Dr Cormac Behan

    Law

    Lecturer in Criminology

    Biography

    Dr Cormac Behan joined the School of Law and Criminology in August 2024. Prior to joining the school, he was a lecturer in criminology at the Technological University Dublin. He has also taught at the University of Sheffield and University College Dublin. Prior to taking up an academic position, Cormac taught history and politics in Irish prisons for fourteen years.

    Cormac read history and politics for his BA degree at University College Dublin. He has a M.Litt. in history from Trinity College Dublin and a Higher Diploma and MA in adult and community education from Maynooth University. He completed his PhD at the Institute of Criminology, University College Dublin as an Ad Astra Scholar. In 2016, Cormac became a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

    Book

    Year Publication
    2023 Cormac Behan and Abigail Stark (2023) Prisons and Imprisonment. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
    2014 Cormac Behan (2014) Citizen Convicts: Prisoners, Politics and the Vote. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Peer Reviewed Journal

    Year Publication
    2022 Cormac Behan (2022) 'No longer a ‘collateral consequence’: Imprisonment and the reframing of citizenship'. European Journal of Criminology, 19 (6):1283-1303. [Full-Text]
    2018 Cormac Behan (2018) '“We are all convicted criminals”? Prisoners, Protest and Penal Politics in the Republic of Ireland'. Journal of Social History, 52 (1):501-526. [Full-Text]
    2016 Cormac Behan and Richard Kirkham (2016) 'Monitoring, Inspection and Complaints Adjudication in Prison: The limits of prison accountability frameworks'. Howard Journal Of Crime And Justice, 55 (4):432-454. [Full-Text]
    2014 Cormac Behan (2014) 'Embracing and Resisting Prisoner Enfranchisement? A Comparative Analysis of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom'. Irish Probation Journal, 11 :156-176. [Full-Text]
    2014 Cormac Behan (2014) 'Learning to Escape: Prison Education, Rehabilitation and the Potential for Transformation'. Irish Probation Journal, 1 :20-31. [Full-Text]
    2012 Cormac Behan (2012) '“Still Entitled to our Say”: Prisoners’ Perspectives on Politics'. Howard Journal Of Crime And Justice, 51 (1):16-36. [Full-Text]
    2011 Cormac Behan (2011) '“The benefit of personal experience and personal study”: Prisoners and the Politics of Enfranchisement'. Prison Journal, 91 (1):7-31. [Full-Text]
    2008 Cormac Behan (2008) '‘Prisoners, Politics and the Polls: Enfranchisement and the Burden of Responsibility’'. British Journal of Criminology, 48 (3):319-36. [Full-Text]

    Book Chapter

    Year Publication
    2024 Cormac Behan (2024) '”To feel part of a wider community”: The case for prisoner voting' In: Prisoners’ vote: A multidisciplinary and comparative perspective. London : Routledge.
    2023 Cormac Behan (2023) 'The Summer of Discontent: The British Prisoners Strike of 1972' In: International Handbook of Activist Criminology. London : Emerald Publishing.
    2021 Cormac Behan (2021) 'The Prisoners’ Rights Organisation and Penal Reform in the Republic of Ireland' In: The Carceral Network in Ireland: History, Agency and Resistance. London : Palgrave Macmillan.
    2020 Cormac Behan (2020) 'Rights, Advocacy and Transformation' In: Routledge Companion to Rehabilitative Work in Criminal Justice. London : Routledge.
    2016 Cormac Behan and Jackie Bates Gaston (2016) 'Education and Rehabilitation: What Works' In: The Routledge Handbook of Irish Criminology. London : Routledge.
    2008 Cormac Behan (2008) 'From Outside to Inside: Pedagogy Behind Prison Walls’' In: In the Borderlands: Learning to Teach in Prisons and Alternative Settings. San Bernadino, California : California State University.

    Other Journal

    Year Publication
    2020 Cormac Behan (2020) 'Putting Penal Reform on the Map: Prisoners’ Rights Movements and Penal History' Champ Pénal/Penal Field, 21 (1) :1-18.
    2007 Cormac Behan (2007) '‘Context, Creativity and Critical Reflection: Education in Correctional Institutions’' Journal of Correctional Education, 58 (2) :157-169.
    Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2025) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

    Professional Associations

    Description Function From / To
    British Society of Criminology Member -
    Irish Prison Education Association Member -
    European Prison Education Association Member -

    Teaching Interests

    Penal history; Penology; Comparative penal policy, prison education; citizenship and imprisonment.