David Wilson (Criminologist)
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David Wilson is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Central England in Birmingham.
Born in Glasgow in April 1960, he later studied at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and at the Cambridge Institute of Criminology, from where he graduated with a PhD in 1983. He then joined Her Majesty's Prison Service as a junior prison governor. At the age of 29, he became the youngest governor in the country. He worked at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, HMP Grendon, HMP Woodhill, and HM YOI Finnamore Wood. Whilst at HMP Woodhill, David designed and managed the two units for the twelve most disruptive prisoners in the country. Latterly he was Head of Prison officer and Operational Training in the Prison Service - on whose behalf he made official visits to Northern Ireland and the USA, and on behalf of the Council of Europe to Albania.
He resigned from Her Majesty's Prison Service in protest at prison conditions. After a short time with the Prison Reform Trust, he joined University of Central England in Birmingham and was given a professorship in 2000. He has published widely on the criminal justice system generally and prisons specifically, and is the Editor of The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice. He appears regularly on the TV and radio both as a commentator about the Criminal Justice System and as a presenter.
David's interests range from practical interventions in current debates in criminal justice policy and practice, to more academic considerations of portrayals of prisons and prisoners in literature. He has recently completed an assessment of Charles Dickens' reportage of prisons, to be published as 'Testing a Civilisation – Charles Dickens on the American Penitentiary System' in Essays in Honour of Professor W R Brock (forthcoming).
He is Vice-Chair of the Howard League for Penal Reform; a trustee of New Bridge; Chair of the Forum on Prisoner Education; and a patron of the Friends of Grendon Prison. He is married to a lawyer and they live in Buckinghamshire with their two children.
