Biography

I am a Lecturer in Social History and Social Policy at the University of Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR). See the rest of the Social Sciences team.

Career
I joined SSPSSR in October 2007, having been an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Contemporary British History at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London (April-Sept 2007).  Before becoming an academic I worked in the voluntary and public sectors. 

Education
I completed my PhD, which was funded by the Leverhulme Trust, at the Centre for Contemporary British History, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, between 2002 and 2006. I studied for my MA in Twentieth Century Literature and my BA in English and History at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Find me:
On Twitter 
On Academia 
On Linkedin
Read my blog

Teaching

Current
 I convene the following modules:

• SO326 Introduction to Contemporary Britain
• SA310 Methods of Social Research
• SO617 Britain on Film
• SO553 Politics and Society

Research

Research interests
My research interests lie within the field of British social history after 1918 to the present. Within this I have a number of distinct areas of interest:

• The evolution of the idea of “anti-social behaviour” as a cultural and political phenomenon
• Children, young people and juvenile delinquency, and the groups/agencies concerned with this
• Philanthropy
• The mixed economy of welfare.

Although formally trained as an historian, I take an interdisciplinary approach to my work, drawing particularly upon methods and approaches from the broader field of social and cultural research.

Current research projects

• Social Justice Philanthropy, with Dr Balihar Sanghera and Prof John Mohan (Southampton). ESRC-funded. 

Recent
My monograph, ‘Poverty, Philanthropy and the State: Charities and the Working Classes in London 1918-1979’ was published by Manchester University Press in November 2009.

This book is based on and expands my doctoral research, which looked at the university settlements in London and their relationships with their local communities, local and national government. It presents case studies of these charities' work in the provision of healthcare, legal advice and advocacy, youth clubs, probation and the juvenile courts.

Supervision

I would welcome applications and proposals for MPhil and PhD research in any of my research areas. If you wish to study at the University of Kent, please email me to discuss further.

Publications

Monograph

• Poverty, Philanthropy and the State: the University Settlements and the Urban Working Classes, 1918 – 1979, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009.  

Journal articles 

• ‘Juvenile delinquency and the public sphere: exploring local and national discourses in England, c.1940-1969’, Social History, 37 (1) 2012 pp.19-35 DOI: 10.1080/03071022.2011.651582
• ‘Inside the Inner London Juvenile Court, c.1908 – 1955, Crimes and Misdemeanours: Deviance and the Law in Historical Perspective’ 3 (2) 2009, pp 37-59.
•  ‘Growing up with a city: exploring settlement youth work in London and Chicago’, London Journal, 34 (3) 2009 pp.286-299 DOI: 10.1179/030580309X12496474607066.
• ‘Juvenile Delinquency, the Juvenile Courts and the Settlement Movement 1908 – 1950: Basil Henriques and Toynbee Hall’, Twentieth Century British History, 19 (2) 2008 pp.133-55 DOI: 10.1093/tcbh/hwm038.

Edited volumes/special issues

• ‘Youth and Crime: Centennial reflections on the Children Act 1908’ in Crimes and Misdemeanours: Deviance and the Law in Historical Perspective’ 3 (2) 2009.  With Anne Logan and Simon Shaw.

Chapters in edited collections

• ‘The 'Big Society' and the National Citizen Service: Young people, volunteering and engagement with charities c.1900-1960’ in Armine Ishkanian, Simon Szreter and Hakan Seckinelgin (eds) The Big Society Debate: A New Agenda for Social Welfare? Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2012. ISBN 978 1 78100 207 0 and 978 1 78100 222 3
• ‘Cesare Lombroso’ in Keith Hayward, Shadd Maruna and Jayne Mooney (eds), Fifty Key Thinkers in Criminology, (London: Routledge, 2009).
• ‘Creating Local Elites: the University Settlement Movement, National Elites and Citizenship in East London, 1884-1940’, in Stefan Couperus, Christiana Smit and Dirk-Jan Wolffram (eds), In Control of the City: Elites and the Dynamics of Urban Politics, 1800-1960’ (Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 2007) pp. 81- 92.

Blogs

• ‘The Hoxton Café Project; Following the fault lines of community, welfare and perception’

Podcasts

• ‘The Hoxton Café Project; Following the fault lines of community, welfare and perception’, Voluntary Action History Seminar, Institute of Historical Research, 24 October 2011

Activity

Memberships

• Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (elected February 2011).
• Social History Society.
• Economic History Society.
• Social Policy Association.

Advisory work

• Advisory Board, Raphael Samuel History Centre.
• Advisory Board, History Lab/History Lab Plus.
• History and Policy/Cabinet Office Strategy Unit Seminar on the ‘Big Society’, 15 June 2010.

Professional bodies

• Grants Officer, Social Policy Association.
• Executive Committee, Social Policy Association.
• Committee Member, Social History Society, 2006-2012.

Professional activities

• Co-convenor, Modern British History seminar, Institute of Historical Research, University of London.

Referee

• Articles: Contemporary British History; Cultural and Social History; Law, Crime and History; London Journal.
• Manuscripts: Manchester University Press; Routledge.
• Grant proposals: ESRC.

Editorial

• Reviews Editor, Cultural and Social History.

Media appearances

• BBC Radio Kent.
• Children and Young People Now.
• Speigel Online.

Links

Websites of interest in this field:

• History and Policy
• Voluntary Action History Society
• HistorySpot