George Dertadian

Dr George Dertadian is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology within the School of Law, Society and Criminology at the Faculty of Law and Justice, University of New South Wales (UNSW). His research focuses on drug policy, harm reduction, and the sociology of crime and deviance, with particular emphasis on non-carceral responses to drug use and studying drug consumption across diverse socioeconomic contexts.

Dr Dertadian holds a PhD and conducts field-based research with people who use drugs, including the non-medical use of pharmaceuticals and injection drug use, among both marginalized and structurally advantaged populations. His work advocates for harm reduction approaches and non-punitive responses to drug use.

His research interests span alcohol and other drugs, the sociology of crime and deviance, social and cultural theory, pharmaceutical opioids, and critical approaches to crime. Dr Dertadian's work frequently examines pharmaceutical dependence, drug policy, and the social dimensions of drug use across different socioeconomic contexts, with particular attention to media representation, gender dimensions, and stigma.

His publication record reveals a consistent focus on pharmaceutical opioid use, drug decriminalization, harm reduction services, and the social contexts of drug consumption. Recent work has increasingly addressed media representation of drug use, gender dimensions of drug-related stigma, and the politics of care in overdose prevention. His research methodology predominantly employs qualitative approaches to understand the lived experiences of people who use drugs across diverse social contexts.

Dr Dertadian actively contributes to public discourse through media articles in major Australian publications including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Conversation, where he discusses painkiller use, medically supervised consumption rooms, and housing policies affecting people with drug use histories. He teaches several criminology courses at UNSW including CRIM1010 - Criminology: An Introduction, CRIM2042 - Explaining Crime, CRIM2038 - Young People and Juvenile Justice, CRIM3000 - Criminology in Practice, and LAWS8105 - Juvenile Justice.