Dr Gilly Sharpe

School of Law

Lecturer in Criminology

G.H.Sharpe@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 6079

Bartolomé House

Full contact details

Dr Gilly Sharpe
School of Law
Bartolomé House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND

Profile

After studying Modern Languages as an undergraduate, I managed a voluntary sector project for ‘disadvantaged’ young people and adults with disabilities in Oxford for two years.

I then completed an MSc in Applied Social Sciences and a Diploma in Social Work at the University of Oxford, before embarking on a brief career as a social worker in a youth offending team.

This was followed by research posts at the University of Oxford (as part of the team evaluating Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes for young offenders) and at Dartington Social Research Unit in Devon.

In 2004 I was awarded an ESRC scholarship to undertake doctoral research at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge.

My PhD examined young women and youth justice, and involved empirical research in two Youth Offending Teams and a Secure Training Centre. I joined the School of Law as a Lecturer in Criminology in 2008.

Qualifications

PhD, University of Cambridge
MSc, Applied Social Studies and Diploma in Social Work (DipSW), University of Oxford
MA Modern Languages, University of Cambridge

Research interests

My research interests centre on the intersections of criminal and social justice, in particular the extent to which criminal and youth justice policies and interventions, as well as welfare policies, often fail, in spite of their good intentions, to advance justice or ameliorate the life circumstances of poor, marginalised and vulnerable groups.

My current research focuses on two areas. The first of these is youth justice policy and practice - in particular the assessment, criminalisation and penal governance of young women - and the second concerns (ex-) offenders' experiences of life after punishment and their transitions into adulthood.

Previous empirical research has focused on desistance from crime amongst men and women previously on probation, the community supervision of women lawbreakers, housing provision and social support for women ex-prisoners and their dependent children, domestic violence advocacy, and the supervision and surveillance of persistent and serious young offenders.

I am experienced in qualitative research methodologies and in conducting research with vulnerable groups.

My first monograph, Offending Girls: Young Women and Youth Justice, was published by Routledge in 2012.

I recently re-interviewed, eight years on, the majority of the ‘offending girls’ who were the subjects of the monograph, all of whom are now in their early-to-mid 20s.

Member of the Centre for Criminological Research Cluster.

Publications

Books

Sharpe G (2023) Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime Precarious Identities in the Transition to Adulthood. Routledge.
Farrall S, Hunter B, Sharpe GH & Calverley A (2014) Criminal Careers in Transition: The Social Context of Desistance from Crime. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sharpe GH (2011) Offending Girls: Young Women and Youth Justice. Abingdon: Routledge.

Journal articles

Sharpe GH (2017) Sociological stalking? Methods, ethics and power in longitudinal criminological research. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 17(3), 233-247. View this article in WRRO
Farrall S, Hunter B, Sharpe GH & Calverley A (2016) What ‘works’ when retracing sample members in a qualitative longitudinal study?. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 19(3), 287-300. View this article in WRRO
Sharpe GH (2016) Re-imagining Justice for Girls: A New Agenda for Research. Youth Justice: An International Journal, 16(1), 3-17. View this article in WRRO
Sharpe GH (2015) Precarious identities: ‘Young’ motherhood, desistance and stigma. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 15(4), 407-422. View this article in WRRO
Farrall S, Sharpe GH, Hunter B & Calverley A (2011) Theorizing structural and individual-level processes in desistance and persistence: Outlining an integrated perspective. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 44(2), 218-234.
Codd H (2010) In the Shadow of Prison: Families, Imprisonment and Criminal Justice. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 5(49), 550-552.
Comfort M & Sharpe GH (2010) Doing Time Together: Love and Family in the Shadow of the Prison. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 5(49), 550-552.
Sharpe GH, Evans K & Jamieson J (2010) Gender and Crime: A Reader. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 1(49), 87-88.
Sharpe GH (2009) The Trouble With Girls Today: Professional Perspectives on Young Women's Offending. Youth Justice: An International Journal, 9(3), 254-269.
Sharpe GH & Gelsthorpe L (2009) Engendering the Youth Justice Agenda: Introduction to a Special Issue on Girls and Young Women. Youth Justice: An International Journal, 9(3), 195-208.
Sharpe G & Gelsthorpe L (2009) Engendering the Agenda: Girls, Young Women and Youth Justice. Youth Justice, 9(3), 195-208.
Gelsthorpe L & Sharpe G (2005) Criminological research: typologies versus hierarchies. Criminal Justice Matters, 62(1), 8-43.

