17 Facts About Phil Scraton

Phil Scraton was born on 3 May 1949 and is a critical criminologist, academic and author.

Phil Scraton is a social researcher, known particularly for his investigative work into the context, circumstances and aftermath of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

Phil Scraton's research includes the investigation of and inquiry into controversial deaths, most notably the Hillsborough disaster on 15 April 1989 in which 97 football fans were crushed to death.

Phil Scraton has researched deaths in custody, the marginalisation and criminalisation of children and young people, the politics of imprisonment, and the analysis of disasters and their impact on the bereaved and survivors.

In 1979, Phil Scraton joined the Open University's academic staff as a member of the 'Crime, Justice and Society' course team, contributing to the Social Sciences' Foundation Course.

Phil Scraton has held visiting scholarships at the University of Western Sydney, Monash University Melbourne and the University of Sydney.

Phil Scraton is the all-Ireland representative for the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control.

Phil Scraton is author of The State of the Police and co-author of In the Arms of the Law: Coroners' Inquests and Deaths in Custody and, with Joe Sim and Paula Skidmore, Prisons Under Protest and editor of Law, Order and the Authoritarian State.

Phil Scraton co-authored, with Howard Davis, Beyond Disaster: Identifying and Resolving Inter-Agency Conflict in the Immediate Aftermath of Disasters.

Phil Scraton edited special issues of Social Justice: Journal of Crime, Conflict and World Order on Deaths in Custody and Detention and Current Issues in Criminal Justice on the criminalisation and punishment of children and young people.

Phil Scraton is a founder member of INQUEST, United Campaigns for Justice, and a member of the Statewatch Editorial Collective.

Phil Scraton stated that in his 'scholarship and teaching' he is 'a strong critic of the historical, cultural and political contexts of imperialism and their international legacy' and proposed that people's contribution to society should not be connected to 'British Empire'.

Phil Scraton attended personal hearings with several families and made three extensive submissions to the Scrutiny including his disclosure of the 'review and alteration' of police officers' statements.

Phil Scraton stated he was 'satisfied that Lord Taylor's Inquiry team were in no way inhibited or impeded by the exclusion of material from the original statements' and that 'the allegation made by Professor Scraton of irregularity and malpractice is not substantiated'.

Phil Scraton was highly critical of the Stuart-Smith scrutiny, describing its lack of rigour as a "debacle".

Phil Scraton was appointed as a Panel member, led its research team based at Queen's University Belfast, and was primary author of the Panel's report.

Phil Scraton anticipated that the unique research 'approach, with the emphasis on disclosure, not adversarial argument, [provides] a model for resolving other contested issues arising from our past'.