Prof Matthew Callender

Matt is Professor of Interdisciplinary Social Studies and Research Lead in the IPSCJ. Matt is also a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida, United States. Matt has led on a variety of projects including on early intervention, citizens in policing, community sentence treatment requirements, serious violence, anti-social behaviour and hate crime reviews, victim satisfaction, and public perceptions of crime and anti-social behaviour.

As part of his Citizen in Policing research portfolio, he was primary investigator for an ESRC-AHRC UK-Japan SSH Connections Grant, Exploring Synergies within Volunteering in Law Enforcement and Public Safety in the UK and Japan. He has completed evaluations of several Citizens in Policing programmes in many forces across England and Wales and led national surveys of Special Constables and Police Support Volunteers.

As part of his Children and Young People research portfolio, Matt led national evaluations of the mini-police and volunteer police cadets. He currently sits on the National Volunteer Police Cadets Programme Board. He has also led several projects that have evaluated early intervention initiatives and pilots.

As part of his Health and Justice research portfolio, Matt recently completed a regional project which evaluated mental health street triage, involving a joint response between police and mental health practitioners. He also recently completed an evaluation of women’s health services for perinatal female offenders in HMP Peterborough. He is also currently completing evaluations of Community Sentence Treatment Requirements in several sites across England.

He is experienced in translating research into strategy and was the lead author for Northamptonshire’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy 2016-2020: ‘Supporting Northamptonshire to Flourish’. In February 2015, he acted as an expert advisor to the Poverty Scrutiny Committee at Northampton Borough Council and was a member of the Northamptonshire Mental Health Criminal Justice Board. He currently is a member of several Community Sentence Treatment Requirement Steering Groups.

His research interests include life course transitions, health and justice, anti-social behaviour, organisational transformation, public safety, public health and late modern theory. He is particularly interested in qualitative research that considers the views of marginalised and disadvantaged groups.

Matt previously held the post of Researcher in the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Northampton. It was here that Matt built a reputation for delivering high quality research and evaluation.

Matt completed his doctorate at the University of Northampton in 2012. His PhD explored the lives of young Polish migrants who reside in Northamptonshire and focussed on the impacts of migratory experiences upon life course transitions. The thesis challenged traditional conceptualisations of young Polish migrants by exploring their ‘insider’ life worlds through the use of participatory methodology and contributed to an emerging literature on young adulthood.

Prior to starting a PhD, his MSc at Coventry University investigated a youth-centred interpretation of anti-social behaviour in Coventry working with children and young people (aged 11-15).