Developing a decolonising culture in criminology and higher education

This project seeks to establish a decolonising culture within criminology and across higher education.

The criminology discipline is responsible for addressing inequality and oppression in its interrogation of crime, as a socially constructed concept, and justice.

Core criminological perspectives emerged during European and US American colonial projects, where most theorists did not represent the diverse populations they studied.

Criminology has been central in perpetuating myths around race and criminality, often being used as a tool of colonialism, as there is an overemphasis in the discipline on street-level crimes (rather than crimes of the powerful), on positivism, and on quantitative methods.

Embedding a decolonial approach in criminology requires a holistic approach to reconstructing the discipline and its knowledge base.

Sub-projects

This project includes three distinct sub-projects:

1. Developing a decolonising and reflexive criminology

• Dr Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal, Brunel University London
• Dr Rowan Sweeney, University of Gloucestershire
• Dr Omar El Masri, University of Gloucestershire
• Cameron Burke, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA

Using three distinct methods (survey, textbook analysis, and citation analysis) this project compiles data across the USA and the UK to identify who the most influential thinkers have been in the discipline.

The data is used to establish which identities dominate the discipline to illustrate the need for decolonising criminology’s knowledge base.

The research proposes a holistic framework to guide a decolonising practice across the discipline, which illustrates the need for decolonising to be more than just a curricular issue.

The framework asks criminologists to embed intersectional anti-racism and reflexivity across their craft, in research, teaching, and community impact, that is rooted in restorative, relational, and collaborative practices.

2. Decolonising the criminological core: Implementing a processual approach to curricular decolonisation

• Dr Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal, Brunel University London
• Dr Omar El Masri, University of Gloucestershire

This project aims to develop a decolonising culture in teaching and learning criminological theories, by creating a proactive, intellectually reflexive environment that recalls intersectional anti-racist principles.

Inspired by the Twyman-Ghoshal and Carkin Lacorazza (2020) call to action, the project embeds a co-produced method to curricular review that engages students and staff in active learning and development of the module and its content.

3. Decolonising the higher education curriculum in a globalised world: Interdisciplinary perspectives on navigating power, knowledge and innovation (edited and co-authored book)

Professor Adeela Ahmed Shafi MBE, University of Gloucestershire
Dr Acheampong Charles Afriyie, University of Gloucestershire
Sam Copland, University of Gloucestershire
Dr Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal, Brunel University London
Dr Omar El Masri, University of Gloucestershire

This edited volume compiles the various methods that have been used to decolonise the curriculum across different disciplines. This includes an examination of the role of research funding, research methods, and libraries in the decolonising movement.

Research impact

The aim of this work is to embed a decolonising culture in the discipline of criminology and across higher education.

The work will support academics in the discipline and across higher education to better engage with decolonising work which is hoped will create a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment for students, which we believe will cascade into the broader social environment outside of academia.

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Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal - Anamika is a critical global criminologist; her research and teaching centre on the intersection of power,  systemic injustice, social harm, and deviance in a globalised world. She has examined state & corporate harms (state co-offending, climate change and related environmental harms), green and blue criminology (environmental harms, maritime piracy, terrorism), decolonising criminology, and restorative justice. Her research has been published in the British Journal of Criminology, Critical Criminology, Laws, International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, and as scholarly texts in edited books. Anamika’s current projects include exploring the deviant causes of Earth System damage (including climate change), diversifying restorative justice, various forms of state co-offending (a term she coined), and decolonising criminological knowledge production using an anti-racist foundation.  Prior to joining academia, Anamika worked for the International Maritime Bureau in London investigating international shipping, trade, and finance fraud. She is fluent in English, German, Polish, French and conversational Bengali. Anamika was a restorative justice practitioner in the United States and is the co-founder of the restorative justice technology start-up, Restorativ.

Related Research Group(s)

Harm and Justice Research Group - The Harm and Justice Research Group brings together a diverse group of researchers, advocates, and practitioners from across the University who work on issues of harm and justice.

Project last modified 05/07/2024