Dr Joe Garrihy

Law

Assistant Professor

Biography

Dr. Joe Garrihy is an Assistant Professor in Criminology at the School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University. A specialist in penology, his research also addresses broad issues, lived experiences and policy across the fields of criminal justice and beyond. He holds a PhD in Criminology from University College Dublin based on his study examining prison officers' occupational cultures and identities in Ireland.

Joe has recently completed or is currently engaged in several projects including examinations of the experiences and rights of examinations of the experiences and rights of minority ethnic and Foreign National Prisoners, ‘cocooning’ in Irish prisons. Dr Garrihy is the project lead of the collaborative Unlocking Potential Project aiming to reform Higher Education admissions policies and practices for people with convictions and develop support services for the duration of their studies. A concurrent project examines employers’ attitudes to hiring people with lived experience while exploring people with convictions’ experience of the employment market.

These projects and wider research include collaborative and co-produced projects with the Irish Penal Reform Trust, the Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas, the Office of the Inspector of Prisons, the Pathways Centre, the Irish Prison Service, and the Probation Service among others. Funding for Joe’s research has been secured through multiple grants from organisations including the Irish Research Council, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Public Sector Innovation Fund, and the Irish Penal Reform Trust. Joe’s work has been featured in diverse mediums including national broadcasters and international peer-reviewed journals including the British Journal of Criminology.

Reflecting his academic background in Anthropology, Sociology and Criminology, Joe’s teaching and research are multidisciplinary and collaborative while employing diverse research methodologies. He has led, developed, and delivered core and specialist modules across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Joe lectures courses on penology and comparative penal policies as well as introductory criminology and criminal justice courses. Joe welcomes potential research students and collaborations in penology, prison life and cultures, re-integrative pathways for people with convictions, and broader penal policies.

Research Interests

Penology, Prison life and cultures, Penal policy, Re-integration, Occupational cultures and identities, Ethnography, Mixed methods research. 

Research Projects

Title Role Description Start date End date Amount
Working with Conviction: A Study on Employers' Attitudes to Hiring People with Criminal Convictions Co_PI 31/01/2023 31/07/2023 4500
Boxed Out: Higher education, criminal convictions, and perceptions of risk PI Recent scrutiny of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) admissions policies for people with conviction(s) (PWC) is justified but it remains critically under-researched in an Irish context. To drive sectoral reform and redevelopment, this collaborative study with the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) will constitute the first empirical research on HEI admissions policies and practices regarding PWC in Ireland. Education is a protective factor which reduces recidivism and supports desistance from crime and reintegration, but barriers and stigmatisation are pronounced for PWC. Thus, an evidence-base for reform and fair admissions policies and practices is necessary to counteract the primacy of risk-based approaches. 16/12/2022 15/09/2023 11963
“Sometimes I’m missing the words”: The rights, needs and experiences of foreign national and minority ethnic groups in the Irish penal system. Co-PI 31/01/2021 29/05/2022 10000
Understanding the Needs and Perspectives of Foreign National Prisoners in Ireland Co-PI 01/01/2021 31/05/2023 12000
Unlocking Potential Reforming Higher Education Policies and Practices for People with Convictions Chair / PI 01/01/2020 01/02/2024 20000

Peer Reviewed Journal

Year Publication
2023 Joe Garrihy, Ian Marder, and Patricia Gilheaney (2023) '‘Cocooning’ in prison during COVID-19: Findings from recent research in Ireland'. European Journal of Criminology, 20 (3):996-1015. [Link] https://doi-org.may.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/14773708221132888
2023 Doyle, D.M.; Garrihy, J.; Cleary, M.; Murphy, M. (2023) 'Foreign National Prisoners and Religious Practice in Irish Prisons'. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 15 . [Link] [DOI]
2022 Joe Garrihy (2022) '‘That Doesn’t Leave You’: Psychological Dirt and Taint in Prison Officers’ Occupational Cultures and Identities'. British Journal of Criminology, 62 (4):982-999. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azab074
2022 Ian D. Marder, Magali Lapouge, Joe Garrihy, Avril Brandon (2022) 'A Review of the Literature on Open Prison Research’'. Prison Service Journal, 256 :3-9. [Link]
2020 Joe Garrihy (2020) '‘There are Fourteen Grey Areas’: ‘Jailing’, Professionalism and Legitimacy in Prison Officers’ Occupational Cultures'. Irish Probation Journal, (17):128-150. [Link] [Full-Text]
2020 Garrihy J.; Watters A. (2020) 'Emotions and agency in prison research'. METHODOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS, 13 (2). [DOI] [Full-Text]

