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Dr Deborah Drake

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Senior Lecturer in Criminology
  • Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
  • School of Social Sciences & Global Studies
  • Social Policy & Criminology
  • deborah.drake

Professional biography

I joined The Open University in 2007, after completing my PhD at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge - under the supervision of Prof Alison Liebling. I originate from Canada and undertook both of my undergraduate degrees and my MA at the University of Saskatchewan. I continue to maintain academic links with colleagues in the Department of Sociology there.I was Head of Social Policy and Criminology at The Open University from 2018-2021.  

I am a member of the Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative (HERC), which is an interdisciplinary, cross-faculty research centre concerned with developing and supporting research projects and papers that think critically about problems of crime and justice. I have a long standing interest and personal affiliation with critical criminological work and together with Prof Reece Walters (QUT, Brisbane) I am a commissioning editor for a book series entitled Critical Criminological Perspectives (Palgrave). The series seeks to capture the original and innovative ways that critical criminological discourses engage with contemporary issues of crime, harm and justice.

Research interests

My research has mainly focused on prisons, specifically in the areas of resettlement, maximum-security and long-term imprisonment, and secure settings for children. I have also explored community development and voluntary sector working in Milton Keynes.  I was Principal Investigator on two externally funded research projects. The first, entitled: Prisoner Experiences and Quality of Life in Dispersal Prisons was a qualitative study of three maximum-security prisons in England and was funded by the Directorate of High Security, NOMS (completed 2009). The second was entitled: The MK Community Mobilisers: A Developing Service and was funded by Milton Keynes Council (completed 2012). Please click through to the publications page on the above tab to see my list of publications.

Current and Previous PhD students

Rose Parkes (2020-present, PT), co-supervised with Dr Suzanne Newcombe (Religious Studies)

Provisional title:  Mobilisation: Neoliberal Yoga, Lived Religion and Prison Abolition: A Study of Prison Yoga Teachers

Margret Westergreen-Thorne (2020-present, PT), co-supervised with Professor Steve Tombs and Dr Daniel McCulloch

Provisional title: The Role of Power in Facilitating or Hindering Open University Higher Education Provision in Prisons in England and Wales

Stephen Akpabio-Klementowski (2015-present, PT), co-supervised with Dr Daniel McCulloch and Dr Carly Speed

Provisional Title: Experiences of former prison HE students: An exploration of whether punishment and rehabilitation can co-exist

Angela Charles (completed, 2024), co-supervised with Dr Victoria Cooper 

Provisional Title: Black Women’s Experiences in Prison through an Intersectional Lens

Elizabeth Wilburn (completed, 2020), co-supervised with Dr Chris Williams

Title: To what extent were the police-led boys’ clubs of England and Wales from 1918-1951 a phenomenon in their own right?

Steve Conway  (completed, 2019), co-supervised with Dr Louise Westmarland and Dr. James Mehigan.

Title: Understanding the Factors Contributing to the Absence of Gangs in the Borough of Milton Keynes: A Negative Aetiology

Daniel McCulloch (completed, 2016), co-supervised with Prof Allan Cochrane and Dr Karim Murji

Title: Analysing Understandings of 'Rough Sleeping': Managing, Becoming and Being Homeless

Nikola Plunkett (completed, 2015), co-supervised with Dr Gerry Mooney

Title: Heroes and Villains: Narratives of Public Sector Reform in the UK and Scotland

Rod Earle (completed 2014), co-supervised with Prof Steve Tombs

Title: Men in Prison: Con-viviality, Race and Culture (PhD by Publication)

Abigail Rowe (completed, 2009), co-supervised with Prof Yvonne Jewkes and Dr Louise Westmarland 

Title: Negotiating Disempowerment: Coping and Social Support in Women's Prisons

 

Teaching interests

My teaching commitments are primarily focused on our criminology curriculum. I am currently working on a new Level 3 criminology module: Researching Current Issues in Criminology (DD315), which is planned to launch in October 2023.  I have previously contributed to: Introducing the Social Sciences (DD102), Investigating the Social World (DD103), Introduction to Criminology (DD105).  I have also contributed to the following previous criminology modules: Crime and Justice (DD301), which was offered from 2009-2019; Crime, Order and Social Control (D315), which I chaired from 2007-2010 and I led the development of Critical criminological perspectives (D867), which was the first online-only postgraduate module to be produced in Criminology at The Open University. 

I was Qualification Director when our undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum were designed and I led this work.  You can view details about these programmes here: R21: BA (Hons) Criminology and here: F75: MA Crime and Justice.

