Professor Neal Hazel

Professor of Criminology; Director of the Centre for Social Research

• Crescent House 203
• T: 0161 295 5122
• E: n.hazel@salford.ac.uk
• Twitter: @@NealHazel
• SEEK: Research profile

During semester time, Neal can be accessed at any time by email on his mobile (number provided to students via Blackboard).

Neal joined the University of Salford in 2003, and was previously a Senior Research Fellow at the Policy Research Bureau, London.

He has directed or managed more than 25 funded research projects, including several complex national evaluations in youth inclusion/justice.

He has published on both youth justice and family/health services, including two cross-national comparisons of youth justice systems (1998 & 2008), a book on support for Parenting in Poor Environments (2002), and a recent report and policy briefing on resettlement of young offenders after custody (both 2010). He was a consultant to the National Audit Office review of youth justice.

Neal currently convenes or teaches on the following modules:

Analysing Social Data
Readings in the Sociology of Deviance
Youth and Crime
Crime and Society
Contemporary Research in Crime and Deviance
Violence and Society

Neal specialises in applied research involving young people and families, including: a study of young offenders’ views of their experiences in youth justice (funded by the ESRC) and a Britain-wide study of parental discipline (ESRC). Since 2003, he has focused on youth inclusion and youth justice, and has been commissioned by Routledge to write a new book on A History of Youth Justice.

His research has focused on providing useful policy and practice messages for both government and charities.  The list of organizations Neal has worked with includes: Department of Health, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board, Treasury, Scottish Government, Welsh Government, Nacro, Catch 22, Family Holiday Association, Action for Children, NSPCC, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Capability Scotland.

He is involved in the Big Lottery Fund's new Youth in Focus project, Beyond youth custody.

Ph.D.
M.Sc. in Applied Social Research
B.A. (HONS.) in Sociology & Social Policy
PGCHE

• Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society
• Member of the International Juvenile Justice Observatory, Brussels
• Member of the Nacro Advisory Committee on Children and Crime (to 2008)
• Member of the European Society of Criminology;
• Member of the British Society of Criminology;
• Member of the Welsh Centre for Crime and Social Justice;
• Member of the Offender Health Research Network

 Selected publications:

Hazel N and Clark A (2012) Negotiating doorstep access: Door-to-door survey researchers’ strategies to obtain participation International Journal of Social Research Methodology Available Online 21 May 2012

Hazel N and Liddle M (2012) Resettlement in England and Wales: Key policy and practice messages from research  London: Youth Justice Board

Hazel N, Liddle M and Gordon F (2010) Key lessons from the RESET programme – Executive Briefing London: Catch 22

Wright S, Hazel, N, Gray P, Liddle M and Haines K (2010) Evaluation of Early Parental Intervention Pilot Projects Cardiff: Welsh Government

Hazel N (2008) Cross-national comparison of youth justice. London: Youth Justice Board

Ghate D and Hazel N (2008) Patterns of need and support: priority groups for policy and practice attention.  In Buchanan A (ed) Social Work: Major Themes in Health and Social Welfare (vol 2, p149-157) London: Routledge Publishers [IBSN 9780415420280]

Hazel N, Ghate D, Creighton S, Field J and Finch S (2003) 'Violence against children: Thresholds of acceptance for physical punishment in a normative study of parents, children and discipline'  In Stanko, E. The Meanings of Violence  London: Routledge Publishers [9780415301305]

Ghate D and Hazel N (2002) Parenting in poor environments: stress, support and coping.  London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers [ISBN 184310069X]