Professor Adam White
School of Law
Professor of Criminology
Director of Research
adam.white@sheffield.ac.uk
Bartolomé House
Full contact details
Professor Adam White
School of Law
Bartolomé House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
School of Law
Bartolomé House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
- Profile
-
I joined the School of Law in 2016. Before arriving at the University of Sheffield, I worked in the Department of Politics at the University of York as a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Public Policy (2010-2015).
I have also spent time as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington (Seattle) and worked a researcher for Gun Free South Africa (Cape Town) and Demos (London).
- Qualifications
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- PG Cert Academic Practice, University of York (2013)
- PhD Politics, University of Sheffield (2008)
- MA Research Methods in Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield (2005)
- MA International Political Economy, University of Leeds (2003)
- BA (Hons) Geography, University of Leeds (2002)
- Research interests
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My research focuses on four interconnected themes:
- Policing
- Private Security
- Terrorism
- Counterterrorism
These interests are multidisciplinary, lying at the intersection of criminology, politics, international relations and socio-legal studies.
- Publications
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Books
- The Politics of Private Security: Regulation, Reform and Re-Legitimation. Palgrave Macmillan.
Edited books
- The Everyday Life of the State: A State-in-Society Approach. University of Washington Press.
Journal articles
- Size matters: measuring the private security industry in the United Kingdom. Crime Prevention and Community Safety. View this article in WRRO
- The everyday political economy of private security. Policing and Society, 34(1-2), 1-9.
- Cultural and symbolic capital in the market for security : police-private security relations in Mexico and the United Kingdom. Policing and Society, 34(1-2), 27-41.
- Private security discretion: economic rules, social norms and situational judgement in the night-time economy. Criminology & Criminal Justice.
- Critical workers? Private security, public perceptions and the Covid-19 pandemic. Security Journal, 36(2), 317-332.
- Questioning Anglocentrism in plural policing studies : private security regulation in Belgium and the United Kingdom. European Journal of Criminology, 20(2), 548-567. View this article in WRRO
- Fragile alliances: Culture, funding and sustainability in police-academic partnerships. Evidence and Policy, 17(1), 93-109.
- What is the privatization of policing?. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14(3), 766-777. View this article in WRRO
- Soldier, contractor, trauma: The governance of post-traumatic stress disorder in the private military labour market. Illness, Crisis, and Loss, 27(4), 274-292.
- Valour for Money? Contested Commodification in the Market for Security. British Journal of Criminology, 58(6), 1401-1419. View this article in WRRO
- Security/capital: a general theory of pacification. Policing & Society, 28(8), 1000-1003.
- Mercenarism, norms and market exchange: Reassembling the private military labour market
. International Sociology, 33(4), 523-540. View this article in WRRO
- Beyond Iraq: The Socioeconomic Trajectories of Private Military Veterans. Armed Forces & Society, 44(3), 387-407. View this article in WRRO
- From ‘what works?’ to ‘who am I?’ : existential research in the extended policing family. European Journal of Policing Studies, 5(3), 91-106. View this article in WRRO
- How can we better align private security with the public interest? Towards a civilizing model of regulation. Regulation and Governance, 11(2), 166-184.
- The Politics of Police ‘Privatization’: A Multiple Streams Approach. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 15(3), 283-299.
- The Impact of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Security Journal, 28(4), 425-442.
- Post-crisis Policing and Public–Private Partnerships: The Case of Lincolnshire Police and G4S. British Journal of Criminology, 54(6), 1002-1022.
- The Paradox of Security Regulation: Public Protection Versus Normative Legitimation. Policy & Politics, 42(3), 421-438.
- The Transformation of Policing: From Ratios to Rationalities. British Journal of Criminology, 53(1), 74-93.
- The New Political Economy of Private Security. Theoretical Criminology, 16(1), 85-101.
