Professor Alex Stevens

School of Law

Chair in Criminology

Headshot of Alex Stevens
Profile picture of Headshot of Alex Stevens
alex.stevens@sheffield.ac.uk
EF08, Bartolome House

Full contact details

Professor Alex Stevens
School of Law
EF08
Bartolome House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
Profile

I research and teach on the overlap between drugs, crime and public health. I am particularly interested in how policies in these areas are made, and how we can improve them through research and collaboration with policy makers, practitioners and directly affected communities. This is the focus of my 2024 book on Drug Policy Constellations (Bristol University Press). Outside the University of Sheffield, I am a trustee of Harm Reduction International and the Criminal Justice Alliance. I was previously a member of the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, and President of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy. I supervise dissertations and theses on drug policy, harm reduction, policy making, policing, and other issues related to illicit drugs. I also lead evaluations for government departments and other clients, with a focus on realist evaluation using both qualitative and quantitative methods. I am developing the international study of policy constellations, using methods including social network analysis and qualitative comparative analysis. Before joining the University of Sheffield, I worked for 26 years at the University of Kent, where I was appointed Professor of Criminal Justice in 2010.

Qualifications

PhD in Social Policy, University of Kent; MA in Soco-Legal Studies, University of Sheffield; BA(hons) French in the School of European Studies, University of Sussex

Research interests
  • Drugs, crime, and public health
  • Policy making
  • Comparative criminology
Publications

Books

  • Stevens A (2024) Drug Policy Constellations: The Role of Power and Morality in the Making of Drug Policy in the UK. Bristol University Press.

Journal articles

  • Stevens A, Agnew-Pauley W, Bacon M, Glasspoole-Bird H, Hendrie N, Hughes CE, Lloyd C, Monaghan M, Smith R, Sutton C , Williams E et al (2025) . British Journal of Criminology.
  • Tuschick E, Ferguson J, Coulton S, Eberhardt J, Reneesha A, Osindeinde I, Deluca P, Sumnall H, Stevens A, Bray J & Newbury-Birch D (2025) . NIHR Open Research, 5.
  • Stevens A, Ritter A & Askew R (2025) . Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy.
  • Scher BD, Southwell M, Harris M, Stevens A, Chrisinger BW, Humphreys DK & Shorter GW (2025) . International Journal of Drug Policy, 140.
  • Keemink JR, Stevens A, Shirley-Beavan S, Khadjesari Z & Shorter GW (2025) . Harm Reduction Journal, 22.
  • Stevens A, Schreeche-Powell E, Billingham L & Irwin-Rogers K (2025) . Critical Criminology, 33(1), 171-187.
  • Agnew-Pauley W, Hughes CE & Stevens A (2025) . European Journal of Criminology, 22(3), 346-374.
  • Stevens A, Keemink JR, ShirleyBeavan S, Khadjesari Z, Artenie A, Vickerman P, Southwell M & Shorter GW (2024) . Drug and Alcohol Review, 43(6), 1573-1591.
  • Stevens A (2024) .
  • Stevens A, Hendrie N, Bacon M, Parrott S, Monaghan M, Williams E, Lewer D, Moore A, Berlin J, Cunliffe J & Quinton P (2023) . Health & Justice, 11(1), 52-52.
  • Stevens A, Hendrie N, Bacon M, Parrott S, Monaghan M, Williams E, Lewer D, Moore A, Berlin J, Cunliffe J & Quinton P (2023) . Health & Justice, 11.
  • Coulton S, Nizalova O, Pellatt-Higgins T, Stevens A, Hendrie N, Marchand C, Vass R, Deluca P, Drummond C, Ferguson J , Waller G et al (2023) . Public Health Research, 11(3).
  • Stevens A (2022) . International Journal of Drug Policy, 109.
  • Stevens A, Hughes CE, Hulme S & Cassidy R (2022) . European Journal of Criminology, 19(1), 29-54.
  • Stevens A (2020) . International Journal of Drug Policy, 84.
  • Stevens A (2020) . Nature Human Behaviour, 4(6).
  • Stevens A (2019) . International Journal of Drug Policy, 66, 94-99.
  • Stevens A (2019) . Addictive Behaviors, 90, 444-450.
  • Stevens A (2018) . British Medical Journal (The BMJ), 363.
  • Aldridge J, Stevens A & Barratt MJ (2018) . Addiction, 113(5), 802-804.
  • Aldridge J, Stevens A & Barratt MJ (2018) . Addiction, 113(5), 789-796.
  • Coulton S, Stockdale K, Marchand C, Hendrie N, Billings J, Boniface S, Butler S, Deluca P, Drummond C, Newbury-Birch D , Pellatt-Higgins T et al (2017) . BMC Public Health, 17.
  • Stevens A (2016) . International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 57(4), 183-206.
  • Stevens A, Hughes C & Andro A (2016) . Mouvements, 2016/2(86), 22-33.
  • Stevens A (2016) . Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 23(5), 410-421.
  • Stevens A, Fortson R, Measham F & Sumnall H (2015) . International Journal of Drug Policy, 26(12), 1167-1170.
  • Stevens A, Berto D, Heckmann W, Kerschl V, Oeuvray K, Ooyen M, Steffan E & Uchtenhagen A (2005) . Substance Use & Misuse, 40(3), 269-283.
  • Sutton CE, Bacon M, Glasspoole-Bird H, Hendrie N, Monaghan M, Smith R & Stevens A () . Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 1-14.
  • Stevens A () .

Reports

  • Hughes CE, Stevens A, Barratt MJ, Ferris JA, Maier LJ & Winstock AR (2024) Building procedural justice in Australian street-level drug law enforcement
Research group

Teaching activities

UG

LAW3030 - Drugs, Crime and Control

LAW113 - Introduction to Criminological Research

LAW3048 - Dissertation

PG

LAW412 - Criminological Research in Policy and Practice