Sources and Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice

This socio-legal research training day in November 2015 on Sources and Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice, organised collaboratively by the British Library, the British Society of Criminology, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS), and the Socio-Legal Studies Association drew attention to resources and research approaches that newcomers to the field may not be aware of and to consider the methodological and practical issues involved in analysing sources.

Programme details

• Introduction: Guest editorial published in Legal Information Management - David Gee (Deputy Librarian, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies)

Collections / Theoretical Approaches:

• Finding Crime Data: The UK Data Service Collection - Sharon Bolton (UK Data Service)
• Collecting Criminology - Stuart Stone (Institute of Criminology, Cambridge)
  • Preprint of Article developed from this paper published in Legal Information Management.
• Whom can we trust? - David Nelken (Kings College London)
• Crime and Criminal Justice at the British Library - Jon Sims (British Library)
  • Presentation (PDF)
• Access to Records of Crime at the National Archives - Nigel Taylor (The National Archives)
  • Preprint of Article developed from this paper published in Legal Information Management.
• Feminist Methods and Sources in Criminology and Criminal Justice - Adrian Howe (Queen Mary University London)
  • Preprint of Article developed from this paper published in Legal Information Management.

Official Records:

• The Official History of Criminal Justice and Record Management Procedures - Paul Rock (London School of Economics)
  • Preprint of Article developed from this paper published in Legal Information Management.
• Use of Police Data: An Inside Job - Paul Dawson (Evidence and Insight Unit, Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime)
  • Preprint of Article developed from this paper published in Legal Information Management.
• FOIs, the NHS, and Third Party Data Confidentiality - Lisa Dickson (University of Kent)

Crime Statistics and Quantitative Methods:

• Choosing and Using Statistical Sources in Criminology - Nick Tilley (University College London) and
• Possible Uses of the Crime Survey of England and Wales - Andromachi Tseloni (Loughborough University)
  • Preprint of Article developed from these papers published in Legal Information Management.
• Working with Transactions Data: Understanding Repeat Victims of Domestic Abuse from Police-Recorded Data - Allan Brimicombe (University of East London
  • Preprint of Article developed from this paper published in Legal Information Management.

Qualitative and Mixed Methods: Texts and Case Studies

• Discovering Sources for Researching Historical Public Reactions to the Death Penalty in Britain - Lizzie Seal (University of Sussex)
  • Preprint of Article developed from this paper published in Legal Information Management.
• Unicorns and Urinals: Foucauldian Methodology and the Apparently Unimportant Minutiae of the Court Design Guides - Linda Mulcahy (London School of Economics) and Emma Rowden (University of Technology Syndey)
• Quantity and Quality in Police Research: Making the Case for Case Studies - Ben Bowling (Kings College London)

Closing panel

• Interrelation between Socio-legal Studies and Criminology - Gethin Rees (Newcastle University), Marian Duggan (University of Kent) and other speakers