Chapters
- The Privatization of Criminal Justice: Emotional, Intellectual and Political Responses In Luscombe A, Silva D & Walby K (Ed.), Changing of the Guards: Private Influences, Privatization and Criminal Justice in Canada (pp. vii-x). University of British Columbia Press
- Private Security/Private Military: One Phenomenon or Two? In Gill M (Ed.), Handbook of Security. (pp. 123-143). Palgrave Macmillan
- Private Security and the Privatisation of Criminal Justice In Bean P (Ed.), Criminal Justice and Privatisation: Key Issues and Debates (pp. 127-141). Routledge.
- Police Outsourcing and Labour Force Vulnerability. In Albertson K, Corcoran M & Phillips J (Ed.), Marketisation and Privatisation in Criminal Justice (pp. 107-118). Policy
- Monopoly or Plurality? The Police and the Private Security Industry in Mid-Twentieth Century Britain. In Churchill D, Janiewski D & Leloup P (Ed.), Private Security and the Modern State: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (pp. 78-95). Routledge
- Private Military Contractors: A Criminological Approach. In Wadham B & Goldsmith A (Ed.), Criminologies of the Military (pp. 81-94). Hart
- Just Another Industry? (De)Regulation, Public Expectations and Private Security. In Hucklesby A & Lister S (Ed.), The Private Sector and Criminal Justice (pp. 65-96). Palgrave Macmillan
- Private Security and the Politics of Accountability. In Lister S & Rowe M (Ed.), Accountability of Policing (pp. 172-191). Routledge
- The Market for Global Policing. In Bradford B, Jauregui B, Loader I & Steinberg J (Ed.), The Sage Handbook of Global Policing (pp. 535-551). Sage
- Private Military Contractors as Criminals/Victims. In McGarry R & Walklate S (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and War (pp. 191-209). Palgrave Macmillan
- A Crisis of Regulation. In Hay C, Richards D & Smith M (Ed.), Institutional Crisis in Twenty-First-Century Britain (pp. 198-217). Palgrave Macmillan
- Beyond the Regulatory Gaze? Corporate Security, (In)visibility and the Modern State. In Lippert R & Walby K (Ed.), Corporate Security in the 21st Century: Theory and Practice in International Perspective (pp. 39-55). Palgrave Macmillan
- Politics, Economics and Security. In Gill M (Ed.), Handbook of Security (pp. 89-106). Palgrave Macmillan
- A State-in-Society Agenda. In White A (Ed.), The Everyday Life of the State: A State-in-Society Approach (pp. 1-13). University of Washington Press
- The United Kingdom. In Bakker C & Sossai M (Ed.), Multilevel Regulation of Military and Security Contractors: The Interplay Between International, European and Domestic Norms (pp. 309-328). Hart
Book reviews
- Security/capital: a general theory of pacification. Policing and Society, 28(8), 1000-1003.
- The Politics of Private Security: Regulation, Reform and Re-Legitimation. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Research group
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Member of the Centre for Criminological Research
- Grants
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Title/Description: Centre for Vulnerability and Policing Futures
- Awarding Body: ESRC
- People Involved: Adam White (Co-Investigator)
- Dates: 2022-2027
- Amount (£): 8.23m
Title/Description: N8 Policing Research Partnership
- Awarding Body: HEFCE
- People Involved: Adam White (Co-Investigator)
- Dates: 2015-2020
- Amount (£): 6.64m
Title/Description: The Demobilisation of Private Military Contractors
- Awarding Body: Gerda Henkel Foundation
- People Involved: Adam White (Principal Investigator)
- Dates: 2014-2016
- Amount (£): 53,800
- Teaching interests
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Over the past few years, I have studied, researched and taught within the disciplines of geography, international political economy, politics and public policy.
But criminology is my passion. It is a fascinating discipline with endless stories – both macabre and heartwarming – which open up a unique window into the human condition.
My aim when teaching criminology is to communicate this fascination to others and to nurture it within their own learning experience.
- Teaching activities
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The modules I teach are:
Undergraduate
- Criminology and War
- Drugs, Crime and Control
Postgraduate
- Criminality, Victimhood and War
- Global Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Editorial Board, British Journal of Criminology
- Editorial Board, Security Journal
- Steering Committee, British Society of Criminology Policing Network
- Fellow, Higher Education Academy