The University of Sheffield
School of Law
Photo of Dr Layla Skinns

Dr Layla Skinns

Position: Senior Lecturer
Email Address: L.Skinns@sheffield.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)114 222 6775
Room No: EF16B

Academic Profile

I am a Lecturer in Criminology 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. I also have 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 have a keen interest in mixed-methods research. For up-to-date information about my academic life please see my blog, which can be found here: 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.

Member of the Centre for Criminological Research research cluster.

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)
Victimisation, Policing and Crime Prevention
Understanding Criminology

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

Research Interests

Key Publications

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

Skinns, L. (2011b) Legal advice in the police station: past, present and future. Criminal Law Review, January, 19-39.

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

Pattenden, R. and Skinns, L. (2010) Choice, privacy and publicly funded legal advice at the police station. Modern Law Review, 73(3), 349-70.

Skinns, L. (2009b) I’m a detainee get me out of here’: predictors of access to custodial legal advice in public and privatized police custody areas. British Journal of Criminology, 49(3), 399-417.

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 publication and talk 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 2011.

Invited talk on ‘Doing research on police custody: some notes from the field’, Criminal Justice Centre, School of Law, Warwick University, 23 November 2011.

Invited talk on ‘Plural policing and police custody’, at a conference on ‘Preventing deaths in police care’, which is organised by Capita, 19 October 2011.

Invited talk on ‘Plural policing and 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 with Prof Robert Reiner, Prof. David Dixon and Dr Megan O’Neill.

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.

Invited talk on ‘Plural policing and police custody’, Centre for Criminological Research, School of Law, University of Sheffield, 14 December 2010.

Invited talk on ‘Legal advice in the police station: past, present and future’, Centre for Criminal Law, UCL, 1 November, 2010.

Invited publication and talk on ‘Policing in England and Wales’ at the policing pre-conference to the European Society of Criminology Conference, University of Ghent, September 2010.

Invited talk on ‘Plural policing and police custody’, Institute of Criminology, University College Dublin, October 2009.

Invited talk on ‘Plural policing and police custody’, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, August 2009.

Key Projects/Grants

Awarding Body Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Sheffield
People Involved Dr Layla Skinns (Recipient)
Title/Description Faculty Stimulation Fellowship
This award was used to provide teaching buy-out, giving extra time to work up a research application.
Years funded for February 2011 - June 2011
Amount £4,250
Awarding Body Howard League for Penal Reform
People Involved Dr Layla Skinns (Principal Researcher)
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.
Years funded for October 2010 - December 2010
Amount £3,000
Awarding Body British Academy
People Involved Dr Layla Skinns (Principal Researcher)
Title/Description ‘Comparative perspectives on police detention’ – A feasibility study comparing police detention in England with Ireland and jurisdictions in Australia and America.
Years funded for January 2009 - December 2009
Amount £7,500
Awarding Body The Esmée Fairburn Trust and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation
People Involved Dr Layla Skinns (Principal Researcher), Professor Mike Hough and Natasha du Rose
Title/Description ‘An evaluation of the use of restorative approaches in schools in Bristol’ - The research examined the implementation of the initiative, as well as its impact on educational attainment, exclusions and attendance.
Years funded for February 2008 - October 2009
Amount £30,000
Awarding Body Economic and Social Research Council
People Involved Dr Layla Skinns (Principal Researcher)
Title/Description ‘Co-operation or contest? An exploration of inter-agency relationships in police custody Areas’ - This was a multi-site mixed-method study, examining multi-professional relationships in police custody areas and suspect’s access to due process rights, such as legal advice, in the light of work-force modernization of policing.
Years funded for October 2006 - May 2008
Amount £50,000
Awarding Body Home Office
People Involved Dr Layla Skinns, Paul Turnbull and Mike Hough
Title/Description ‘An evaluation of the Drug Intervention Programme’ – This was multi-site evaluation of a programme which aims to reduce drug-related crime by case managing drug-using offenders throughout the criminal justice process. The evaluation looked at processes, outcomes and cost-effectiveness.
Years funded for October 2005 - June 2006
Amount

Professional Activities and Recognition

Areas of Research Supervision