Research

My main research interests focus on two related areas. My first is with young people and their interactions with crime, public space and social control. I am particularly interested in gendered aspects and my work in this area has been concerned mostly with girls and young women and processes of criminalisation. I favour ethnographic methods of research because they allow me to develop critical and cultural understandings of the social world. My PhD research was based on an ethnographic study of a British housing estate known for its drug dealing activity and I focused on how young residents, especially young women, engage with 'street life' and interact with drug supply at the local level. The findings of this study are presented in my book, 'Dealing Tac: Young People, Gender and Neighbourhood Drug Markets Cullompton: Willan, due to be published later this year.

My second area of interest is with the cultures and politics of British nightlife. I have conducted research into the role of door supervisors in licensed venues as part of an ESRC funded project. This was a was a national study that included interviews with women working in this occupation and also involved me working as a 'bouncer' in the north of England. More recently, I have been involved in a visual ethnography of women and nightlife. This is an ongoing project that to date has focused on the micro-politics of female toilet spaces in different types of licensed venues in the UK, including private members clubs in Westminster and 'mainstream' clubs in Newcastle upon Tyne.

My current project is funded by the BBC where I am researching, and will be presenting, a documentary for BBC Radio 4 about the influence of the Spanish island of Ibiza on British youth culture. This project has involved me interviewing DJ's including Alfredo, Paul Oakenfold and Pete Tong. I am currently working on an academic paper based on this research.

Publications

• O’Brien, K (2009) ‘Inside ‘Doorwork’: Gendering the security gaze’, in Silence and Secrecy in the Research Process: Feminist Reflections London: Routledge
• O'Brien (forthcoming) Dealing Tac: Young People, Gender and Neighbourhood Drug Markets Cullompton: Willan.
• O’Brien, K (2009) ‘Inside Doorwork: Gendering the Security Gaze’, in R. Ryan-Flood and R. Gill (eds.) Silence and Secrecy in the Research Process: Feminist ReflectionsLondon: Routledge
• O'Brien, K, Hobbs, D and Westmarland, L (2008) ‘Negotiating Violence and Gender: Security and the Night Time Economy in the UK ', in S. Gendrot and P. Spierenburg (eds.) Collection on Historical and Contemporary Violence in Europe New York: Springer.
• Hobbs, D, O'Brien, K., and Westmarland, L. (2007) ‘Connecting the Gendered Door: Women, Violence and Doorwork', British Journal of Sociology Volume 58, Issue 1 p21-38

Teaching

I convene the postgraduate course, Youth, Crime and Place, which provides a cultural and spatial understanding of young people, crime and transgression. 
I currently convene two undergraduate criminology modules within the School:

1. Youth and Crime The aim of this third year module is to provide a general introduction to the topic of youth and crime focusing on several key topics, including gangs and street violence, youth subcultures, nightlife and alcohol, graffiti and criminal damage, as well as the youth justice system in England and Wales.
2. Crime, Culture, Control The aim of this first year module is to provide students with an introduction to thinking about the cultural contours of crime and crime control. Topics covered include violence and video gaming, TV reality shows and crime, and understanding ‘cop culture’ through the ‘WIRE’.   

I also lecture on the undergraduate criminology programme on the following courses: Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice, Drugs, Culture and Control, Criminal Justice in Modern Britain; Introduction to Criminology. 

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