 

Research groups

NameTypeParent Unit
International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR)CentreFaculty of Social Sciences

Publications

Criminology and Propaganda Studies: Charting New Horizons in Criminological Thought (2023-09-01)
Drake, Deborah H.; Walters, Reece; Wood, Mark A. and Koumouris, Greg
The British Journal of Criminology, 633 ([Early Access])

Talkin’ ‘bout a revolution? From quiescence to resistance in the contemporary university (2020)
Bowes-Catton, Helen; Brewis, Joanna; Clarke, Caroline; Drake, Deborah; Gilmour, Alison and Penn, Alison
Management Learning, 51(4) (pp. 378-397)

Prisons and State Building: Promoting ‘The Fiasco of the Prison’ in a Global Context (2018-12-01)
Drake, Deborah H.
International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 7(4) (pp. 1-15)

‘Crossing the line’: Criminological expertise, policy advice and the ‘quarrelling society’ (2015-08-31)
Drake, Deborah and Walters, Reece
Critical Social Policy, 35(3) (pp. 414-433)

“Victims” versus “offenders” in British political discourse: the construction of a false dichotomy (2014-05)
Drake, Deborah H. and Henley, Andrew J.
The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 53(2) (pp. 141-157)

Hearing new voices: re-viewing youth justice policy through practitioners’ relationships with young people (2014-04-30)
Drake, Deborah H.; Fergusson, Ross and Briggs, Damon B.
Youth Justice, 14(1) (pp. 22-39)

Researching prisoner experiences with prison officers: an action research inspired approach (2014-03)
Drake, Deborah H.
Action Research, 12(1) (pp. 94-109)

Performing the role of ethnographer: processing and managing the emotional dimensions of prison research (2014)
Drake, Deborah and Harvey, Joel
International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 17(5) (pp. 489-501)

Building communities collaboratively: the Milton Keynes Community Mobiliser Service (2014)
Drake, Deborah H.; Simmons, Katy and Smith, Kate
Community Development Journal, 49(2) (pp. 311-326)

On the inside: prison ethnography around the globe (2013-03)
Drake, Deborah H. and Earle, Rod
Criminal Justice Matters, 91(1) (pp. 12-13)

Emotional engagements: on sinking and swimming in prison research and ethnography (2013)
Drake, Deborah H. and Sloan, Jennifer
Criminal Justice Matters, 91(1) (pp. 24-25)

The 'dangerous other' in maximum-security prisons (2011-09)
Drake, Deborah
Criminology and Criminal Justice, 11(4) (pp. 367-382)

Reconsidering respect: Its role in Her Majesty's Prison Service (2007-05)
Butler, Michelle and Drake, Deborah
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 46(2) (pp. 115-127)

Prisons, Punishment and the Pursuit of Security (2012-07-25)
Drake, Deborah
Critical Criminological Perspectives
ISBN : 978-0230282933 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Basingstoke

Demystifying murder: Open University pedagogy, social murder and the legacy of Steven Box (2024)
Drake, D.H. and Scott, D.G.
In: Scott, D.G and Sim, J. eds. Demystifying Power, Crime and Social Harm: The Work and Legacy of Steven Box. Critical Criminological Perspectives (pp. 531-556)
ISBN : 978-3-031-46212-2 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : London

Impression Management (2023)
Harvey, Joel and Drake, Deborah H.
In: Harvey, Joel and Ambrose, Derval eds. Social Psychology in Forensic Practice (pp. 69-90)
ISBN : 9781138676138 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Oxon, UK and New York, USA

Rupture and Repair (2023)
Conway, Steve; Drake, Deborah and McCulloch, Daniel
In: Dimou, Eleni; Downes, Leigh; McCulloch, Daniel and Speed, Carly eds. Research Current Issues in Criminology (pp. 203-238)
Publisher : The Open University | Published : Milton Keynes

Overcoming obstacles to abolition and challenging the myths of imprisonment (2021)
Drake, Deborah H. and Scott, David
In: Coyle, M. and Scott, D. eds. The Routledge International Handbook of Penal Abolition (pp. 411-420)
ISBN : 9780429425035 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

What? Do you mean no prisons? (2019-11-06)
Weinberg, Charlotte and Drake, Deborah H.
In: Fox, Anne and Frater, Alison eds. Crime and Consequence: What should happen to people who commit criminal offences (pp. 227-233)
ISBN : 9781527248762 | Publisher : The Monument Fellowship | Published : London

