Our REF submission
Between REF 2014 and REF 2021, we saw substantial growth in the scale of our research activity, almost doubling the number of staff submitted for assessment. We also underwent a change of emphasis from prison-focused research towards criminology and security studies research. Within this reinvigorated research environment, we have nurtured home-grown, vibrant, and diverse research talent and have engaged in innovative enquiry, pushing disciplinary boundaries and delivering impact in non-traditional trailblazing ways.
Our submission to this unit of assessment featured contributions from 14 people, 33 outputs, and two impact case studies:
- Enriching crime media – informing content of television programmes through homicide research
- Redefining Islamophobia and influencing anti-Muslim hate crime policy in Britain
This area of our work also saw five doctoral awards and £337k research income during the REF 2021 period.
Our research
Social Work and Social Policy research is hosted within the Department of Criminology and Sociology in the School of Social Sciences, located in our Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences.
The School of Social Sciences supports five interdisciplinary research centres spanning Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience (UoA 4), Social Work and Social Policy (UoA 20) and Sociology (UoA 21). Research in Social Work and Social Policy predominantly takes place within the Crime and Society and Security and Extremism research centres:
- Crime and Society
Researching societal, criminological, and psychological processes underpinning crime, criminality, and criminal justice proceedings. - Security and Extremism
Developing insights into hate crimes, Islamophobia, political and human (in)security, within a security studies framework.
The other three research centres are:
