Professor Colin Webster

“I like the northern urban location of our University, ideally situated to teach, research and learn about sociology and criminology.”

Professor Colin Webster is currently co-investigator and collaborator with colleagues at Brunel and Middlesex Universities on a Research Councils funded (£500,000 Economic and Social Research Council/Arts and Humanities Research Council AHRC) national study about young people's attitudes towards religious faith and their implications for social cohesion.

Manchester born, Colin received his BA Sociology from Birmingham Polytechnic, MA Sociology from the University of Leeds, PGCE (Distinction) from the University of Leeds, and a Doctorate from the University of Leicester. Having previously taught criminology at the Universities of Teesside and York, he joined our University in 2005. He teaches Crime, Justice and Society, Contemporary Criminological Theory, Youth Justice, Understanding Race and Crime, Issues in Contemporary Criminology, and Crime Prevention to undergraduates and postgraduates. He has both supervised to completion, and examined, doctoral students.

Colin has directed various research projects funded by the Home Office, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Drug Prevention Advisory Service, Safer Cities and Local Authorities. His areas of research have included: the role of youth work in crime prevention; racist violence; ethnicity and crime; youth transitions and social exclusion; criminal and drug careers; drug treatment; and social cohesion. He has published much of his work, including his book ‘Understanding Race and Crime’ published by Open University Press.

Asked why he liked working for the University, Colin told us, “It is located in one of our major northern urban centres, which is a source of our student recruitment and student experience of multi-ethnic and social inequalities. It is therefore ideally situated to teach, carry out research and learn about sociology and criminology.”

In his spare time Colin goes mountain walking and travels to experience the delights of Mediterranean culture and cuisine.