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Biography
Dr Thomas Guiney is an Assistant Professor of Criminology in the School of Sociology and Social Policy.
Tom joined the University of Nottingham in September 2021. Tom was previously based at Oxford Brookes and he has held Visiting Fellowships at the Mannheim Centre for Criminology, London School of Economics and the Institute for Criminology at the University of Cambridge.
Tom completed his PhD in Social Policy at the LSE in 2016 and read for an MSc (Distinction) in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Oxford (2009). Prior to academia, Tom spent a decade working in public policy with the Prison Reform Trust, Bond and the National Lottery Community Fund.
Tom's research interests include the sociology of punishment, prison release policy and practice, the politics of law and order and historical criminology. Tom recently concluded an ESRC funded study of crisis and scandal with Professor Harry Annison at the University of Southampton and he is currently working on several interconnected projects exploring long-term trends in criminal justice expenditure in England and Wales. His other current projects include political interest in extra-territorial prison schemes and a collaborative study of the penal voluntary sector with the National justice Museum.
Tom is the author of three books including 'The Politics of Prison Building Programmes' (2026) published in the Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology series and his first monograph 'Getting Out: Early Release in England and Wales, 1960-1995' which was published by the Oxford University Press Clarendon Series in 2018. Tom has contributed to several Edited Collections and has published widely in international journals including the British Journal of Criminology, Theoretical Criminology and Punishment & Society and Criminology & Criminal Justice.
Tom is an Associate Editor of the Howard Journal of Crime & Justice and sits on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Criminology. Tom was a member of the UK Advisory Board for the Prison Reform Trusts' Building Futures programme, a project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund to explore the experiences of people who will spend 10 or more years in custody. He has given oral evidence to several Parliamentary Select Committees, he has contributed guest articles to the Huffington Post, Justice Gap and the Daily Telegraph and he has appeared on the BBC and ITV on questions relating to penal policy.
Expertise Summary
My primary research interests include penal policy-making, the politics of law and order and the history of criminal justice in England and Wales, with particular reference to parole and other 'early release' mechanisms.
I am currently working on the following research projects:
- Parole, parole boards and prison release
- Political parties and democratic theory
- Prison buildings and prison building programmes
- Historical Criminology and path dependent explanations of policy change
Tom welcomes inquiries from prospective doctoral applicants in his fields of interest.
Teaching Summary
Tom currently convenes the following modules:
- Prisons & Society (SOCI2027)
- Punishment & Penality (SOCI1018)