I joined the department as a Professor of Social Policy and Criminology in 2016. Previously I was a Research Professor at Goldsmiths Collage, University of London working on a project funded as part of the ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative. Before this I was a Director of the Families & Social Capital Research Group at London South Bank University.
I completed my PhD in 2006. My thesis explored the experiences of disadvantaged, working class mothers. Since then have researched and published widely in the area of family, social class, marginalised children and young people and historical comparative analysis.
Research Grants
Parental social licence for operational data linkage and analytics to identify families for service intervention (2020-22) Economic and Social Research Council (CI with R. Edwards)
Troubled Families’ and Inter-Agency Collaboration: Lessons from Historical Comparative Analysis (2014-1015) Economic and Social Research Council £191,115.80 (PI with R. Edwards)
Brain science and early intervention: tracing the new biologisation of parenting and child care (2012-2014) Faraday Institute for Science and Religion £63,680 (CI with R. Edwards)
Challenging Ideas About Disaffection: Maximising Policy and Practice Impact (2010-2012) Economic and Social Research Council £123,309 (PI)
Historical Comparative Analysis of Family and Parenting: A Feasibility Study Across Sources and Timeframes (2009-2010) Economic and Social Research Council £96,190.42 (PI with R. Edwards).
Disruptive Behaviour in the Classroom: Exploring the Social Subjectivity of Disaffection (2007-2010) Economic and Social Research Council £305,941.98 (PI)