Dr Alice Neikirk

Criminology lecturer and social justice scholar Dr Alice Neikirk is working to improve the experiences of less privileged groups to create a more equitable world. By understanding and challenging the rhetoric, she’s making change happen.

Broadly, Alice’s work is interested in how less privileged groups interact with more powerful institutions—with a view to positive change.

This interest largely stems from her own early life experiences.

“I grew up in a rural community that experienced significant economic disruption and decline during my youth”, says Alice. “High poverty rates, youth suicide, substance abuse, and risk-taking behaviours were the norm.”

“I initially studied anthropology and sociology, falling in love with the theories that helped me understand my community and the classroom experience that fostered intellectual engagement.”

“I had an exceptional professor who encouraged me to pursue post-graduate study and consider teaching at the tertiary level.”

After completing her undergraduate degree, she spent some time travelling and was exposed to other forms of inequality and injustice. And it was in Nepal that she found her calling: the plight of refugees.

Nepal and refugee rights

While in Nepal, a friend alerted Alice to the experience of over 100,000 refugees from Bhutan who had been living in exile for close to 30 years. It impacted her so much that she returned to conduct part of her PhD fieldwork with them.

Alice’s research examined the consequences of conflict and humanitarian governance on the daily lives of the refugees.

It found that searching for the few refugees that ‘deserve’ resettlement is an effective means to regulate borders further while deflecting a more difficult conversation regarding global inequality.

This work has informed several peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals, including the leading journal of refugee studies and the leading criminology journal on state crimes.

It also led to a book, The Elephant Has Two Sets of Teeth: Bhutanese Refugees and Humanitarian Governance(The University of Alberta Press), which underscores how well-meaning dialogues can undermine refugee rights.

A key takeaway is the strength and capabilities of communities that have faced incredible challenges but continue to strive for better opportunities for their children.

Making ripples in refugee rhetoric

Through her work, Alice has helped transform how we think about the placement of refugee camps and anti-trafficking programs within camps.

“This new model of trafficking risk will help minimise the risk of trafficking and ensure that victims are well-supported when returning to camps.”

“I’ve also proposed expanding our thinking about Intangible cultural heritage and considering its potential role in safeguarding refugee camps when other legal protections aren’t available. This has the potential to improve the lives of refugees.”

Smoothing the migration journey

In 2022, Alice co-founded the Newcastle Migration Research Network (NMRN) with colleagues across the university.

“This network brings academics, practitioners, students, and people with lived experiences as refugees together to co-create solutions for complex issues across the migration journey”, Alice shares.

Migration journeys are the movement of people from one place to another, often driven by factors such as economic opportunity, seeking refuge from conflict or persecution or pursuing education.

Human migration journeys can be voluntary or forced. They can involve internal migration (within a country) or international migration (between countries).

The network aims to create sustainable partnerships by supporting practitioners in achieving positive resettlement outcomes through exchanging knowledge while also collaboratively identifying gaps in the current research.

“These mutually supportive partnerships will help academics develop more robust theories regarding the resettlement experiences of refugees, improve support for refugees’ in the university, and provide contact points for resettlement organisations.”

To date, Alice’s work with the NMRN and community partners has led to community events that elevate the voices and experiences of people from diverse backgrounds. The network has also worked with final-year law students, service providers, and people with lived experience as refugees to develop a series of infographics to improve the legal literacy of refugees.

This will help refugees know their legal rights and obligations, fostering a greater sense of belonging and safety in our community. It also will ensure that they’re not vulnerable to misinformation or exploitation.

She’s proud of the community partnerships the NMRN has built over the last year.

“Being able to work with service providers and people with lived-refugee experience to support their flourishing in Australia is challenging, engaging, and so rewarding.”

Addressing colonial legacies in the US

Hopping continents, Alice also has a demonstrated record of successful collaboration with Tribal Partners in the United States examining Native American restorative justice practices.

This research has also provided insights into contemporary Native American culture and the complex ethnic relations between settler and indigenous societies—and has been published in SN Social Sciences.

These successful collaborations led to the invitation to co-write a grant to fund research between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Tribal Elders, and NGOs exploring the development of offshore energy projects to address colonial legacies.

From legal aid to women in history

In parallel to her work on refugees, Alice has worked with lawyers in Australia, providing publicly funded legal aid as part of an exciting multi-jurisdiction project looking at the wellbeing of these crucial actors in our justice system. She shares that it’s revealing some interesting findings.

A side interest she pursues in her spare time is women in history in relation to the criminal justice system. This led her to explore the role of police matrons in Australia.

“Police matrons were the forerunners of women in policing, serving in an informal capacity for almost 50 years before receiving formal recognition,” she says. By highlighting their contributions to policing, my work has helped deepen the history of policing in Australia”.

Despite working on issues that can be quite dire, Alice always tries to approach her work with optimism: that she and her collaborators can make a modest difference, improve the experience of a few people, and that our children will inherit a slightly more equitable world.