Overview

This powerful and reflective book explores the losses encountered during social research-of people, communities and environments-collectively referred to as The Lost. Drawing on the contributors' varied research experiences, it gives voice to lives marked by marginalisation, trauma or quiet disappearance. Stories emerge from women who didn't survive domestic abuse to those displaced by 'natural' disasters, or affected by homelessness. Through deeply personal and ethical reflections, each chapter considers how these losses shape both research and researcher. Offering new insights into harm, reflexivity and the emotional toll of fieldwork, this is an essential contribution to critical criminology and social research methodology.

Full Product Details

Author:   Tammy C. Ayres (University of Leicester) ,  Daniel Briggs (Northumbria University) ,  Craig Kelly (Birmingham City University) ,  Stuart Taylor (The Open University)
Publisher:   Bristol University Press
Imprint:   Bristol University Press
ISBN:  

9781529244090

ISBN 10:   1529244099
Pages:   324
Publication Date:   23 April 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Professional & Vocational ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Awaiting stock  

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Life, Loss and Legacy – Tammy Ayres, Daniel Briggs, Craig Kelly and Stuart Taylor Part 1: Loss in the Context of Death 2. Fatigue and Fatality: Remembering Roy – Stuart Taylor 3. Paul: A Life Told Backwards – Craig Kelly 4. “The World Is Out to Get Me, Bruv”: Gangs, Street Life, and the Story of How the World ‘Got’ Ben – Daniel Briggs Part 2: Loss in the Context of Society, Culture and Consumption 5. Losing Yourself, Becoming Another: Loss as a Transient Experience – Ben Colliver 6. Leonard Hockey and the Violent Crusade Against Begging – Vickie Cooper 7. Gambling Addiction, Trauma, and Loss – Thomas Raymen 8. Lost Women and Children: Hearing the Stories of Victims of Domestic Abuse, Including the Ones Who Did Not ‘Survive’ – Mandy Burton 9. Missing and Lost: Missing Children, Social Harm and Structural Violence – Paul Andell Part 3: Loss in the Context of the Environment 10. Critical Perspectives on the Loss of Nature – Angus Nurse and Elliot Doornbos 11. Climate Change, Environmental Loss and Lost Futures: On the Blurring of Nostalgia, Solastalgia and Anticipatory Solastalgia – Tammy C. Ayres and Avi Brisman Part 4: Loss in Context of Methods 12. Lost and Found: Immersion, Drift and Crossing the Line in Covert Ethnographic Work – Daniel Briggs 13. Some Reflections on the Ethics of Covert Ethnography Among Hard-to-Reach Populations – Simon Winlow 14. Not a Matter of Life and Death: Getting Lost in Criminological Research – James Treadwell 15. The Lost and the Forgotten: The Lasting Legacies of Research – Tammy C. Ayres Conclusion 16. Making Sense of Loss – Tammy C. Ayres, Daniel Briggs, Craig Kelly and Stuart Taylor

Reviews

'Criminology is often about discovery of ""the new"". This book reminds us of the ethical and emotional issues involved in remembering the past and memorialising the lost.' Nigel South, University of Essex 'Criminology has much to say about loss. Lives lost to unnameable violence. Millions lost to robbery and theft. Rarely, if ever, are we asked to think of loss from our subject’s position. In this collection of essays, some of criminology’s most original and consequential thinkers do just that, showing, in heart wrenching detail, what can be found by taking loss seriously.' Travis Linnemann, Kansas State University

'Criminology is often about discovery of ""the new"". This book reminds us of the ethical and emotional issues involved in remembering the past and memorialising the lost.' Nigel South, University of Essex 'Criminology has much to say about loss. Lives lost to unnamable violence. Millions lost to robbery and theft. Rarely, if ever, are we asked to think of loss from our subject’s position. In this collection of essays, some of criminology’s most original and consequential thinkers do just that, showing, in heart wrenching detail, what can be found by taking loss seriously.' Travis Linnemann, Kansas State University

'Criminology is often about discovery of ""the new"". This book reminds us of the ethical and emotional issues involved in remembering the past and memorialising the lost.' Nigel South, University of Essex

Author Information

Tammy C. Ayres is Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Leicester. Daniel Briggs is Professor of Criminology and Sociology at Northumbria University. Craig Kelly is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Birmingham City University. Stuart Taylor is Staff Tutor of Social Policy and Criminology at The Open University.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions