Professor James Treadwell

Professor In Criminology

Health, Education, Policing and Sciences

I became a Professor in Criminology at University of Staffordshire in 2017, having started my career as a Lecturer in Criminology in 2003 at the University of Central England. Before I moved into academia I had previously worked for NACRO and the National Probation Service. I have previously held academic posts at Birmingham Law School (University of Birmingham) the Centre for Applied Criminology (Birmingham City University) and the Department of Criminology (University of Leicester). I am currently a member of the executive with the British Society of Criminology (and act as Chair of the Prizes Committee). I was academic advisor on the Howard League Commission into Ex-Military Personnel in Prison (advising the inquiry chair Sir John Nutting QC). I was opening speaker at the launch of Secretary of State for Justice's Inquiry into Veterans within the Criminal Justice System in London in April 2014.

My research is largely based on ethnography and in depth interviewing. I undertook a long term ethnographic study of the English Defence League publishing material from that project (with Simon Winlow and Steve Hall) in the well-received book ‘Rise of the Right’. Prior to that, I used ethnographic methods to study the August 2011 English Riots and material generated from that project featured in ‘Riots and Political Protest’ (With Simon Winlow, Steve Hall and Dan Briggs). My Sage published textbook ‘Criminology’ (2013) is in its second edition and is used as an introduction to the subject of criminology at several universities. I have contributed to a number of criminology and sociology edited collections. I have published articles in international Journals such as the British Journal of Criminology, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Crime, Media, Culture and the Howard Journal of Criminal Justice.

I have recently been researching prison and criminal drugs markets, examining the cultivation of cannabis in economically deprived areas (with Craig Ancrum, Teesside University) and Prison based drug supply as part of a larger project on bullying, violence and victimisation in prison (with Dr Kate Gooch, Leicester Law School, University of Leicester). I am currently writing Criminological Ethnography: An Introduction’ for Sage with Dr Steve Wakeman and articles and a book on Prison Violence with Dr Gooch.

I am a member of the editorial board of The British Journal of Criminology, and have served on the editorial board of The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice and the Journal of Criminal Psychology. I served as an external examiner at Teesside University (Undergraduate) and Swansea (Postgraduate) and have recently acted as external examiner of PhDs at Aberystwyth, York and Keele and Goldsmiths as well as being an external reviewer for the Open University, Kingston University and the University of the West of England.

Professional memberships and activities

Director (Treasurer) British Society of Criminology

Academic qualifications

BA Hons
PgDip
MA
DipPS
PhD
SFHEA

Expertise

James has a wide range of criminological interests spanning a diverse range writing and publishing in the form of books, articles book chapters on topics, from Islamist Extremism in UK Prisons through to extreme Right Extremism and terrorism of Anders Breivik. he has written bout many aspects of gangs, violence, organised crime and drug markets, prison violence. He is interested in critical, cultural and realist forms of criminology, and is well regarded as a noted criminological ethnographer. He is often in demand in media and regularly comments on matters of crime and Criminal Justice.

Research interests

Recently, James has written book chapters such as 'Not a Matter of Life and Death: Getting Lost in Criminological Research' ( in Ayres, T Briggs, D Kelly, C and Taylor, S (eds, 2026)) Legacies of the Lost in Criminology, Bristol, Policy Press) and with PhD students [see Braithwaite, C Hodgkinson, O and Treadwell, J (2025) Mentoring moments: a collaborative reflection on supervision, in Jones, S Azad, M Miles, L and Lynes, A (eds) Embracing the Unknown, Experiences of Studying for a PhD in the Social Sciences Bristol, Policy Press}. He is currently working on Projects on AI in Criminal Justice, and violence and the use of force. His research interests straddle many areas of Organised Crime, Policing, Sentencing, Imprisonment, Ethnography, Critical and Cultural Criminology, Drug Dealing and Illicit Markets. James Has supervised a number of PhD students to completion and is always keen to her from Prospective research students with novel and original research projects.

Grants

• £30,000 Home Office for an Evaluation of West Midlands Heroin and Crack Cocaine action Area (with Sarah Page)

• £25, 000 for OoCD evaluation of Domestic Violence and Domestic Abuse Programmes in the Staffordshire Area (with Dr Nick Howe nd Dr John Lamb)

• Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner (Staffordshire) for an evaluation of Business Crime in Staffordshire £24,799 )

• £29, 990 from the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioners (Four Midlands Regions) for a research project on Ongoing Criminality in Prisons.

Enterprise and commercial interests

James has been involved in a wide range of work with number of commercial and industry partners. Details are available on request.

