School of Sociology and Social Policy
 

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Andrew Henley

Associate Professor of Criminology, Faculty of Social Sciences

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Biography

Andrew is an Associate Professor of Criminology in the School of Sociology and Social Policy and a member of the Criminal Justice Research Centre. He joined the University of Nottingham in June 2018. He has been researching criminal records and their impact on the life chances and citizenship of people with criminal records for over a decade.

Andrew's research interests are primarily in the areas of punishment and social control. In particular, he is interested in the impact of criminal records and post-sentence control measures on the citizenship and life chances of people with criminal records (the so-called 'collateral consequences' of punishment). He is also interested in the political discourse which surrounds the contemporary governance of crime and punishment. His PhD, conducted under the supervision of Dr Mary Corcoran and Professor Ronnie Lippens at Keele University, was the first, detailed critical examination of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Using archival research, it drew upon Michel Foucault's work on power, knowledge and discourse to analyse the emergence of legal rehabilitation in England and Wales.

His most recent work with Dr Alessandro Corda (Queen's University, Belfast) and Dr Marti Rovira (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona) problematises the view that the 'collateral consequences' of a criminal record are an example of 'American exceptionalism' in penal policy, and together they have cautioned against the view that Europe is more 'progressive' with regards to its treatment of criminal records and criminal records subjects. He has also worked with Dr Lauren Bradford and Rhiannon Davies to examine the disqualification of people with a criminal record from access to statutory compensation in the UK following their victimisation through violent crime. Rhiannon continues this work through an ESRC-funded PhD project.

Andrew is a former trustee and Chair of the charity Unlock which provides information, advice and advocacy for people with criminal records who are seeking to move forwards positively with their lives. He maintains links with Unlock through a Midlands Graduate School ESRC Collaborative PhD Studentship held by Charlotte Brooks which he co-supervises with Dr Nicola Carr (UoN) and Dr Rachel Tynan. This examines access to higher education for people with criminal records. Andrew and Nicola have also co-supervised ESRC funded doctoral research by Zoe Rubenstein (on the UK policy context of interventions for potential perpetrators child sexual abuse) and Rebecca Bull (a comparative analysis of criminal records regimes in several non-Anglosphere jurisdictions).

Andrew is a member of the European Society of Criminology and its Working Group on 'Collateral Consequences of Criminal Records'.

Teaching Summary

Andrew is an experienced teacher having worked in higher education at both the University of Nottingham and Keele University.

His experience includes the convening and teaching on modules in the areas of punishment, prisons, criminal justice and criminological theory.

He has supervised dissertations at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and has successfully mentored a number of students through the process of applying for funding to pursue PhD research.

As well as convening and teaching the core first year BA Criminology module 'Punishment and Penality' he is currently developing a second year elective module on 'Criminalisation and Social Exclusion'.

Recent Publications

Past Research

Invited papers and talks

  • Henley, A.J. (2019) Invited panel member and discussant following a screening of the film 'A Second Chance' (2019, dir. Rex Bloomstein), University of Leicester, 5th November
  • Henley, A.J. (2019) 'Resisting civic purgatory: achieving 'justice as fairness' in criminal records disclosure', presented at Criminal Records Disclosure and Recidivism in the Digital Age, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, 13th June
  • Henley, A.J. and Stacey, C.N. (2015) 'Criminal records checks for employment purposes: what can the Anglosphere learn from continental Europe?', The Regulation of Criminal Records and their Impact on Re-entry to the Labour Market (International Seminar). Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, 12th June
  • Henley, A.J. (2018) 'Criminal records and the biopolitics of life chances: from discipline to regulation?', Theorising sites of discipline in society, Liverpool Hope University, 23rd May
  • Hudson, K.; Taylor C. and Henley, A.J. (2012) 'Trends in the management of registered sexual offenders in Wales', Understanding sex offender disclosure in Wales: Devolution, Context and Partnership Networks - ESRC Knowledge Exchange Network, Cardiff University, 28th September

Conference papers

  • Henley, A.J. (2019) 'Resisting civic purgatory: achieving 'justice as fairness' in criminal records disclosure', presented at 19th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, University of Gent, 18th-21st September
  • Henley, A.J. (2018) 'Criminal records, 'collateral consequences' and civic purgatory: how might we achieve 'justice as fairness'?', Redesigning Justice: Promoting civil rights, trust and fairness, Keble College, University of Oxford, 22nd-23rd March
  • Henley, A.J. (2017) 'Is the possession of a criminal record compatible with meaningful citizenship?', Crime, Politics and Society Conference, University of Sheffield, 10th-11th April
  • Henley, A.J. (2016) ''Debt to society' or 'moral mortgage'? Criminal records and the unintended consequences of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974', Annual Conference of the Socio-Legal Studies Association, Lancaster University, 5th-7th April
  • Hudson, K.; Taylor C. and Henley, A.J. (2014) 'Trends in the Management of Registered Sexual Offenders Across England and Wales: A geographical approach to the study of sexual offending', European Society of Criminology', 14th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, Prague, 10th-13th September (non-attending co-author)
  • Henley, A.J. (2014) 'Mind the gap: non-superiority and the paradox of civic purgatory', Resisting the demonization of 'the Other': State, nationalism and social control in a time of crisis - 42nd Annual Conference of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control, Liverpool John Moores University, 3-6th September
  • Henley, A.J. (2014) 'Criminal stigma: the oil on the 'revolving doors' and the need for an 'abolitionist doorstop'', Penal law, Abolitionism and Anarchism: British/Irish section of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control and the Hulsman Foundation, Shire Hall, Nottingham, 26-27th April
  • Henley, A.J. (2013) 'A false dichotomy: prisoners versus the 'law-abiding public', The Prison and the Public, Edge Hill University, 27th March

School of Sociology and Social Policy

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University of Nottingham
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