The Criminal Justice Unit (CJU) is focussed on advancing theoretical and empirical research on criminal justice institutions and processes, bringing together scholars from across the University of Liverpool in a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to research and knowledge production.
Situated in the School of Law and Social Justice, and led by researchers in both Law and Sociology, Social Policy, and Criminology (SSPC), the CJU seeks to bring together key socio-legal, criminological, psychological, historical, and public health perspectives on the criminal justice system. The current group offers expertise in a range of areas including prosecution, courts, and sentencing; probation; policing; gender-based violence; extremism; prisons and corrections; recidivism; rehabilitation; and the impact of the criminal justice system on marginalised groups.
A key aim of the CJU is to produce and showcase world-leading, agenda-setting, and impactful criminal justice research. The CJU is focussed on building external relationships with local, national, and international stakeholders, in order to engage in key knowledge exchange activities and to ensure that our research impacts criminal justice policy and practice.
For group members, the CJU is also a space to share ideas and knowledge, support colleagues with fieldwork and data access, ethical considerations, and the dissemination of research findings, and offer informal peer review of funding bids and outputs. CJU membership is open to postgraduate researchers (PGR) who are supported to showcase their work and build their research profile.
If you're interested in joining the Criminal Justice Unit, please contact Dr Carly Lightowlers or Professor Anna Carline as Co-Directors.
Back to: Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology