Before joining Middlesex I was an academic researcher at Goldsmiths College and prior to that at Imperial College. My current research interests are the criminal courts, sentencing and punishment with a focus on 18 to 25 year old 'young adults' in the criminal justice system. This overlaps with previous research specialisms on young people growing up in the state childcare system and 'careleavers'. My PhD doctoral research was an ethnography of rave nightclub culture and drug selling.
My main teaching areas are the criminal court justice, sentencing and prisons. I am the Programme Leader for the MSc. Criminology with Forensic Psychology and lead the module CRM4204 Critical Issues in Criminal Justice. I also teach the first year CRM1273 Researching Crime in the City module and supervise UG, PG and doctoral research study across a range of criminal justice topics.
2019 Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy
2009 PGCert. (Higher Education) Middlesex University
2006 Ph.D. (Sociology) Drug Use and Drug Dealing in the 'Rave' Club Culture. Goldsmiths College
Authored books
Refereed articles
Chapters in edited collections
Official Reports
Ward, J., Henderson, Z. and Pearson, G. (2003) One Problem Among Many: Drug Use Among Care Leavers in Transition to Independent Living. Home Office Research Study 260. London: Home Office.https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/5584/
Conferences
Ward, J. (2021) The Return of Problem-solving Drugs Courts: Some Important Considerations. 21st E-Conference of European Society of Criminology 8-10 September.
Ward, J. (2019) Problem-solving Justice: Developments in England and Wales. European Society of Criminology Conference, Ghent, Belgium, 18th -21st Sept. 2019. Invited panel presentation.
Blogposts
Ward, J. (2021) The Return of 'Drugs Courts': Some Important Considerations, 24 May 2021. The Justice Gap https://www.thejusticegap.com/the-return-of-drugs-courts-some-important-considerations/
Ward, J. (2015) Changing Prisons in Challenging Times. Middlesex Minds blogpost- 27 March 2015. www.mdxminds.com
Membership of Professional Bodies
English, basic French, Spanish, Dutch, beginners Croatian
Curriculum/subject area
Criminal courts and prisons, courtroom decision-making, sentencing policy and practice, criminal justice institutions, prison and university education partnerships, researching the city.
I am the Programme Leader for the MSc. Criminology with Forensic Psychology. I teach the modules 'Crititcal Issues in Criminal Justice' and 'Researching Crime in the City'.
My current research interests are sentencing and punishment in the criminal courts, sentencing law reform, 18-24 year old offenders, social justice meets criminal justice, problem-solving justice, the lower criminal courts.
Other research interests are comparative criminal justice processes, specialist courts and 'therapeutic juisprudence', young people accommodated within the state childcare system, and careleavers transition to independent living.
Previous research and publications are on illegal drug markets. My doctoral research was an urban ethnography on the 'rave' club drug culture published as 'Flashback: Drugs and Dealing in the Golden Age of the London Rave Culture' (2010). It is an account of the organisational features of drug trading among different friendship groups and within different London nightclubs in the mid to late 1990s.
Doctoral students are welcome in the following areas:
Ward, Jennifer (2021) The return of drugs courts: some important considerations. The Justice Gap .
Gray, Natalie and Ward, Jennifer and Fogarty, Jenny (2019) Transformative learning through university and prison partnerships: reflections from ‘Learning Together’ pedagogical practice. Journal of Prison Education and Reentry , 6 (1). pp. 7-24. ISSN 2387-2306
Ward, Jennifer (2019) Problem-solving criminal justice: developments in England and Wales. Utrecht Law Review , 14 (3). pp. 7-18. ISSN 1871-515X
Ward, Jennifer and Gray, Natalie and Cracknell, Matthew (2017) Transformative learning through university and prison partnership: an evaluation of the Middlesex University and HMP Wandsworth Prison module. In: Middlesex University Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2017, 08 Sept 2017, Middlesex University, London, UK.
Ward, Jennifer (2016) Transforming summary justice: Modernisation in the lower criminal courts. Routledge Frontiers of Criminal Justice . Routledge, London and New York. ISBN 9781138846739
2018 Principle applicant (Jenni Ward), Prisoners’ Learning Experiences in a University/Prison Partnership: Motivations, Future Aspirations and Reintegration Pathways. Middlesex University, School of Law Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) £4380.00
2017 Principal applicant (Jenni Ward) Evaluation of Middlesex ‘Learning Together’ module in HM Wandsworth Reform Prison. Centre for Academic Practice Enhancement (CAPE) Middlesex University £9204.00
2016 Principal applicant (Jenni Ward) Prison Reform, Rehabilitation and Reintegration. Middlesex University, School of Law Research and Knowledge Transfer Committee- Impact Case Study Fund £2500.00
2016 Principal applicant (Jenni Ward) Prison Reform, Prisoner Experiences and Reintegration Pathways, Middlesex University, School of Law Research and Knowledge Transfer Committee £1900.00
2014 – Principal applicant (Jenni Ward) Transforming Summary Justice, Middlesex University, School of Law Research and Knowledge Transfer Committee £1300.
2007 - ESRC Training Bursary £1000 - Training in the use of NVIVO7 provided by SdG Associates.
2002 – Principal applicant and grant holder (Jenni Ward), co-applicant (Geoffrey Pearson) – Economic and Social Research Council. Tracking Care Leavers As They Move to Independence. £41,392.11 Reference no. R000223982
2001 – Principal applicant and grant holder (Jenni Ward), co-applicant (Geoffrey Pearson) Home Office Drugs and Alcohol Research Unit. Care Leavers as a Group Vulnerable to Drug Use. £98,239.98�0�a