Conference Publication

Year Publication
2022 Joe Garrihy (2022) Irish Criminal Justice Agencies Conference ‘Nothing Feels as Good as Being Taken Seriously’: Experiencing Race, Ethnicity and Policy in the Penal System

Conference Contribution

Year Publication
2022 Joe Garrihy, Ian D Marder (2022) North South Criminology Conference 2022 Cocooning in prison University of Limerick, .
2022 Joe Garrihy and Ian Marder (2022) European Society of Criminology Conference Eurocrim University of Malaga, 21/09/2022-21/10/2022.
2020 Joe Garrihy, Aoife Watters (2020) CrimCon Prison: Emotional labour in Criminal Justice and Criminology Online, .
2019 Joe Garrihy (2019) North South Irish Criminology Conference The Social Construction of Working Lives in Prison Work University College Cork, .
2017 Joe Garrihy (2017) European Society of Criminology Conference Psychological stigma and strategies for the management of taint Cardiff University, .

Published Report

Year Publication
2022 Doyle, David; Brandon, Avril; Garrihy, Joe; Adanan, Amina; Bracken, Denis (2022) Sometimes I'm missing the words: The rights, needs and experiences of foreign national and minority ethnic groups in the Irish penal system. Irish Penal Reform Trust, . [Link] [Full-Text]
2020 Gilheaney, P., Garrihy, J. & Marder, I. (2020) Ameliorating the impact of cocooning on people in custody. Office of the Inspector of Prisons, . [Link]

Blog

Year Publication
2021 Avril Brandon, Amina Adanan, David Doyle, Joe Garrihy and Denis Bracken (2021) Exploring the rights and experiences of migrant and minority ethnic groups in the penal system in Ireland. [Blog] [Link]
2020 Ian D. Marder, Joe Garrihy, Office of the Inspector of Prisons (2020) How would you cope with cocooning in prison?. [Blog] [Link]

Policy Contribution

Year Publication
2021 Amina Adanan and Joe Garrihy (2021) Public Consultation on the Review of Prison Rules: Submission to the Irish Prison Service concerning foreign national and ethnic minority prisoners. [Policy Contribution]

Podcast

Year Publication
2021 Joe Garrihy (2021) The Unlocking Potential Podcast. Maynooth: [Podcast] [Link]

Newspaper Articles

Year Publication
2022 Ian D. Marder, Ciara Bracken-Roche, Joe Garrihy, Claire Hamilton, Gemma Lynch, Rose Ryan (2022) When people with convictions get degrees, everybody wins. [Newspaper Articles] [Link]
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2023) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

Committees

Committee Function From / To
Postgraduate Research Committee Committee Member 01/08/2021 - 01/10/2023
Internalisation Committee Committee Member 01/11/2022 - 01/10/2023
British Society of Criminology Early Career Research Committee Committee Member 15/02/2021 -

Employment

Employer Position From / To
University of Winchester Lecturer 13/08/2018 - 06/09/2019
Maynooth University Assistant Professor of Criminology 12/07/2021 -
Birmingham City University Lecturer 01/09/2020 - 12/07/2021
University College Dublin Occassional Lecturer 08/02/2016 - 24/05/2018
Maynooth University Lecturer 02/09/2019 - 24/07/2020

Education

Start date Institution Qualification Subject
Staff and Educational Development Association Staff and Educational Development Association accredited accreditation Higher Education Teaching

Languages

Language Reading Writing Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Irish-Gaeilge Fluent Fluent Fluent

Teaching Interests

Penology, Prison life and cultures, Penal policy, Re-integration, Occupational cultures and identities, Ethnography, Mixed methods research.