Academic Profile

I am a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and a member of the Centre for Criminological Research at the University of Sheffield. My main areas of interest are currently police, policing and police legitimacy, in the context of the police custody process in England and Wales, and in other common-law jurisdictions. She also has a strong interest in multi-agency criminal justice partnerships, such as the community safety partnerships, which was the subject of my PhD, and a growing interest in the use of restorative justice in schools. I also have a keen interest in mixed-methods research. For up-to-date information about my academic life please see my blog: http://laylaskinns.blogspot.com/.

Before joining the Centre for Criminological Research, I worked at the University of Cambridge, where I was the Adrian Socio-Legal Research Fellow at Darwin College and a Teaching Associate at the Institute of Criminology on the MSt. in Applied Criminology for senior police, prison and probation staff. Whilst working as a Research Fellow at Darwin College, I co-organised the prestigious Darwin College Lecture Series on the theme of risk. I have also previously worked as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Criminal Policy Research, King’s College London.

Qualifications

PhD Criminology, University of Cambridge, 2005
MPhil Criminological Research, University of Cambridge, 2001
MA (Hons) Sociology and Psychology, University of Edinburgh, 2000

Teaching and Learning

I am committed to a research-led approach to teaching, as I recognise the mutually beneficial relationship between teaching and research. The modules that I convene and a number of the lectures/seminars I deliver reflect my own research interests and include some of my cutting-edge comparative research on policing in common-law jurisdictions. I also invite external speakers, such as policy-makers and practitioners to give guest lectures, so as to enrich students’ experiences and give them an external perspective on their academic studies.

I also offer a student-centred approach to teaching, acting as a personal tutor to students during their time in Sheffield and having a regular office hour to meet with them to discuss academic and personal matters.

The modules I teach are:

Undergraduate	Postgraduate and MA
Police and Policing in a Global Context (Convenor)	Policing and Society (Convenor)
Responding to Crime
Understanding Criminology

I am also Programme Director for the MA in International Criminology.

Research Interests

• The police custody process
• Police and policing
• The role of the law in policing
• Police legitimacy
• Multi-agency criminal justice partnerships
• Crime prevention and community safety
• Restorative justice in schools
• The relationship between drugs and crime
• Mixed-methods research

Areas of Research Supervision

• The police custody process
• Police and policing
• The role of the law in policing
• Police legitimacy
• Multi-agency criminal justice partnerships
• Crime prevention and community safety
• Mixed-methods research

Key Publications

Skinns, L. (forthcoming, in 2013) The police in England: an institution in crisis?. In M. Smith et al. (eds.) UK Institutions, crisis and response. Palgrave Macmillan.

Skinns, L. (2012) The role of the law in policing. Journal of Police Studies, 2012/4, no. 25.

Clayman, S. and Skinns, L. (2012) To snitch or not to snitch? An exploratory study of the factors affecting active youth co-operation with the police. Policing and Society, 22(2), 1-21.

Skinns, L. (2011) Police custody: governance, legitimacy and reform in the criminal justice process. Cullompton, Willan.

Skinns, L. (2010) Stop the clock: predictors of detention without charge in police custody areas. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 10(3), 303-320.

Skinns, L. (2009a) Lets’ get it over with: early findings on the factors affecting detainees’ access to custodial legal advice. Policing and Society, 19(1) 58-78.

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

• Invited contribution on ‘The role of the law in policing’, at a conference on ‘Tides and currents in police theories’ convened by the Flemish Centre for Police Studies and the Dutch Foundation for Society, Security and Police, 12-13 December 2012.
• Invited contribution on ‘The crisis in policing in England and Wales’ at a conference on ‘UK Institutions, crisis and response’ convened by and held at the Department of Politics, University of Sheffield, 29 June 2012.
• Invited talk on ‘Key findings on police custody’, Criminal Justice Centre, School of Law, Warwick University, November 2011, date and full title tbc.
• Invited talk on ‘Key findings on police custody’ for the Police Federation’s National Custody Forum, 22-23 July 2011.
• ‘Author meets critic panel; ‘Police custody: governance, legitimacy and reform’, British Society of Criminology Conference, 3-6 July 2011, Northumbria University, Newcastle.
• Invited reviewer and discussant at a workshop on stop and search convened by Professor Ben Bowling and Dr Leanne Weber, King’s College London, 7-8 July 2011.
• Invited talk on ‘Key findings on police custody’, a research seminar for the Metropolitan Police Service, Empress State Building, London, 17 June 2011.

Key Projects/Grants

Title/Description:	‘Good’ police custody: Theorizing the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’ – This will be one of the first studies to rigorously examine ‘good’ police custody and to map out changes to police custody arrangements on a national basis. A key aim of the research is examine how civilianization and privatization, through the contracting out of police custody to the private sector, has impacted on things like occupational culture(s), power, fairness, justice, emotions and relationships, cost, governance and accountability.
Awarding Body:	Economic and Social Research Council
People Involved:	Layla Skinns (PI), a Research Fellow and a Research Assistant
Years Funded for:	September 2013 - August 2016
Amount:	£519,000

Title/Description:	‘The overnight detention of children in police cells’ – Analysis of secondary data to examine the extent to which children are detained are detained overnight in police custody and the reasons for it.
Awarding Body:	The Howard League for Penal Reform
People Involved:	Layla Skins (PI)
Years Funded for:	October 2010 - October 2011
Amount:	£3,000

Title/Description:	‘Comparative perspectives on police detention’ – A feasibility study comparing police detention in England with Ireland and jurisdictions in Australia and America.
Awarding Body:	British Academy
People Involved:	Layla Skinns (PI)
Years Funded for:	January 2009 - December 2009
Amount:	£7,500

Professional Activities and Recognition

• Since July 2012, I am a member of the ESRC Peer Review College.
• Since October 2011, I am a member of the Faculty of Social Science Peer Review College at Sheffield University, which will review research bids to the ESRC.
• Since September 2011, I am a member of the steering group for the newly formed Policing Network of the British Society of Criminology. Since September 2010, I am also a member of the steering group for the Policing Working Group for the European Society of Criminology.
• Since April 2011, I am part of the reviewer data-base for Policing: a journal of practice and policy, as well as regularly reviewing journal articles and reports for Policing and Society and the Home Office. Since May 2011, I am a member of the International Advisory Board for the Journal of Police Studies. Since February 2012, I am a regional editor and reviewer for the new European Journal of Policing Studies.
• I am a member of the British, European and American Societies of Criminology and regularly attend conferences convened by these societies.
• In 1997, as a first year undergraduate student, I received the Phillip Barry Prize for Penology from the University of Edinburgh, which was awarded to the best criminology student of the year.