Chapters

Sharpe G (2024) Young women and punishment within and beyond the penal system, Desistance and Children: Critical Reflections from Theory, Research and Practice (pp. 97-111).
Sharpe G (2023) Introduction, Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime (pp. 1-14). Routledge
Sharpe G (2023) Maternal identities, stigma and desistance from crime, Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime (pp. 78-103). Routledge
Sharpe G (2023) Stigmatisation and devaluation beyond the penal sphere, Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime (pp. 56-77). Routledge
Sharpe G (2023) Precarious transitions, Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime (pp. 32-55). Routledge
Sharpe G (2023) Methodological a‌ppendix, Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime (pp. 181-200). Routledge
Sharpe G (2023) Making sense of penal intervention, Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime (pp. 133-162). Routledge
Sharpe G (2023) Conclusion, Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime (pp. 163-180). Routledge
Sharpe G (2023) The legacy of education and welfare intervention, Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime (pp. 104-132). Routledge
Sharpe G (2023) Youth, inequality and stigma, Women, Stigma, and Desistance from Crime (pp. 15-31). Routledge
Jones E, Sharpe G & Barrett V (2023) Student Transition, Sense of Belonging and Habitus, Wellbeing and Transitions in Law (pp. 137-160). Springer International Publishing
Sharpe G (2022) Female Offending During Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood (pp. 295-306). Wiley
Sharpe G (2019) More sinned against than sinning: Women's pathways into crime and criminalization, The Routledge Companion to Rehabilitative Work in Criminal Justice (pp. 611-621).
Sharpe GH & Gelsthorpe L (2015) Girls, Crime and Justice In Goldson B & Muncie J (Ed.), Youth Crime and Justice Sage
Gelsthorpe L & Sharpe G (2015) Women and Sentencing: Challenges and Choices, Exploring Sentencing Practice in England and Wales (pp. 118-136). Palgrave Macmillan UK
Sharpe GH (2011) Beyond youth justice: Working with girls and young women who offend In Sheehan R, McIvor G & Trotter C (Ed.), Working with Women Offenders in the Community (pp. 151-172). Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
Gelsthorpe L & Sharpe GH (2007) Women and Resettlement In Hucklesby A & Hagley-Dickinson L (Ed.), Prisoner Resettlement: Policy and Practice (pp. 199-223). Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
Gelsthorpe L & Sharpe GH (2006) Gender, Youth Crime and Justice In Goldson B & Muncie J (Ed.), Youth Crime and Justice (pp. 47-61). London: Sage.
() The Routledge International Handbook of Life-Course Criminology Routledge
Gelsthorpe L & Sharpe G () Women and Sentencing, Exploring Sentencing Practice in England and Wales Palgrave Macmillan

Reports

Sharpe GH & Gelsthorpe L (2010) The Re-Unite Project Early Development Phase: Evaluation Report

Research group: I would be interested to hear from prospective research students in the areas of youth justice, the punishment of, and provision for, women who offend, and desistance from crime.

Grants

Title/Description: Tracking Progress on Probation: Long-term patterns of desistance and reform

Awarding Body: Leverhulme Trust
People Involved: Professor Stephen Farrall and Dr Ben Hunter
Dates: February 2010 - March 2013
Amount: £191,346

Title/Description: Re-Unite Project Evaluation

Awarding Body: Commonweal Housing
People Involved: Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe, University of Cambridge
Dates: 2008 - 2010

Title/Description: Provision for Women Offenders in the Community

Awarding Body: Nuffield Foundation
People Involved: Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe, University of Cambridge
Dates: 2006 - 2007

Teaching interests

All of my teaching areas coincide with my research interests, as well as my current and previous experience of both research and practice.

My seminar teaching includes examples of ‘real life’ cases, issues and dilemmas, and is informed by theoretical, policy and practice knowledge in youth and criminal justice, particularly concerning women and girls.

Teaching activities

The modules I teach are:

Undergraduate

Youth Crime and Justice (Convenor)
Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice
Punishment and Penal Policy

Postgraduate

Methods of Criminological Research (Convenor)

Professional activities and memberships

I am a member of the British Society of Criminology, the European Society of Criminology, and the National Association of Youth Justice.
I am a member of the Howard League for Penal Reform’s Research Advisory Group.

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

Sharpe, G. (2014) ‘Re-Imagining Justice for Girls.’ Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University, 19th February
Sharpe, G. (2013) ‘Doing Justice to Girls?’ British Society of Criminology Wales branch, Bangor, 8th May.