Dr Anna Kotova's Avatar

Dr Anna Kotova

@annakotova.bsky.social

Associate Professor in Criminology at University of Birmingham. Coffee addict. Musical theatre aficionado.

739 Followers  |  227 Following  |  65 Posts  |  Joined: 19.08.2023  |  2.4606

Latest posts by annakotova.bsky.social on Bluesky

Not sure full riot police at the entrance is a good look for a criminology conference…

03.09.2025 17:02 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The use of swearing to relieve stress, anger, pain or frustration is known as β€˜lalochezia’.

24.06.2025 14:45 β€” πŸ‘ 1236    πŸ” 273    πŸ’¬ 66    πŸ“Œ 52
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Different kinds of value, different kinds of higher education For Anna Vignoles the value in higher education comes from the diversity and range of what it does, and may not be measurable in a single metric

wonkhe.com/blogs/differ...

Me talking about the value of higher education – for fear we may lose what we have failed to adequately value.

12.05.2025 06:29 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 3
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Victimization in Prison. A Study of Victimization and Prison Climate Dimensions in Belgian Prisons Prisoner victimization introduces significant challenges to penal institutions worldwide. Researchers across the globe already provided extensive knowledge on risk factors from community crime theo...

50 free e-copies via www.tandfonline.com/eprint/56EAB...

12.03.2025 10:32 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Still accepting abstracts! :) let me know if you’d be keen to contribute.

12.03.2025 12:56 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Also: β€œcrime has subsided, but its memory hasn’t” might be the sentence that finally kills me.

Even if murder dropsβ€”at historic rates, to pre-pandemic levels, in one of the fastest drops in US historyβ€”it really didn’t, bc …

MEMORIES.

(And why do ppl still cling to these memories? WHY, MEDIA?!)

10.03.2025 13:21 β€” πŸ‘ 62    πŸ” 23    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Really happy that the articles in a themed issue of Incarceration on the Moral and Ethical Worlds of Coercive Confinement, edited by me and Ryan Williams, are beginning to come out. Over the next few days, I'll post about them all, starting with our prologue:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

27.02.2025 16:12 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 3
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When Fire Is the Only Way Out - Inquest At a far-flung prison in Virginia, conditions are so inhumane that those imprisoned there are setting themselves ablaze in protestβ€”and to assert their humanity.

At a remote prison in Virginia, a number of incarcerated people are resorting to an extreme form of protest: they're setting themselves on fire. Jennifer Black and Noel Hanrahan of @prisonradio.bsky.social on what's driving these men to assert their humanity this way.

27.02.2025 20:57 β€” πŸ‘ 59    πŸ” 42    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 4

Thanks sounds amazing - I’ll get in touch!

27.02.2025 18:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

@arkluge.bsky.social

27.02.2025 17:21 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@daria-przblsk.bsky.social @jananiu.bsky.social @elsebelle.bsky.social

27.02.2025 17:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Families of people in prison: towards a sociological understanding of stigma Families of people in prison: towards a sociological understanding of stigma Editor: Anna Kotova Context: Stigma is a well-documented phenomenon within research on families of people in prison. ...

Criminology people with interest in experiences of families of people in prison!

I am keen to finally get this idea moving: an edited collection of chapters on stigma. Quite a lot to explore and lots of policy interest. Get in touch and pls share!

docs.google.com/document/u/1...

27.02.2025 17:15 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1
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The Guardian view on the Gauke review: prison isn’t working | Editorial Editorial: A performative β€˜tough on crime’ approach by politicians has been both ineffective and ruinously expensive

The Guardian view on the Gauke review: prison isn’t working | Editorial

19.02.2025 06:59 β€” πŸ‘ 68    πŸ” 20    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

Punishment has been conflated with revenge. It’s myopic and counter-productive: we need to look beyond vengefulness when holding people accountable for the harms they have done.

19.02.2025 08:48 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Why are women still being sent to prison as β€˜a place of safety’? | Eva Wiseman Reports are revealing the true harm done by incarcerating women under the guise of protecting them, writes Eva Wiseman

Did you know that women were being taken to prison β€˜as a place of safety’? www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

16.02.2025 09:49 β€” πŸ‘ 45    πŸ” 31    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 5

I’m just an academic asking job reference requests to come with a simple text box and not two pages of instructions and a requirement for two uploaded documents…

I have to write dozens of these. Take pity.

10.01.2025 11:42 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Harmful, Expensive and Criminogenic: The Case for Abolishing Detention and Training Orders in England and Wales Abstract. Children who offend generally receive community sentences, to help them overcome difficulties whilst naturally addressing offending behaviour; ho

Hi everyone, to kick off my maiden post please read our newly published paper in the BJC which argues for the abolition of all short term custodial sentences for children, and presents an alternative, viable, cost effective model @drkathyhampson.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/bjc/advance-...

07.01.2025 18:13 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 3
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We must seize the opportunity to fix our broken prisons No one would disagree that the prison system is in crisis. The upcoming sentencing review presents us with a chance for real change.

"Our prisons are so broken that we can't carry on. Politicians may disagree on how we fix the penal system, but everyone can agree that reform is needed."

Our Chief Executive, Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), wrote an opinion piece for @bigissue.com: www.bigissue.com/opinion/pris...

06.01.2025 09:43 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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My former PhD supervisee is hilarious. πŸ˜‚

04.01.2025 19:32 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A New Complaint System for Prisoners in Belgium This chapter introduces and reflects on the creation of a new complaint system in the prisons of Belgium. Since 1 October 2020, prisoners can file complaints with the newly created Complaint and Appea...

A New Complaint System for Prisoners in Belgium - > chapter in Just Prisons - free to read via this link: rdcu.be/d5qcr

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

04.01.2025 16:03 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Word of the Day is one I keep posting at the end of the year, hoping its time will come.

β€˜Respair’, from the 16th century, is fresh hope, and a recovery from despair.

Here’s to a few drops of respair in 2025.

31.12.2024 19:12 β€” πŸ‘ 10029    πŸ” 2684    πŸ’¬ 204    πŸ“Œ 171

How can Louboutins be simultaneously so gorgeous and so torturous to wear…

31.12.2024 20:57 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Happy new year! May 2025 be happier, healthier and more productive than the last. May your dreams come true and the world be just a little bit kinder.

31.12.2024 17:39 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks! It’s all good and resolving very quickly with treatment, luckily managed to get a private dermatology appointment to finally figure out what’s going on…

19.12.2024 09:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks! Yes I saw a dermatologist who gave the correct treatment and I should be totally fine. :)

17.12.2024 19:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Who had such a bad allergic reaction to some kind of bite that she ended up in A&E with suspected anaphylaxis/rash all over her body?

Me. It’s me.

17.12.2024 17:15 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

This review was a joy to write!

15.12.2024 02:59 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

So the other day a medical consultant was so rude to me (and belittled me by calling me, pointedly, MISS), that I indignantly fell over and twisted my ankle on stairs.

Her reason? I sent too many emails. Reality - I emailed once on request of her secretary.

Now I’m indignant AND in pain.

07.12.2024 08:32 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Oh good fond memories

07.12.2024 08:29 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

That’s cruel and unusual punishment, surely?

07.12.2024 07:00 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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