Dr Maria Kaspersson BA, MA, MPhil, PhD, PG Cert HE

Senior Lecturer in Criminology

Biography

Dr Maria Kaspersson is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Greenwich. Her research interests span criminological theory, homicide, domestic and honour-based violence, the history of violence and so called 'status' dogs and their owners, and she has presented and published on these areas, most recently on domestic homicide in a cultural context. She is currently working on a study of reactions to 'status' dogs from a labelling perspective.

Criminology

Responsibilities within the university
  • Module leader: Foundations of Criminology (L4), Subcultures and Cultural Criminology (L5), Perspectives on Violence (L6), Crime Theory (L7)
  • School of Law and Criminology Student Experience Lead
  • Member of FLAS Student Experience Committee
  • Member of FLAS Extenuating Circumstances Panel
  • School of Law and Criminology Assessment Moderator for criminology

Recognition

British Society of Criminology

European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control

Research / Scholarly interests
  • Homicide/domestic homicide/infanticide/honour based violence and the history of violence
  • ‘Status’ dogs and their owners
  • Criminological theory

Recent publications
    Publications
  • Kaspersson, M. (2018) SAGE Research Methods Cases Part 2: Ethnography: Separating Your Different Selves in a Covert Field Study of So-Called "Status Dog" Owners
  • Hallsworth, S. and Kaspersson, M. (2017) 'Punitivity and Technology', in M. McGuire and T. Holt (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Technology, Crime and Justice. London. Routledge, pp.565-576
  • Kaspersson, M. (2009) 'You always hurt the one you love: homicide in a domestic context'. In: Loucks, N., Smith Holt, S., and Adler, J.R. (eds.) Why we kill. Understanding Violence Across Cultures and Disciplines, pp 9–40. Collumpton, Willan
  • Kaspersson, M. (2008) 'On treating the symptoms and not the cause. Reflections on the Dangerous Dogs Act'. Papers from the British Criminology Conference, 8, pp. 205–25
  • Kaspersson, M. (2008) 'Prosecution and public participation in early modern Stockholm'. In: McMahon, R. (ed.) Crime, Law and Popular Culture, pp. 96–117. Collumpton, Willan
  • Kaspersson, M. (2003) 'The great murder mystery or explaining the decline in homicide in the early modern period'. In: Godfrey, B., Emsley, C., and Dunstall, G. (eds.) Comparative Histories of Crime, pp. 72–88. Collumpton, Willan
  • Kaspersson, M. (2003) 'Bilder av barnamörderskor från 1500-talet till mellankrigstiden' [Pictures of women committing infanticide from the 16th century until the inter-war period. In: Tiby, E., Pettersson, T., and Lander, I. (eds.) Feminiteter, maskuliniteter och kriminalitet: genusperspektiv inom svensk kriminalitet [Femininities, masculinities and criminality: gender perspectives in Swedish criminology]. Lund, Studentlitteratur
  • Kaspersson, M. (2003) 'Homicide and infanticide in Stockholm, 1920-1939'. Journal in Scandinavian Studies of Criminology and Crime Prevention, 3, pp. 135–53
    Book chapters
  • Kaspersson, M. (2020) ‘”You always hurt the one you love”: Homicide in a Domestic Context’, pp. 34-56 in Loucks, N., Smith Holt, S. and Adler, J. R. (Eds.) Why We Kill. Understanding Violence Across Cultures and Disciplines (2nd ed.). London. Routledge
  • Hallsworth, S. and Kaspersson, M. (2017) ‘Punitivity and Technology’, pp. 565-576 in M. McGuire and T. Holt (Eds.) Handbook of Crime and Technology. London. Routledge

Presentations
  • Kaspersson, M. (2019) ‘The Message of the Muzzle: A Study in Labelling’ paper presented at the BSC Annual Conference, Lincoln, July
  • Kaspersson, M. (2016) ‘Dangerous Dogs or Dangerous Reporting? Dog Bite Fatalities in the News’ paper presented at the BSC Annual Conference, Nottingham, July
  • Kaspersson, M. (2016) 'Dangerous Dogs or Dangerous Reporting? Dog bite fatalities in the news', paper presented at BSC Annual Conference, Nottingham, July
  • Kaspersson, M. (2014) 'Calling it 'Evil' – the easy way out?', paper presented at the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control Annual Conference, Liverpool, September
  • Kaspersson, M. (2012) 'Rape in Sweden and the UK: Comparing apples with pears or does it rot more up north?', paper presented at BSC Annual Conference, Portsmouth, July
  • Kaspersson, M. (2011) 'The Emasculation of the Lead and the Message of the Muzzle: an exploration of 'status' dog ownership', paper presented at the BSC Annual Conference, Newcastle, July
  • Kaspersson, M. (2011) 'What a Difference the Context Makes: Dangeropus Dogs, Dangerous Situations or Dangerous Owners?', paper presented at the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control Annual Conference, Chambery, France, September
  • Kaspersson, M. 2009. When deterrence works – and when it doesn't: a comparison of the UK's Dangerous Dogs Act and Sweden's Prostitution Law. In: BSC Annual Conference, Cardiff, June/July; and European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control Annual Conference, Preston, August
  • Kaspersson, M. 2008. My life as a criminal: reflections on the Dangerous Dogs Act. In: BSC Annual Conference, Huddersfield, July
  • Kaspersson, M. 2007. Feminism taken too far? Reflections on the Swedish debate on how to research violence. In: European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control Annual Conference, Utrecht, the Netherlands, August; and the BSC Annual Conference, London, September
  • Kaspersson, M. 2006. The problem with symbolic legislation and deterrence: the case of the Swedish Prostitution Law. In: BSC Annual Conference, Glasgow, July; and the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control Annual Conference, Corinth, Greece, September
  • Kaspersson, M. 2005. Reading Lombroso: female born criminals or patriarchal victims?. In: BSC Annual Conference, Leeds, July; and the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control Annual Conference, Belfast, September