Prof Nancy Loucks surprised to be Honoured by Queen 

Visiting Professor at the Law School’s Centre for Law, Crime & Justice, Dr Nancy Loucks, has been named in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list.

Professor Nancy Loucks receives the honour for services to education and human rights, in her work as chief executive of Families Outside, and as Visiting Professor at Strathclyde University’s Centre of Law, Crime and Justice.

I was not expecting this at all,” she said. "Our achievements are very much the efforts of the team rather than an individual. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to draw attention to that work.

As Chief Executive of Families Outside, she is passionate about the work of the charity, which raises awareness of the impact imprisonment has on families, hitting their incomes, affecting the education of children, and breaking the family ties - about half of prisoners lose touch with their families. It trains prison staff and teachers, and tries to give families confidence to speak out and seek support, rather than be silenced by stigma.

Prof Loucks is also and experienced academic researcher in imprisonment, prison policy and comparative criminology. She has conducted extensive research into human rights issues in prison, female and young offenders, prison violence and protests, addiction, suicides and self-harm, violence risk assessment and management, the experience of offenders with learning difficulties and learning disabilities, homelessness amongst ex-prisoners, and the maintenance of prisoners' family ties. 

Prof Loucks also teaches on the LLM / MSc in Criminal Justice and Penal Change and works with colleagues at the Centre for Law, Crime & Justice