Marie Tidball

Biography

After reading her BA in Jurisprudence (Law) at Wadham College, Marie did a year's journalism traineeship at Channel 4 News before returning to Oxford to do the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice - for which she obtained a distinction. Her MSc dissertation 'Mad, Bad or Disabled?' looked at the importance of developing a coherent disability perspective in Criminology for the governance of offenders with learning disabilities and mental health problems (LD&MHP) in England and Wales. Arguing Lord Bradley's Report (2009) made this theoretical venture all the more pertinent, Anti-social Behaviour Orders were used as a practical case-study of the application of such a disability perspective since they have posed a particular problem for perpetrators with LD&MHP. This study received a top first class mark and led her to work as Policy and Legal Officer at Autism West Midlands. Here she co-ordinated and produced a number of consultation responses to national and local government consultations including the Autism Statutory Guidance Implementing fulfilling and rewarding lives (see DH, 2010) and Birmingham City Council's A Vision for Adult Social Care (see, 2010). Gaining insight into the application of the Big Society in practice and knowledge of the changes in Local Government, Health and Adult Social Care (see Localism Bill 2010-11; Health and Social Care Bill 2010-11; DH, 2010) and the interaction of these changes with the English Criminal Justice System, her role inspired her to return to Oxford to pursue the DPhil in Criminology. Marie received an ESRC +3 Studentship and began her DPhil in October 2011 under the supervision of Dr Carolyn Hoyle. Her thesis explores the governance of offenders with Autistic Spectrum Conditions in the English Criminal Justice System. Marie's wider interests include administrative law, the role of elite decision-makers in the criminal justice system, restorative justice, victimology and the relationship between politics, the media and criminal justice policy.