A paper co-authored by SSPSSR Reader in Criminology Dr Caroline Chatwin, has been awarded the Paper Prize 2021 by the British Society of Criminology’s Women, Crime and Criminal Justice (WCCJ) Network.
The Paper Prize, awarded annually awarded at the British Society of Criminology July conference, celebrates excellence in research and scholarship from WCCJ Network members.
The winning paper on ‘Gendering research on online illegal drug markets’ was published in the cross-disciplinary journal Addiction Research & Theory (28:6, 457-466) in 2020. Together with Dr Chatwin, it was co-authored by Dr Jennifer Fleetwood (Goldsmiths University of London) and Professor Judith Aldridge (University of Manchester).
The paper reviews and critiques research on online illegal drug markets, arguing that existing conceptualisations and methodological approaches have resulted in a very limited discussion of women and questions of gender. In its conclusion, the paper challenges the assumption that online markets can be understood without thinking about gender and outlines steps toward building a gendered perspective in this area.
Dr Chatwin said: ‘It’s especially meaningful to win this award during the pandemic – a period in which, like many others, I have really struggled to conduct research. I’m particularly proud to contribute to the University of Kent’s, and perhaps particularly the Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice’s, longstanding tradition for feminist scholarship.’
Much of Dr Chatwin’s research focuses on European and global drug policy making. It considers the desirability and viability of global approaches to drug policy and aims to provide policy makers with useful strategies to achieve more effective drug policies.
In recent years, Dr Chatwin has focused on the development of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and the policies that have been implemented to address this issue. Her work aims to bring together the scholarship and experience of a variety of actors and emphasises the similarities between the developing NPS situation and the wider drugs field.
Dr Chatwin’s most current research surrounds the link between prison and education and the wider field of resettlement.
The WCCJ Network exists to support scholarship on women, crime and criminal justice, and to foster research of the highest standard. Membership is open to anyone in the UK and overseas with an interest in making women visible in the criminal justice system and within the discipline of Criminology.