Teaching

James teaches on both UG and PG criminology courses across a range of modules.

Publications

Books

• Lamb, J, Hart, M, Treadwell, J, Lynes, A and Kelly, C (2024) 50 Facts Everyone should know about Policing, Bristol, Policy Press

• Lynes, A, Treadwell, J and Bavin, K (2024) Crimes of the Powerful and the Contemporary Condition: The Democratic Republic of Capitalism Bristol: Policy Press

• Kelly, C Lynes, A and Treadwell, J (eds) (2023) 50 Dark Destinations: Crime and Contemporary Tourism, Bristol, Policy Press

• Treadwell, J. (2020) Criminological Ethnography: An introduction, London: Sage

• Treadwell, J. and Lynes, A. (eds) (2019) 50 facts everyone should know about crime and punishment in Britain: The truth behind the myths, Bristol: Policy Press

• Winlow, S, Hall, S and Treadwell (2017) Rise of the Right, English Nationalism and the Transformation of Working-Class Politics Bristol, Policy Press

• Winlow, S, Hall, S Treadwell, J and Briggs, D (2015) Riots and Political Protests: Notes from the Post Political Present,

• Treadwell, J (2014) Criminology: The Essentials, London: Sage

• Hopkins, M and Treadwell, J (2014) Football Hooliganism, Fan Behaviour and Crime, Contemporary Issues, Basingstoke: Palgrave

• Treadwell, J (2006) Criminology: SAGE Course Companions, London: Sage

Selected articles

• Bahadur Lamb, J., Treadwell, J., Howe, N., Berry, G., Plimley, S., & Bavin, K. (2024). ‘Everything seems to be pushed onto the businesses’: stakeholder perceptions of the policing of business crime in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. Policing and Society, 34(10), 1044–1055. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2024.2362716

• Gooch, K., & Treadwell, J. (2025). The Prison Firm: The ‘transportation’ of organised crime, the evolution of criminal markets and contemporary prisoner society. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 25(1), 245-264. https://doi.org/10.1177/17488958241261802

• Soundararajan, M, Jaishankar, K, Bushell, M, Telford, L, and Treadwell, J (2023) The Victimisation of Rohingyas in Myanmar and in Bangladesh: Breaking the Silence – Postcolonial Criminology, Ethnography and Genocide, British Journal of Criminology https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azad069

• Gooch, K and Treadwell, J (2022) The ‘Screw Boys’ and the ‘Businessmen’: Re-Negotiating Penal Power, Governance and Legitimate Authority Through a Prison Violence Reduction Scheme, The British Journal of Criminology, 2022; azac081, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azac081

• Gooch, K and Treadwell, J (2020) ‘Prisoner Society in an Era of Psychoactive Substances, Organised Crime, New Drug Markets and Austerity’, British Journal of Criminology 60 (5); 1260–1281, Doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaa019

• Treadwell, J., Ancrum, C., & Kelly, C. (2018). Taxing Times: Inter-Criminal Victimization And Drug Robbery Amongst The English Professional Criminal Milieu. Deviant Behavior, 41(1), 57–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2018.1519136

• Ancrum, C and Treadwell, J. (2016) ‘Beyond ghosts, gangs and good sorts: Commercial cannabis cultivation and illicit enterprise in England’s disadvantaged inner cities’, Crime, Media, Culture, first published doi:10.1177/1741659016646414

• Treadwell, J; Briggs, D, Winlow, S and Hall, S. (2013) 'Shopocalypse Now: Consumer Culture and the English Riots of 2011', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 53 (1); 1-17.

• Treadwell, J and Garland, J (2011) Masculinity, Marginalization and Violence: A Case Study of the English Defence League, The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 51, Issue 4, Pages 621–634, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azr027

• Treadwell, J. (2012) From the car boot to booting it up? eBay, online counterfeit crime and the transformation of the criminal marketplace. Criminology & Criminal Justice. 12(2):175-191. doi:10.1177/1748895811428173

• Treadwell, J. (2006), Some Personal Reflections on Probation Training. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 45: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2311.2006.00400.x (won Blackwell Prize for article of the year)

