معرفی
Xiaoye Zhang is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at De Montfort University, affiliated with the School of Applied Social Sciences within the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Her work bridges criminology, social sciences, and performance studies, with a focus on ethnographic research in Chinese prisons.
Education:
- PhD in Criminology, City University of Hong Kong
- MA in Applied Theatre, Goldsmiths, University of London
- BA in English, Nanjing Normal University Taizhou College
Her research centers on Chinese criminology, prison sociology, offender rehabilitation, and gender and crime. She employs ethnographic and narrative methodologies, often integrating performance and theatre as both research tools and rehabilitation mechanisms. Her work critically examines how reform, exemplarity, and cultural practices function within Chinese penal institutions.
Her recent publications explore themes such as labor market reentry for female ex-prisoners, background music in prisons, prison theatre, and narrative rehabilitation, reflecting a consistent focus on the human and cultural dimensions of punishment. These works span journals in criminology, media studies, and sociology.
Scientific Engagement:
- Member, Asian Criminology Society
- ORCID: 0000-0002-3580-8259
Xiaoye Zhang actively engages in public scholarship through a Yixi talk, a co-founded blog on prison sociology, and the podcast Prison Desires. She has also served as a consultant for two Chinese prisons on arts-based rehabilitation. She teaches courses including Prison, Punishment and Society and Offender Rehabilitation and Desistance, and has presented her research internationally in the UK, China, Norway, Japan, and Hong Kong.
She also facilitates drama workshops in criminal justice settings and supports victims of domestic violence through volunteering, demonstrating a strong commitment to applied and socially engaged research.
