Matthew Maycock, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Monash University and was previously Baxter Fellow in the School of Education and Social Work, University of Dundee. Matthew was previously the Director of the BCrim and BCrim Policing degrees, with Monash Criminology being the second largest criminology program in Australia with 4000+ undergraduates.

Areas of research focus

Gender within prison settings

Throughout various studies, Matthew has consistently worked on gender issues with masculinity, within prison being a recuring focus. Matthew is one of the editors of a number of books in this area, with a focus on prison masculinities, and has published on aspects of the experiences of transgender and gender diverse people in prison settings.

Health, everyday life and staff cultures within prison settings

Matthew has a longstanding interest in everyday life in prison, with a focus on prison staff and associated prison cultures. This builds on his time working within the Scottish Prison Service, where he was involved in staff training, and has led to a range of studies, papers and books in this area. For over ten years, Matthew’s research on everyday life in prison has focused on ways of working in prison, and the influence of prisoner and prison officer unions.

Modern slavery, gender and pathways to freedom

This longstanding focus of his research relates to Matthew having been visiting and doing research in Nepal for over twenty years. This theme is focused on longitudinal change within one village in far-west Nepal, the village was established when a group of former bonded labourers were freed from the Kamaiya system of bonded labour.

Trade unions and class

Matthew is a passionate trade union member, and is interested in the ways in which trade unions function, in particular within the criminal legal system. More broadly, questions of class and class analysis remain ongoing considerations in Matthew's research.

Matthew is keen to supervise students in any of the above areas.

Previous experience
Alongside Matthew’s experience within academia, Matthew has also worked within the UK civil service and voluntary sectors. Matthew previously worked at the Scottish Prison Service undertaking research often on gender issues in prison as well as facilitating staff development across a range of areas. Before that Matthew was an Investigator Scientist within the Settings and Organisations Team at SPHSU, University of Glasgow undertaking postdoctoral research in Scottish prisons. Prior this Matthew worked in public health programming and campaigns on a range of projects focusing on improving the health of men and boys.

Matthew undertook a PhD at the University of East Anglia that analysed modern slavery through the theoretical lens of masculinity, this was published as a monograph for Routledge in 2019. Subsequent to initial PhD fieldwork, Matthew has been going to the same fieldsite in far-west Nepal for thirteen years, in order to analyse change longitudinally in a community of former bonded labourers.

Teaching and educational leadership
Leadership at Monash University:

•    Director for the BCrim and BCrim Policing degrees (2o24 - 2025)
•    Chaired and led the Criminology Program course accreditation self-review panel (2025)
  •    Criminology HDR coordinator (2023 – 2024)

Matthew has led on unit design, delivery and assessment for the following units:

Monash University

•    ATS2555 - Foundations in researching crime and justice
  •    ATS3866 - Crimes of the powerful 
  •    ATS2465 / 3465 Comparative criminal justice in practice (summer school at Monash Prato)
  •    ATS3161 Prisons and Punishment

Editing and Publishing
Matthew is currently one of the editors in chief of the International Journal of Prison Health, along with sitting on the editorial board of the Prison Service Journal and the Journal of Criminal Psychology. Matthew has co-edited five books with a further three in preparation, Matthew has written one monograph and published in leading criminology, gender and public health journals.