Book Chapters and Content

Treadwell, J (2020) Gaming the System?’ The Merits, Myth and Realities in Understanding Prison Architect: Security, Rehabilitation and Violence as Represented in the World’s Bestselling Carceral Video Game, in Kelly, C, Lynes, A and Hoffin, K (eds) Video Games, Crime and Next-Gen Deviance: Reorienting the Debate, Emerald
Treadwell, J. (2019). Qualitative Research in Criminology. In P. Atkinson, S. Delamont, A. Cernat, J.W. Sakshaug, & R.A. Williams (Eds.), SAGE Research Methods Foundations. doi: 10.4135/9781526421036847209
Jewkes, Y., & Treadwell, J. (2019). Ethnography in Prisons. In P. Atkinson, S. Delamont, A. Cernat, J.W. Sakshaug, & R.A. Williams (Eds.), SAGE Research Methods Foundations. doi: 10.4135/9781526421036844190
Winlow, S, Hall, S and Treadwell, J (2018). Why the left must change: Right-wing populism in context, in DeKeseredy, W and Currie, E (eds.) Progressive Justice in an Age of Repression, Strategies for Challenging the Rise of the Right, London: Routledge
Treadwell, J (2018). Doing Ultrarealist Ethnography: Romanticism and Running with the Riotous While Buying Your Round, 289-301, in Criminology Rice, S K., Maltz, Michael D. (Eds.) Doing Ethnography in Criminology, Springer, Cham
Treadwell, J and Garland, J. (2016) ‘More than violent whites? From 'Paki Bashing' to the English Defence League’, in Hobbs, D (ed.) Mischief, Morality and Mobs: Essays in Honour of Geoff Pearson, London: Routledge
Treadwell, J. (2016) ‘Should the Forces be in the Firing Line? Social Policy, the Veteran and the ‘Acceptable Face’ of Violent Criminality’, in Walklate, S and McGarry, R (eds.) Palgrave Handbook on Criminology and War, London: Palgrave MacMillan
Treadwell, J. (2016) "If there is a god I will be allowed to enter heaven as all other martyrs" - Anders Behring Breivik and Religiously inspired 'Righteous Slaughter', in Sadique, K and Stanislas, P (eds.) Religion, Faith and Crime, London: Palgrave Macmillan
Treadwell, J. (2014) ‘Labelling Perspectives’, in Taylor, P, Corteen, K and Morley, S (eds.) A Companion to Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Risk, Bristol,: Policy Press
Treadwell, J. (2014) ‘Zemiology’, in Taylor, P, Corteen, K and Morley, S (eds.) A Companion to Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Risk Bristol: Policy Press
Treadwell, J (2014) ‘The lads Just playing away: An ethnography with England ‘s football hooligan fringe at the 2006 World Cup’ in Thurnell-Read, T and Casey, M (eds.) Men, Masculinities, Travel and Tourism, London: Palgrave Macmillan
Treadwell, J (2014) “Controlling the new far right on the streets: policing the English Defence League in policy and praxis”, in Chakraborti, N and Garland, J (eds.) Responding to Hate Crime: The Case for Connecting Policy and Research, Bristol: Policy Press
Treadwell, J (2014) 'Tattoos' in Atkinson, R (ed.) Shades of Deviance: A Primer on Crime, Deviance and Social Harm, London Routledge
Treadwell, J and Ayres, T (2014) 'Talking Prada and Powder: Cocaine Use and Supply Amongst the Football Hooligan Firm' in Hopkins, M and Treadwell, J (eds) Football Hooliganism, Fan Behaviour and Crime; Contemporary Issues, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan

