Ian Cummins

Lecturer in Social Work

• Allerton C605
• T: 0161 295 6354
• E: i.d.cummins@salford.ac.uk
• SEEK: Research profile

Mondays 10:00 - 12:00

Before taking up an academic post, I worked as a probation officer and subsequently an approved social worker in Manchester for over ten years. I am a registered social worker with the HCPC (registration number: SW22294)

I have acted as a reviewer for the following: Routledge Criminology, British Journal of Social Work, Journal of Social Work Education, International Journal of Social Work, Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, Journal of Academy of Social Science, Journal of Adult Protection  and Transgressive Culture. I have also acted as a reviewer of research bids for the National Institute for Health Research Central Commissioning Facility. I am a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Adult Protection. I have been invited to speak at over 40 national and international conferences speaking on the main themes of my research: policing and mental illness in the era of mass incarceration and the cultural representation of policing.

I teach across arrange of programmes. My teaching reflects my social work practice experience and research interests.

My main research revolves around the experiences of people with mental health problems in the Criminal Justice system with a focus on policing and mental illness. This is linked to an exploration of the development of the penal state and its interaction with community based mental health services. I am interested in the ways the CJS has become, in many incidences, the default provider of mental health care. In the area of social theory, I am interested in the ideas of Wacquant and Bauman and processes of advanced marginality.  In this field, I have been strongly influenced by Simon's notion of "governing through crime". I am also interested in the work of the British novelists Gordon Burn and David Peace, particularly the exploration of masculinity, violence and cultural representations of policing and police officers.  I am researching the representations of place and serious violent crime as well as the response of police officers to the portrayal of the investigations of such events.

2006: M.A (Hons) Oriental Studies /Social and Political Sciences (Cambridge University).

2004: Post-graduate Certificate Education (UCLAN).

2002: M.A (Econ) Philosophy and Society (Manchester University).Thesis: Will the reform of the Mental Health Act be just?

1996: Mental Health Social Work (Professional Award) (CCETSW).This allowed me to practice as an approved social worker

1986: Post-graduate C.Q.S.W (Liverpool University).

1986: Post-graduate Diploma Applied Social Studies (Liverpool University).

1984: Post-graduate Diploma Social Administration (Victoria University of Manchester).

1983: B.A. (Hons) Oriental Studies and Social and Political Sciences (Cambridge University)

Refereed Journal Articles

Cummins, I 2012, 'Using Simon's "Governing through crime" to explore the development of mental health policy in England and Wales since 1983 ' Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law.

Cummins, I 2012, 'Policing and Mental Illness Post Bradley ', Policing; A journal of Policy and Practice.

Cummins, ID 2011, 'Deinstitutionalisation; Mental health services in the Age of Neo-liberalism', Social Policy and Social Work in Transition.

Cummins, ID 2010, 'Distant Voices Still Lives: reflections on the impact of media reporting of the cases of Christopher Clunis and Ben Silcock ' Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care 3 (4), pp. 18-29.

Cummins, I 2011: “The Other Side of Silence; The role of the Appropriate Adult: post Bradley. The Journal of Ethics and Social Welfare. 5(3), pp. 306-312

Cummins, ID and Jones, S 2010, 'Blue remembered skills: mental health awareness training for police officers' The Journal of Adult Protection, 12 (3) pp. 14-19.

Cummins, ID 2008, 'A place of safety? Self-harming behaviour in police custody' , The Journal of Adult Protection, 10 (1) pp. 36-47.

Cummins, ID 2007, 'Boats against the current: vulnerable adults in police custody' The Journal of Adult Protection, 9 (1) pp. 15-24.

Cummins, ID 2006, 'A path not taken? Mentally disordered offenders and the criminal justice system' Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 28 (3) pp. 267-281

Book Sections

Cummins, I & McLaughlin, H 2011, '"The UK context for police and social work working together for better integration of immigrants" in: M.Danker, E.Heikkila, E.J.Gomez, H.McLaughlin, Reubsaet, S.Vanhanen (eds) Working Together for Better Integration - Immigrants, Police and Social Work. Finnish Immigration Studies Unit - Helsinki.’ in: Working Together for Better Integration - Immigrants, Police and Social Work. Finnish Immigration Studies Unit Helsinki Finland.

Cummins, I 2010 'The relationship between mental institutions beds, prison population and the crimes rate', in: Prison mental health: vision and reality, RCN, NACRO, CENTRE for MENTAL HEALTH, LONDON, UK, pp.22-25.

Other Publications

Cummins, I 2004, "The role of the Appropriate Adult under PACE (1984) (VC scholarship), Salford Centre for Social Work Research, Salford, UK.

Cummins, I 2011, Policing and Mental illness, (Keynote speech), Agir face à la crise psychiatrique: policiers, proches, soignants, Colloque, 7 & 8 février 2011, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.

Reports for External Bodies

Cummins, I & Kime, K 2005, 'Evaluating New Ways of Working', - Local SSD, Salford Centre for Social Work Research

Cummins, I 2006, 'Policing, mental health and custody: a review', for: Greater Manchester Police, -Large, urban police force, Manchester, UK. Salford Centre for Social Work Research

Cummins, I 2007, 'Self-harm and custody: a review" ', for: Lancashire Constabulary Salford Centre for Social Work Research.

Cummins, I 2010, 'Mental health and Custody: a follow-on study', for: Lancashire Constabulary, Salford Centre for Social Work Research.