Research Identity

My research advances narrative, auto/biographical and participatory approaches to lived experience, examining how everyday practices, including food and commensality shape questions of inequality, belonging and criminal justice rehabilitation.

Research Profile

My research contributes to methodological innovation in qualitative sociology and narrative criminology, with a particular focus on autoethnography, auto/biography, visual, sensual and participatory approaches to lived experience. I am interested in how personal narratives and everyday practices illuminate broader sociological questions about identity, belonging, inequality and social change.

A central strand of my work develops participatory and lived experience research methodologies that enable individuals to represent their own experiences and perspectives. I apply these approaches across several areas of research, including food and commensality, and criminal justice rehabilitation and desistance.

Through a long-term research partnership with the rehabilitation charity LandWorks, I lead the PeN Project, a participatory research programme that uses narrative and digital storytelling to document lived experiences of punishment, rehabilitation and social change.

My publications explore qualitative methodological innovation alongside substantive work on food, inequality and criminal justice rehabilitation.

Research Interests

• Sociology of food, commensality and everyday life
• Food, inequality and social justice
• Criminal justice rehabilitation and resettlement
• Relational desistance and generative justice
• Community-based and voluntary sector approaches to rehabilitation
• Lived experience of punishment and social marginalisation
• Auto/Biography, autoethnography and narrative inquiry
• Participatory, sensory and visual research methods
• Qualitative and longitudinal research in criminal justice contexts
• Civic and community-engaged research
• Social inclusion, belonging and moral recognition

My teaching spans sociology, criminology and qualitative research methods, with a focus on narrative inquiry, reflexive research practice and lived experience approaches. I integrate research-led teaching with civic engagement, including student research and volunteer placements with the rehabilitation charity LandWorks. I also contribute to innovative teaching initiatives that bring university students and learners with lived experience of imprisonment into shared educational spaces, supporting critical dialogue, social understanding and employability.

My teaching itnerests include:

• Qualitative research methods
• Narrative, auto/biographical and autoethnographic research
• Participatory and lived experience research
• Sociology of crime, punishment and rehabilitation
• Social Identities & Inequalities
• Food, commensality and everyday social practices
• Research ethics and reflexive practice
• Community-engaged and experiential learning

• Rebecca Carter-Dillon, PhD Social Policy , A Feminist Critique of the Troubled Families Programme. Completed: 2021. Role: Director of Studies
• Landa Love, PhD Sociology, Alternative Narratives of Asexuality. Completed: 2024. Role: Director of Studies
• Juliet Hall, PhD Sociology, Narratives of Mothers Raising Autistic Children Completed: 2025. Role: Director of Studies
• Cheralyn May, ResM Sociology, An Auto/Biographical Study of Well-being During the COVID-19 Pandemic Completed: 2025 Role: Director of Studies

• Member of the British Society of Criminology (BSC)
• Member of The European Society of Criminology (ESC)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Acadamy (HEA)

• Editorial Board member for the British Sociological Association's (BSA) Auto/Biography Review
• Editorial Board member for Methodological Innovations Online