Staff profile

Will was appointed as an Assistant Professor (Education) in August 2019, having previously held a Teaching Fellowship within the Department of Sociology. Will was awarded his PhD by the University of Kent in 2017. His ESRC funded PhD in the field of youth justice policy and practice explored how decentralising policy changes within youth justice are negotiated at local level through a comparative case study of two contrasting youth justice services in the south of England. Beyond his research in the areas of youth justice policy formation and implementation, Will has a particular interest in critical forms and emergent areas of criminological theory (especially as these relate to the relationship between discourse, power relations and crime control). He also has a pedagogical interest in the use and evaluation of active teaching strategies.

Will is responsible for the design and delivery of the criminological theory spine of the undergraduate Criminology programme. This entails convenorship of two core criminological theory modules: the Level 1 module Introduction to Criminological Theory, and the Level 2 module Contemporary Criminological Theory. He also contributes to teaching and supervision within the school at Masters level.

Will has a number of administrative duties within the Department related to his role as Deputy Director of Undergraduate Studies. He has oversight of the Department’s system of student support, and he is the Department coordinator for both the peer mentoring scheme, and the Study Abroad programmes. He is also the Department’s Careers and Enterprise Service Liaison and plays a key role in student induction and progression on the undergraduate programmes. Previously, Will has been involved with the Department’s widening participation work, holding the role of lead academic on the Criminology/Sociology stream of both the Sutton Trust and Supported Progression programmes, where he was responsible for the design and delivery of the two summer schools. 

Academic Interests

• Criminological theory
• Foucauldian and post-Foucauldian social control
• Youth justice policy and practice
• Organisational studies
• Active teaching strategies
• Drugs and crime
• Qualitative research methods

Teaching

Current Teaching

Convenor: Introduction to Criminological Theory (Level 1)

Convenor: Contemporary Criminological Theory (Level 2)

Previous Teaching

Risk and Society

Welfare in Modern Britain

Publications

Journal Articles

Coyles, W. (2009) ‘The bare-life of the problem drug user: An analysis of neo-liberal state responses to problem drug users’, Internet Journal of Criminology. Available at: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b93dd4_4d72be6c25bd412594b8064c0f32f981.pdf

Conference Papers

Coyles, W. (2019) ‘Baudrillard, Hyper-Reality and Fake-News’, Sociology of Fake News Event, Durham University, 18/02/2019.

Coyles, W. (2018) ‘Inequalities in Children and Young People’s Experiences of Crime and Criminal Justice’, Inaugural British Sociological Association Youth Assembly, Hancock Museum - Newcastle, 02/02/2018

Coyles, W. (2014) ‘Managerial Practice Cultures and Boundary Disputes: Potential barriers to the Coalition Government’s diversionary reforms’, presented at the British Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Liverpool, 10/07/2015

Drew, J., and Coyles, W. (2014) ‘Is There Still a Youth Justice Movement?: Reflections on the Achievements of the Last Decade and the Challenges Ahead’, presented at the National Association for Youth Justice Annual Conference, London, 09/04/2014

Coyles, W. (2014) ‘Governmentality and the Coalition Government’s Big Society Agenda within Youth Justice’, presented at the Professional Seminar Series, University of Bedfordshire, 13/02/2014

Coyles, W. (2013) ‘Forgetting the Punitive-Turn: Counter-Memory and the Coalition Government’s Reforms to Youth Justice’, presented at the Ustinov Seminar Series, Durham University, 10/11/2013

Coyles, W. (2010) ‘Agamben, The State of Exception, and the Underclass Child’, Human Rights Conference, Durham University Law School, 01/03/2010