Jo Phoenix

Professor Phoenix researches sex, gender, sexualities and justice, youth justice and punishment, the production of criminological knowledge and research ethics. She has studied and written about a wide variety of subjects including managerialism and ethics in the production of criminological knowledge, prostitution, prostitution policy reform, child sexual exploitation, youth penality and youth justice practice and policy. Her most recent research concerns academic freedom, politics ethics and research and sex, gender, gender identity and criminal justice policy. Professor Phoenix has expertise in qualitative research methodologies and in analyzing criminal justice policy implementation and practice change in complex social organisations. She has been and remains particularly interested in understanding the changing conditions in which (some) women and (some) young people are criminalised and punished as well as the challenges facing those people who work with them.

Jo started her career as an access teacher at a local college in Bristol where she studied for her undergraduate and masters. Whilst doing her PhD (at Keele University), she supplemented her ESRC grant by tutoring for The Open University. Her first job was at Middlesex University. From there she took up full time academic posts at the University of Bath, Durham University, Leicester University and The Open University. Along the way she has held several senior leadership roles including Head of Department and Dean. Jo has a professional commitment to mentoring and enriching the research environment and to that end she started various research centres and networks, including the Centre for Sex, Gender, and Sexualities (Durham University) and The Open University Gender Critical Research Network.