Dr Emma D. Watkins is an Associate Professor in Criminology at the University of Birmingham, and Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology Research Lead. As an historical criminologist, Emma uses a social harm perspective in her work to explore the use of institutions and policy to control marginalised populations. Emma was awarded an AHRC Research, Development & Engagement Fellow (2023–2025) working on ‘Institutional Abuse: Reformatory Schools and the use of physical force’. Emma was awarded her PhD at the University of Liverpool. That thesis led to the monograph: Life Courses of Young Convicts Transported to Van Diemen’s Land. Out of that project came her work on pauper-emancipists and the criminalisation of poverty and her recent publication: Transportation, Post-Penal Identity and the Life Course (Emerald Publishing). Recently, she has also co-edited an historical criminological collection: Imperial Crime and Punishment: Approaches from Historical Criminology (Emerald Publishing).