Articles in Peer Reviewed Journals

Gooch, K and Treadwell, J (2020) Prisoner Society in an Era of Psychoactive Substances, Organized Crime, New Drug Markets and Austerity, The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 60, Issue 5, September 2020, Pages 1260–1281, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaa019
Treadwell, J, Ancrum, C and Kelly, C (2018) Taxing Times: Inter-Criminal Victimization and Drug Robbery Amongst The English Professional Criminal Milieu, Deviant Behaviour Deviant Behavior, 41:1, 57-69, DOI: 10.1080/01639625.2018.1519136
Ancrum, C and Treadwell, J. (2016) ‘Beyond ghosts, gangs and good sorts: Commercial cannabis cultivation and illicit enterprise in England’s disadvantaged inner cities’, Crime, Media, Culture, first published doi:10.1177/1741659016646414
Treadwell, J and Gooch, K (2015) An ASBO for violent gangsters or just continuing criminalisation of young people? – Thinking about the value of “Gangbo”, Papers from the British Criminology Conference 2015, ISSN 1759-0043; Vol 15
Treadwell, J; Briggs, D, Winlow, S and Hall, S. (2013) 'Shopocalypse Now: Consumer Culture and the English Riots of 2011', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 53 (1); 1-17
Garland, J and Treadwell, J. (2012) The New Politics of Hate? An Assessment of the Appeal of the English Defence League Amongst Disadvantaged White Working- Class Communities in England, Journal of Hate Studies, 10 (1): 99-122
Treadwell, J. (2012) ‘From the Car Boot to Booting it Up? eBay, online counterfeit crime and the transformation of the criminal marketplace’, Criminology and Criminal Justice: An international Journal 12(2): 175-191
Ayres, T and Treadwell, J. (2012) ‘Bars, Drugs and Football Thugs: Alcohol, Cocaine Use and Violence in the Night-time Economy among English Football Firms’ Criminology and Criminal Justice: An International Journal 12 (1) pp. 83-100
Treadwell, J. and Garland, J. (2011) 'Masculinity, Marginalisation and Violence: A Case Study of the English Defence League', British Journal of Criminology, 51 (4): 621-634
Garland, J and Treadwell, J. (2010) 'No Surrender to the Taliban': Football Hooliganism, Islamophobia and the Rise of the English Defence League’, Papers from the British Criminology Conference, 10(1) 19–35.
Treadwell, J. (2008) 'Call the (Fashion) Police: How fashion becomes criminalised', Papers from the British criminology Conference, 8(1): 117-133
Williams, K and Treadwell, J. (2008) 'Similarity and Difference: The Ethnographer, the Subject, and Objectivity', Methodological Innovations Online, Vol. 3(1)
Treadwell, J and Mantle, G. (2007) 'Probation Education, Why the Hush? A Reply to Stout and Dominey's December 2006 Counterblast' Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 46(5): 500-511
Treadwell, J. (2006) 'Some personal reflections on Probation Training' Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, vol. 45(1): 1-13 (Winner of Wiley Blackwell prize for best journal article).

Invited Articles

Gooch, K and Treadwell, J (2001) ‘It Doesn’t stop at the Prison Gate: Understanding Organised Crime in Prison’, Prison Service Journal, 252; 15-30
Gooch, K., & Treadwell, J. (2019). The Illicit Economy and Recovery – What we need to understand. Prison Service Journal, 242, 56-63.
Gooch, K and Treadwell, J. and Trent, R. (2015) ‘Preventing and Reducing Prison Bullying’, Prison Service Journal 21: 25-29
Treadwell, J. (2013) 'The English Defence League and Counter Jihad', Criminal Justice Matters, 93 (1); 8-9
Treadwell, J. (2012) 'White Riot: the English Defence League and the 2011 English riots', Criminal Justice Matters, 87 (1): 36-37
Treadwell, J. (2010) 'COUNTERBLAST: More than Casualties of War?: Ex-military Personnel in the Criminal Justice System', The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Vol. 49 (1) pp. 73-77
Harper, C and Treadwell, J (2013) COUNTERBLAST: Punitative Payne, Justice Campaigns and Popular Punitiveness - Where Next for 'Public Criminology'?, The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 52 (2): 216-222.

Reports Authored and Co-authored

Treadwell, J, Gooch, K and Barkham-Perry, G (2019) Crime in Prison: What now and where next? Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner Midlands Regions
Gooch, K and Treadwell, J (2015) Bullying amongst Young Men in Prison, Birmingham; Birmingham Law School IBSN: 978-0-7044-2859-1 available http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/law/Prison-Bullying-and-Victimisation.pdf
Howard League (2011) Final report of the independent inquiry into former armed service personnel in prison, London: Howard League (ISBN 978-1-905994-36-6)
Howard League (2011) Leaving Forces Life: The issue of Transition, London: Howard League (ISBN 978-1-905994-27-4)

Media

I have a significant media and social media profile. I have offered media comment on a range of crime and criminal justice related matters and given live and recorded commentary on BBC Breakfast, BBC News, BBC News 24 and BBC World News, the ITV news at 10 and Sky News, along with television factual shows such as ‘The One Show’, BBC1’s flagship moral and ethical debate programme the Big Questions and the BBC 2 award winning documentary ‘A History of Now: the Story of the Noughties’. I featured on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Thinking Allowed’ and ‘Today’, and on a number of programmes on BBC Radio 2, 4 and BBC Radio 5 live, for Russia Today and on BBC radio Documentaries such as Europe’s Drug Wars’.

I have also written for a range of media and newsprint outlets, for example, six articles for The Conversation. These have also been picked up and run by news agencies such as The Independent and Policing Insight. I am often contacted by local and national journalists for comment on crime related stories for RT, Vice News, The Economist, The Spectator, The Guardian, Independent and Telegraph.

I have given Conference Papers based on my current Research on Crime in Prison and Prison Violence at the European Society of Criminology in Sarajevo in 2018, The British Society of Criminology, The Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) in Perth in 2019, and the American Society of Criminology.

External profiles

ORCID