Prison Abolition in Question(s) (2018-08-15)
Drake, Deborah H. and Scott, David
In: Pavarini, Massimo and Ferrari, Livio eds. No Prison (pp. 209-220)
ISBN : 978-1911439134 | Publisher : EG Press Ltd. | Published : Capel Dewi, Wales

Deviant Knowledge (2017)
Drake, Deborah and Walters, Reece
In: Brisman, Avi; Carrabine, Eamon and South, Nigel eds. The Routledge Companion to Criminological Theory and Concepts (pp. 94-110)
ISBN : 9781138818996 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon, Oxon

Finding Secrets and Secret Findings: Confronting the Limits of the Ethnographer's Gaze (2015-07-31)
Drake, Deborah
In: Drake, Deborah H.; Earle, Rod and Sloan, Jennifer eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Ethnography. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology (pp. 252-270)
ISBN : 9781137403872 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Basingstoke

Men, Masculinity and Crime (2015-05)
Earle, Rod and Drake, Deborah H.
In: Brooks, Carolyn and Schissell, Bernard eds. Marginality and Condemnation - A Critical Introduction to Criminology (3rd ed) (pp. 350-370)
ISBN : 9781552667347 | Publisher : Fernwood Publishing

Prison Life, Sociology of: Recent Perspectives from the United Kingdom (2015-02-17)
Drake, Deborah H.; Darke, Sacha and Earle, Rod
In: Wright, J. ed. International Encyclopaedia of Social and Behavioural Sciences (2nd ed) (pp. 924-929)
ISBN : 978-0-08-097086-8 | Publisher : Elsevier | Published : Oxford

Convict criminology (2012-10-23)
Drake, Deborah and Gunn, Ben
In: McLaughlin, Eugene and Muncie, John eds. The Sage Dictionary of Criminology (3rd ed.) (pp. 79-81)
ISBN : 9781446200827 | Publisher : Sage | Published : London

Risk prediction, assessment and management (2009)
Drake, Deborah and Muncie, John
In: Drake, Deborah; Muncie, John and Westmarland, Louise eds. Criminal Justice: Local and Global (pp. 105-139)
ISBN : 9781843925132 | Publisher : Willan | Published : Cullompton

Interrogating criminal justice (2009)
Drake, Deborah; Muncie, John and Westmarland, Louise
In: Drake, Deborah; Muncie, John and Westmarland, Louise eds. Criminal Justice: Local and Global (pp. 1-35)
ISBN : 9781843925132 | Publisher : Willan | Published : Cullompton

Punitiveness and cultures of control (2009)
Drake, Deborah
In: Drake, Deborah; Muncie, John and Westmarland, Louise eds. Criminal Justice: Local and Global (pp. 37-39)
ISBN : 9781843925132 | Publisher : Willan | Published : Cullompton

Security (2008)
Drake, D.
In: Jewkes, Yvonne and Bennett, Jamie eds. Dictionary of Prisons and Punishment
ISBN : 9781843922926 | Publisher : Willan Publishing | Published : Cullompton

Deprivations/Pains of imprisonment (2008)
Drake, Deborah and Crewe, Ben
In: Jewkes, Yvonne and Bennett, Jamie eds. Dictionary of Prisons and Punishment
ISBN : 9781843922926 | Publisher : Willan Publishing | Published : Cullompton

Solidarity (2008)
Drake, Deborah and Crewe, Ben
In: Jewkes, Yvonne and Bennett, Jamie eds. Dictionary of Prisons and Punishment
ISBN : 9781843922926 | Publisher : Willan Publishing | Published : Cullompton

Staff and order in prisons (2007-12)
Drake, Deborah
In: Bennett, J.; Crewe, B. and Wahidin, A. eds. Understanding prison staff (pp. 153-167)
ISBN : 978-1-84392-275-9 | Publisher : Willan Publishing | Published : Cullompton Devon, UK

The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Ethnography (2015-07-31)
Drake, Deborah H.; Earle, Rod and Sloan, Jennifer eds.
Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology
ISBN : 9781137403872 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : Basingstoke

Criminal Justice: Local and Global (2009)
Drake, Deborah; Muncie, John and Westmarland, Louise eds.
ISBN : 9781843925132 | Publisher : Willan Publishing in association with the Open University | Published : Cullompton

Pushing the boundaries of prison ethnography (2015)
Drake, Deborah; Earle, Rod and Sloan, Jennifer
HERC, HERC.

Where do we turn (and why) when apples ‘go bad’ (2012-10-30)
McCulloch, Daniel and Drake, Deborah
Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative, Milton Keynes.