Meet the team

Prof Chris Birkbeck Chris is Professor of Criminology, and has been at the University of Salford since 2006. Prior to that, he was based at the Universidad de Los Andes in Venezuela. He has also been a visiting scholar/researcher at the University of New Mexico and the University of Florida. He has researched and written on a wide variety of topics (victims, youth offending, policing, prisons and probation, crime in the media) from a comparative perspective focusing mainly on Latin America. His current research projects examine reconciliation within restorative justice, and youth offending in international context. He co-leads The Criminal Justice Process module at undergraduate level and contributes to several modules at our MSc. The Criminal Justice Process.

View Chris’ publications here.

Professor Neal Hazel Neal is the Chair of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Salford.  He has previously held posts as Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Director of the Centre for Social Research at the university.  He has delivered more than 40 funded research projects, mainly in youth justice and family support, including several national surveys and evaluations. He specialises in providing useful policy and practice messages, most recently through his Beyond Youth Custody research with Nacro.  In January 2018, Neal was appointed by the Secretary of State for Justice to the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB), which is responsible for overseeing the youth justice system. He is also former HM Deputy Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales.

View Neal’s publications here.

Dr Muzammil Quraishi (CJ Hub Lead) Muzammil is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology & Criminal Justice. Muzammil undertook his PhD at the Centre for Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Wales, Bangor. His research focused upon the qualitative experiences of Muslim populations as both perpetrators and victims of crime in Britain and Pakistan. Prior to joining the University in 2002, Muzammil was Research Fellow at the Centre Research in Ethnic Relations (CRER) at the University of Warwick working on the ‘Muslims in Prison Project’ which was the first major study to evaluate the qualitative experiences of Muslim prisoners in the UK and France. Muzammil has developed specialist knowledge about Muslim populations and crime including working with ex-offenders, advising prison research on countering racism and advising policy makers on challenging Islamophobia in criminal justice contexts.

View Muzammil’s publications here.

Dr Karenza Moore Karenza is a Lecturer in Criminology and Security and has been at the University of Salford since 2019. Prior to that she was based at Lancaster University. Karenza has researched illegal drug use for 17 years and has written 45+ papers on topics ranging from emergent drug trends, drug use in dance music cultures, and the impact of drug laws on young people’s health and wellbeing. Her current research projects include work on changes to MDMA markets and use patterns during and after the Covid-19 ‘lockdown’. She teaches about alcohol, illegal drugs, novel psychoactive substances and illicit medications across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules.

View Karenza’s publications here.

Cliff Bacon Cliff has been a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Salford since 2019. Cliff was a police officer with GMP for 30 years, working in a variety of operational and HQ roles, including, response, custody, diversity and criminal justice. He worked on national pilot projects on the development of Integrated Offender Management and Warrant Enforcement. After leaving the police he completed a PhD, ‘Professionalising the Police in the Age of Vulnerability’ at the University of Manchester. His research interests include, professionalisation and the public sector, policing vulnerability and police working practice. Prior to joining UoS Cliff worked at Staffordshire University on the new Police Education Qualification Framework courses for police recruits. He is currently working on the development of policing courses at UoS.

View Cliff’s publications here.

Dr Toni Wood Toni has a 1^st class degree in Criminology and an MRes in Criminology and Socio Legal Studies. She was awarded her PhD in criminology (University of Salford) where she explored the working lives of female prison officers in a women’s prison. For three years Toni coordinated the Salford University Centre for Prison Studies (SUCPS) and has more recently project managed the development of the Criminal Justice Hub. Her research interests include the emotional and psychological survival of adult prisoners, women in the criminal justice system, mental health and wellbeing in prison and the occupational culture of female prison officers. Current research projects include an investigation of the difficulties experienced by offenders with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the impact the prison environment has on these individuals.

View Toni’s publications here.

Dr Tina G. Patel completed her first degree (awarded 1999) in Criminal Justice at Liverpool John Moores University. Having been awarded funding from a fully competitive scheme, Tina spent 3½ years at the University of Sheffield studying for the qualification of PhD, in a study looking at race, identity and child adoption policy (awarded 2004). She was then appointed as a research fellow for a project funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, at Nottingham Trent University, looking at school exclusion and successful youth transitions within African-Caribbean communities (completed 2004). In September 2004, Tina returned to Liverpool John Moores University to take up a post as a lecturer in Criminology and Sociology. Tina joined the University of Salford in September 2008, as a lecturer in Criminology (with a specialism in violence). In August 2014, Tina was promoted to the position of Senior Lecturer. Her research and teaching interests relate to ‘race’, exclusion, police and violent behaviour. Tina’s areas of expertise are: ‘race’, racism and exclusion – especially in relation to the criminal justice system. Tina is currently working on a number papers and projects, including a textbook: ‘Race and Society’, for Sage Publications.

View Tina’s publications here.

Dr Anthony Ellis Anthony Ellis is a Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology. His research interests include male violence, homicide, social exclusion, social harms and political economy. He is the author of Men, Masculinities and Violence: an ethnographic study (Routledge) as well as several other articles and book chapters broadly addressing these areas of interest. Anthony’s recent research has addressed recorded rises in ‘higher harm’ violent crime in England and Wales. He is also currently co-authoring an article exploring the impact of Coronavirus and the implications of the pandemic for the future.

View Anthony’s publications here.

Dr Laura Connelly Laura joined the University of Salford in 2016 as a Lecturer in Criminology, having previously worked as a Teaching Fellow and Research Assistant at the University of Leeds. Laura has broad research interests around social inequalities, particularly at the intersections of gender, race, and migration. Much of her work to date has explored these issues within the context of the sex industry. She is current working on a project exploring migrant sex work post-EU Referendum and has published on the topics of: violence against sex workers, the working conditions of internet-based sex workers, sex trafficking and exploitation, and sex work ‘academic activism’. Indeed, there is a strong social justice element underpinning Laura’s research and she is currently co-authoring a book on anti-racist ‘scholar-activism’ in UK universities. Laura sits on the editorial board for The Sociological Review and is the Policy Lead for the Sex Work Research Hub.

View Laura’s publications here.

Dr Sara Grace Sara joined the University of Salford in 2014, having previously held lecturing posts at the Universities of Bradford and Sheffield. Her PhD research examined the use and impact of penalty notices for disorder, with a particular focus on officers’ use of this power to control disorder in the night-time economy (NTE). More broadly, Sara’s research interests are focused on police discretion, police decision-making and the use of out of court disposals as well as procedural and distributive justice and police legitimacy. Sara has published papers on policing decision-making in the night-time economy, the impact of performance measures on PND use and on gaining and maintaining compliance with social distancing rules under the Covid-19 regulations. Sara is currently working with Stevie Swindells, of Greater Manchester Police, on a project exploring police ethics and the so-called ‘blue code of silence’.

View Sara’s publications here.

Dr Kelly Lockwood Kelly is a lecturer in Criminology. Kelly joined the University of Salford as a Research Assistant in 2015 before becoming a lecturer in Criminology in 2016. Kelly completed her PhD (funded by the ESRC) at the University of Huddersfield, exploring narratives of mothering and imprisonment. Kelly has since continued to be involved in research in the area of women and the criminal justice system with a focus on mothering and imprisonment. Kelly has a strong commitment to qualitative and participatory research methods, developing projects and research that contribute to the well-being of women and families (particularly those involved in the criminal justice system). Kelly is also particularly interested in narrative constructions of self/identity and how dominant narratives both inform and constrain women’s storytelling.

View Kelly’s publications here.