Research writing

In addition to the regular School of Law and Social Justice blog, academics from the Department of Sociology, Social Policy, and Criminology will sometimes discuss in more detail a topic that relates to an area of their research expertise. Links and references are provided for further reading.

Prison quarters

Punishing rape

On 3rd October 2021, then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. It was just a few days after Wayne Couzens, a serving Metropolitan police officer, had been given a whole life sentence for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard.
A crowd of people in Hong Kong.

Suicide and political crisis

What do young people think about protest-related suicided in Hong Kong?
A row of pencils

Inside the English Education Lab

For over 20 years, reform in the English education system has been dramatic. The introduction of the academies programme has seen a complete restructuring of the way schools in England are run and governed.
What is the meaning of old age? An ageing couple sat on a bench overlooking mountains.

What is the meaning of old age?

As a small child spending my holidays in the company of an 80-year-old grandmother, this was my version of the question: ‘What is the meaning of life?’

A group of people carrying a sign that reads 'There is no Planet B'.

Climate crisis: Extinction Rebellion radio

Runaway global heating threatens most life on earth. If you think this is an over-statement, check the last few reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and consider that humanity is increasing its fossil fuel consumption, not decreasing it.
A photo of prison bars with a shadow in the middle.

Haunting tales: Exploring the ghosts of Australia's prisons

The air shimmers as I walk up a winding drive, shaded by red gums. As my 23-year-old self crosses the threshold, I shiver. Rows of heads gleam hunched over dusty tomes. Everyone here is researching the dead.
A girl with surgery preparation lines drawn on her face.

Hags and short-lived queens: Can we overcome generational antagonisms between women?

Earlier this year, Victoria Smith’s polemic, Hags: the demonisation of middle-aged women, came out to considerable and well-deserved acclaim.
Simone de Beauvoir - Old Age - Book Cover.

The Ageing of Simone de Beauvoir

For most of her life, Simone de Beauvoir feared and loathed the idea of ageing so much that she could see no good in it at all.

A girl testing drugs in a lab taken by The Loop photographer.

The end of the pilot stage: The long and winding road to drug checking in the UK

Saturday 27th January 2024 is a red-letter day for drug checking and for harm reduction more generally in the UK.
A cup of tea and tea pot next to books.

The importance of individual stories in understanding health and social care: A personal viewpoint

The ‘story’ is an important instrument in qualitative research about long term conditions.
An older woman looking to the side.

Changing expressions of filial piety and forms of intergenerational solidarity in neoliberal India

There are mixed views about care homes for older people (commonly referred to as ‘old age homes’) in India.
A pile of drugs.

'Size matters': High strength ecstasy pills are back, so harm reduction communications need to adapt

The Loop’s dedicated multidisciplinary team of chemists, health professionals, researchers and media officers returns to the fields this summer, delivering harm reduction services onsite at UK music festivals and issuing alerts and community information posts where useful, to enhance the safety of revellers up and down the country.

An indian family taking care of one another.

Daughters as later-life caregivers: A cultural shift in later-life care in India

Later-life care in India is mostly the responsibility of adult sons and their spouses. Although legally daughters are also obligated to look after their older parents, nonetheless, culturally the expectation is from the son and his spouse.