Crofts, Thomas

University of Sydney

Australia

Associate Professor Thomas Crofts is Director of the Sydney Institute of Criminology. He is a graduate of University College London (LL.B.), the Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Germany (LL.M.) and the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt/O., Germany (Dr. iur.). Prior to Sydney University Associate Professor Crofts taught Law at Murdoch University (2000–2010), the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (1995–1999) and the Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg (1993–1995). He has held visiting appointments at the Universities of Sheffield, Nottingham, Birmingham and Western Australia.

His research in criminal law, criminology and criminal justice centres on criminalisation and criminal responsibility, exploring why and how behaviours are defined by, and governed through, criminal law. Within this broad field his interests are the criminal responsibility of, and for, children, comparative criminal law, criminal law reform and the relevance and role of labelling (particularly relating to homicide and sex work). He has published in English and German in these fields in national and international journals. In 2011 he was awarded the Australia and New Zealand Society of Criminology‘s inaugural Adam Sutton Crime Prevention Award. Currently, he is conducting research funded by the Australian Institute of Criminology into young people’s perceptions of ‘sexting’.

Associate Professor Crofts’ teaching interests are criminal law, criminology and criminal justice. At Sydney he teaches Criminology and Criminal Law. He has taught ‘Homicide’ in the LLM programme in Criminal Law & Criminal Justice at the University of Birmingham and in the Master of Criminal Justice Programme at the Crime Research Centre of the University of Western Australia (Criminology, Criminal Law and Public Policy; Administration of Sentences; and Theories of Punishment and Principles of Sentencing). Associate Professor Crofts has been awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Award from Teaching Excellence in 2002 and 2009.