Dr Danica Darley (she/her)
BA, MA, PhD,
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
Research Associate
Full contact details
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Profile
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Dr Danica Darley is the Principal Investigator on the NIHR School for Social Care Research study Navigating Neurodisabilities through the Prison Gate. The study aims to improve service provision and continuity of social care for individuals identified with a neurodisability in prison by understanding how their needs are recognised and supported during custody and post-release.
She is also a Research Associate on the Willow Study in the School of Allied Health, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery exploring how pre-birth assessments for women who use substances in England and Wales are experienced by women and social workers.
Dani’s PhD research examined the experiences of care-experienced young people of child criminal exploitation (CCE) and was developed with three young people who had been in the care of the local authority and had experienced CCE.
Prior to coming into academia in 2017 Dani worked with children in care and those on the fringes of the criminal justice system in Scotland and England for 15 years.
- Qualifications
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- BA (Hons) Sociology with Criminology, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield (2020)
- MA Social Research, Sheffield Methods Institute, University of Sheffield (2021)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, Leeds Trinity University (2024)
- PhD, University of Sheffield (2025)
- Research interests
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My research interests include, neurodisabilities, care-experience, child exploitation, women in conflict with the law, relational practice, professional boundaries, lived experience criminology, youth justice, co-production and the intersections between our health, social care and criminal justice systems.
- Publications
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Books
- Beyond Autoethnography. Routledge.
Journal articles
- Problematising ‘vulnerability’ in women's prisons. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice. View this article in WRRO
- Women, Shame, and Stigma: Responding to (In)justice Through Zine. Sociological Research Online, 30(4), 1109-1117.
- Breaking the Boundaries Collective – A Manifesto for Relationship-based Practice. Ethics and Social Welfare, 18(1), 94-106.
- Creating convict criminology in the UK: a response to Aresti, Darke and Ross from members of the British Convict Criminology group. Justice, Power and Resistance, 6(3), 328-338.
- Herrity, Schmidt and Warr (Ed): Sensory Penalties: Exploring the Senses in Spaces of Punishment and Social Control. International Criminology, 1(4), 359-361.
Book chapters
- Introduction, Beyond Autoethnography (pp. 1-12). Routledge
- Feminist Perspectives of Lived Experience of the Criminal Courts Connecting the Continuum, Beyond Autoethnography (pp. 114-131). Routledge
- Introduction, Beyond Autoethnography (pp. 1-12). Taylor & Francis
- Experience for Justice, Handbook on Lived Experience in the Justice System (pp. 507-518). Routledge
- FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES OF LIVED EXPERIENCE OF THE CRIMINAL COURTS CONNECTING THE CONTINUUM: Women’s Ways of Knowing and the Criminal Courts, Beyond Autoethnography Lived Experience Criminology (pp. 114-131).
- Beyond Autoethnography. Routledge.
- Research group
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I am a member of the steering committee of the Participatory Research Network (PRN) at the University of Sheffield.
- Grants
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NIHR SSCR- Navigating Neurodisabilities through the Prison Gate, Jan 2026-April 2028, £337,248
The Welland Trust - Reflections of care-experienced young people on CCE, Nov 2022-Nov 2023, £18,181
Leeds Trinity University - Co-creating Menopause education for prison officers, Dec 2023 - Dec 2024, £1998
Leeds Trinity University - Reflections of care-experienced young people on CCE, Jan 2024- July 2024 - £4,000
- Professional activities and memberships
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I hold a voluntary position as Director of Programmes on the board of Experience for Justice, a not for profit organisation that undertakes research and campaigning work to advocate for the inclusion of criminalised individuals in policy making and beyond. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an Associate member of the Alliance for Youth Justice and a member of the Academic Liaison Network for the Youth Justice Board and a steering committee member of the Child Centred Youth Justice Network.