Rate My Professor Mark Monaghan

Professor Mark Monaghan is Professor in Criminology and Head of the Department of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Loughborough University. He re-joined the University in 2022 following a tenure at the University of Birmingham. Previously, he worked at the University of Leeds, where he earned his PhD. Additionally, from September 2021 to September 2023, Professor Monaghan held the position of Parliamentary Academic Fellow at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST).

Drawing on realist methodology, Professor Monaghan's research traverses criminology, social and public policy, sociology, and political science. His primary research themes encompass the scientific and political dynamics in policymaking processes, the utilisation of evidence within parliamentary settings, and the adverse consequences of policies criminalising young people. He co-investigated a Nuffield Foundation-sponsored realist review examining criminogenic factors influencing youth offending. Presently, he leads a comprehensive evaluation of police-led drug diversion schemes, supported by funding from the UK Cabinet Office, in collaboration with institutions such as the Universities of Kent, Sheffield, and the Open University, alongside the College of Policing. Professor Monaghan's contributions to scholarship include co-authoring the book Intoxication: Self, State and Society (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023) with Thomas Thurnell-Read. Other notable works feature chapters in Evidence Versus Politics: The Politics of Evidence (Policy Press, 2022) and State Crime and Immorality: The State as a Source of Immorality (Bristol University Press, 2022), as well as peer-reviewed papers like Heroin assisted treatment for key health outcomes in people with chronic heroin addictions: a context-focused systematic review (International Journal of Drug Policy, 2023), Evidence translation: an exploration of policy makers' use of evidence (Evidence and Policy, 2018, cited more than 80 times), and recent publications on police discretion and collaborative policing in drug diversion. In 2017, he was awarded the Ken Young Best Paper Prize by Policy and Politics for his collaborative work on evidence in policy. He also participates in a UKRI Policy Fellowship with the Ministry of Justice, enhancing his impact on criminal justice policy.