essential in helping us understand violent offending in this country, but this is the first...

An open letter about the Whole Life Custody draft proposal by Liam Kerr MSP

26th August 2019

Dr Hannah Graham (Stirling) and Prof Fergus McNeill (Glasgow) have written an open letter to Liam Kerr MSP in response to his proposal to introduce a whole life custodial sentence. In their letter Dr Graham and Prof McNeill argue that the proposals are ‘as regressive and problematic in principle as it would prove to be in practice’ and say existing arrangements in Scotland “for dealing...

Victim-Survivors of rape don’t feel justice has been met, even if the accused goes to prison

22nd August 2019

The Scottish criminal justice process leaves those who have reported a rape or serious sexual assault feeling marginalised and with little control regardless of their case’s outcome, a new study has found. Researchers from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research at the University of Glasgow interviewed victim-survivors who have...

Successful new grant funding to help safeguard Nepalese and Burmese heritage

21st August 2019

Dr Emiline Smith, Lecturer in Art Crime and Criminology at the University of Glasgow, and Lead Applicant of the project ‘Global synchronization and the illicit antiquities trade: understanding community crime prevention in post-earthquake Nepal and Myanmar’, has won funding from the GCRF Small Grants. Together with Phacharaphorn Phanomvan na...

The Market for Mesoamerica: new book co-edited by Donna Yates and Cara Tremain

21st July 2019

We are happy to let you know that a new book, The Market for Mesoamerica: Reflections on the Sale of Pre-Columbian Antiquities, co-edited by SCCJR’s own Dr Donna Yates and Dr Cara Tremain is now available through the University Press of Florida. Abstract: Pre-Columbian artifacts are among the most popular items on the international...

BBC Radio 3 to feature Alistair Fraser’s ‘Hard Man in the Call Centre’ Essay

19th June 2019

SCCJR’s Alistair Fraser will feature on BBC Radio 3’s The Essay programme on Friday evening (21 June). Recorded with an audience at the York Festival of Ideas his essay, Hard Man in the Call Centre’ traces the story of Glasgow’s unpredictable tough guy, schooled in both fist and knife, a symbol of the city’s...

New project shines light on domestic abuse in Scotland

10th June 2019

A new community art project will see women who have been victims of domestic abuse create a stained glass window to illustrate their experiences. GlassWalls is led by Dr Emma Forbes, whose PhD thesis explored victims’ experiences of the court process and accessing justice. Her work included listening to stories of many women across Scotland and...

Prof Michele Burman Recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours

10th June 2019

SCCJR’s founding co-director Michele Burman, Professor of Criminology and Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences, has been made CBEs (Commanders of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Michele has a long-standing research interest in violence against women, in particular the criminal justice response to...

Scottish Parliament Justice Committee Consultation Responses on the Presumption Against Short Sentences (PASS)

28th May 2019

Colleagues from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) have responded to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee which is holding a consultation on the Presumption Against Short Sentences (PASS). The Scottish Government had stated that it would extend the presumption against short sentences to 12 months which will be...

Less isolation and more access to family crucial for young people’s wellbeing in custody

21st May 2019

An evidence review on mental health and wellbeing of young people in custody has identified that prisoners should not be isolated or denied access to family or support, and that time outside of their cells should be maximised. The review, which was co-written by Dr Sarah Armstrong, Director of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research...

SCCJR’s Niall Hamilton-Smith contributes to BBC story on serious organised crime

14th May 2019

BBC Reporting Scotland carried a news item today (Tues 14 May) on the National Crime Agency’s report which warned the UK “can’t afford not to” spend an extra £3bn on fighting organised crime over the next three years. The NCA estimates there are at least 181,000 offenders linked to serious and organised crime in the UK...

Graphic Novel Brings Life to Prison Sentences

30th April 2019

A NEW graphic novel aims to bring life to a Scottish woman’s story of trauma, substance abuse and prison. ‘A Life in Pieces’ is the work of Dr Marguerite Schinkel, a lecturer in Sociology based at the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, University of Glasgow and illustrator Morag Kewell, and follows the story of ‘Alison’ as...

Lectureship in Global/Transnational Criminology at Edinburgh

10th April 2019

The School of Law at the University of Edinburgh is looking to appoint a new Lecturer in Criminology with a specialism in global (including transnational, international or comparative) criminology to join a collegiate and committed group of criminological scholars and students in a world-leading institution. The successful candidate will have excellent teaching and research abilities in the field...

SCCJR Response to Dr John Marshall comments on psychiatric assessment of children

3rd April 2019

On Tuesday 2 April an article appeared in the Scotsman newspaper by Dr John J Marshall, head of forensic clinical psychology services at the State Hospital’s board for Scotland; ‘Some social workers in denial about child psychopaths.’ A follow-up article from The Times included comments from SCCJR Director, Sarah Armstrong, where she...