Dr David Patton

About

I am a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and have been lecturing since 1998. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Research interests

I am currently working on NIHR, ESRC and Big Lottery-funded projects exploring drug recovery. I have also conducted research for the Home Office, Cambridge University, local authorities and the third sector. The projects I have worked on have helped create drug legislation and informed government drug strategies. I have also been Director of a Home Office-funded Drugs Education Project at Sheffield Youth Justice Service and worked as a Life Coach for the Youth Justice Board to promote desistance and help young people reintegrate into education and employment. My research interests include using the often marginalised voices of those with lived experiences of crime and drug use to formulate utopian visions of how the criminal justice system and society can be radically transformed to promote human flourishing. So that, in time there will be little need to support those in desistance and drug recovery, as these have become largely relegated to history.

Recent publications

Patton, D. Best, D. & Brown, L (2022): Overcoming the pains of recovery: the management of negative recovery capital during addiction recovery pathways, Addiction Research & Theory, https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2022.2039912
Abreu Minero, V., Best, D., Brown, L. Patton, D; Vanderplasschen, W (2022) Differences in addiction and recovery gains according to gender – gender barriers and specific differences in overall strengths growth. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 17, 21 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-022-00444-8
Best, D., Hargreaves, C., Hodgson, P., & Patton, D. (2022). Recovery communities: Resources and settings. In J. A. Tucker & K. Witkiewitz (Eds.), Dynamic pathways to recovery from Alcohol Use Disorder: Meaning and methods. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108976213
Patton, D. and Farrall, S. (2021), Desistance: A Utopian Perspective. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 60: 209-231. https://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12406

Patton, D (2018) “Navigating Drugs at University: Normalisation, Differentiation and Drift?; Safer Communities journal:17 (4), pp.224-237; DOI 10.1108/SC-01-2018-0002
Patton, D (2004) ‘Normalizing the Deviant?: Arrestees and the Normalization of Drug Use’; British Journal of Community Justice; Vol 2 (3)
Patton, D (2004) ‘An Exploration of the External Validity of Self-Report amongst Arrestees’, Surveillance & Society Journal, Vol 2 (4)

Membership of professional bodies

Member of the British Society of Criminology
Member of the European Society of Criminology
Member of the Howard League for Penal Reform

Qualifications

BA (Hons) Criminology degree (First Class), Teesside University, 1997
PGCHE/ Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education, Sheffield University, 2001
PhD, University of Sheffield, 2002

I am also an accredited interpersonal conflict mediator, an MBTI (Myers–Briggs Type Indicator) consultant, a Belbin Team Roles consultant and a life coach.

Recent conferences

Patton, D (2018) ‘Rethinking Criminal Justice Approaches: Moving beyond traditional Models and paradigms of Justice’ Redesigning Justice International Conference Howard League of Penal Reform; Oxford University
Secured British society of Criminology funding to host a BSC Learning & Teaching Conference at the University of Derby (Sept 2017)
Patton, D (2017) ‘Reversing the criminal spin: the role of emotions in criminality’; British Criminology Conference; Sheffield Hallam University
Patton, D (2017) ‘Race and Justice’; British Institute of Human Rights Conference
Patton, D (2016) ‘The need for new emotionally intelligent criminal justice & criminological approaches to help end the ‘War on Terror’; International Relations Conference of Diplomacy & Terror; University of Derby

Experience in industry

I have been involved in various projects aimed at young people and/or drugs. For example, I was Director of a Drugs Education Project based at Sheffield Youth Offending Team, aimed at drug prevention, reduction, crime reduction and harm minimisation among young offenders and school children. The project received £30,000 of Communities Against Drugs funding.

I have trained Community Panel Members to administer restorative justice sentences to young offenders who had received a Referral Order by the Youth Court.

The Youth Justice Service recently commissioned me to deliver life coaching sessions to high-risk young offenders on a ten-week alternative-to-custody programme to help them consider their progression into further education, training and employment as well as reduce the frequency and gravity of their offending.

I was also heavily involved as a regular speaker for AimHigher, encouraging students from wider participation backgrounds to enter Higher Education.

Teaching responsibilities

I teach the BSc Criminology programme and a number of MSc programmes across the Department of Social Sciences as well as supervising PhD and postgraduate and undergraduate research dissertations.

I have been nominated for numerous teaching awards by my students at all three universities I have worked for, including the Exceptional Contribution to Education Award, Lecturer of the Year award, and Inspirational teaching award among others.

Award Winner: “Lecturer of the Year’ runner up 2020; University of Derby (UoD)
Award winner: 2020 ‘Programme Team of the Year’ at the staff excellence awards; UoD
Award winner: ‘You are a Star Award’ a student nominated award for student support and excellence 2014; Leeds Beckett University (LBU)
Award Winner: 2019 ‘Commitment to Student Voice’ runner up university-wide; UoD

Nominated awards: 2021: ‘Inspirational Teaching’, ‘Lecturer of the Year’, Personal Academic Tutor’ and ‘Supervisor of the Year’. UoD
Nominated awards: 2019: ‘Inspirational Teaching’, ‘Lecturer of the Year’; ‘Employability Champion’ UoD
Nominated award: 2018 ‘Lecturer of the Year’

I also contributed toward the Criminology team at UoD winning the Learning and Teaching Prize by the British Society of Criminology.

I possess two postgraduate teaching certificates.