Writtle University College and ARU have merged. Writtle’s full range of college, degree, postgraduate and short courses will still be delivered on the Writtle campus. See our guide to finding Writtle information on this site.

John Greenan

John Greenan For media enquiries please contact the Press Team

Lecturer

Faculty:
Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
School:
Humanities and Social Sciences
Location:
Cambridge
Areas of Expertise:
Criminology , Policing
Courses taught:

John is a criminologist whose research interests lie in terrorism, extremism, radicalisation, penology and specifically studying conditions that influence extremism in the prison system. He is Course Leader for ARU's BA (Hons) Criminology and Policing degree.

[email protected]

Follow John on Twitter

Connect with John on LinkedIn

Background

John commenced his tenure with the criminology team at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in 2022, transitioning from a distinguished career within Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). As an adept prison specialist, he brings a wealth of expertise, particularly in counterterrorism and operational management. John's academic credentials include a Master of Science in Counterterrorism from The University of Central Lancashire. He is presently engaged in doctoral research at ARU, focusing on the factors influencing Islamist radicalisation within prisons in England and Wales. John is Course Leader for BA Criminology and Policing and teaches on a variety of modules across the criminology programme, focusing mainly on his specialist areas of counterterrorism, penology, and the criminal justice system.

In his current capacity, John is leveraging his extensive professional network to foster collaborative ventures between prison management entities and academic circles. These collaborations are aimed at facilitating joint initiatives, encompassing research projects, symposiums, and training workshops. A testament to these efforts was the successful execution of a pilot conference at ARU in March 2023, centred on Prison Intelligence in the Eastern region. Following this achievement, John is actively engaged in consultations to elevate the 2024 conference to a national scale, aspiring to generate substantial societal impact. Concurrently with his doctoral studies, John is devoted to contributing to academic discourse through forthcoming journal publications, which include an exploration of the strategic approaches in managing terrorist prisoners, specifically addressing the debate between containment and dispersal strategies.

Research interests

  • Terrorism
  • Extremism
  • Radicalisation
  • Desistance and disengagement
  • Penology
  • Criminal Justice System
  • Prisons and rehabilitation

Teaching

John currently teaches on the following modules:

  • Policing and Counterterrorism
  • Crime News and Criminology
  • Criminology and Policing in Policy and Practice
  • Making a difference

Qualifications

  • PhD Criminology, Anglia Ruskin University (in progress)
  • MSc Counterterrorism, University of Central Lancashire

Memberships, editorial boards

  • European Society of Criminology
  • American Society of Criminology
  • Fellow for Advance Higher Education
  • Editor for radicalisationresearch.org

Recent presentations and conferences

Greenan, J. D., 2023. The Question of Containment or Dispersal When Dealing with Terrorist Prisoners. Presented at the American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Philadelphia, USA.

Greenan, J. D., 2023. Prison Staff experience and Religious Demographics, Influencing Conditions in prisons in England and Wales. Presented at the Prison Intelligence Conference, ARU, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK.

Greenan, J. D., 2023. The Question of Containment or Dispersal When Dealing with Terrorist Prisoners. Presented at the European Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Florence, Italy.