OR

Browse By

Dr Renee Zahnow

ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow

School of Social Science
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
r.zahnow@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 52167

Overview

Dr Renee Zahnow is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Senior Research Fellow in the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland. Her research focuses on place-based patterns of crime and victimisation; she is particularly interested in understanding the link between the regularities of daily human mobility, social and behavioural norms and the propensity for crime and deviance. She has published in various journals, including Criminology, Urban Studies, Journal of Environmental Psychology, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Environment and Behavior and Crime and Delinquency.

Dr Zahnow has worked across a range of research projects including program evaluations and random-control trials. She has spatial and longitudinal modelling expertise and experience in working with police, ambulance and hospital data. She has established working ties with industry partners and international colleagues. Renee has expert knowledge in areas of environmental and urban criminology, social norms and collective social processes, youth and deviance and substance use.

Research Interests

  • Environmental Criminology
  • Spatial Data analysis
  • Urban Spaces and Sociability
  • Routine daily mobility
  • Longitudinal and big data analysis

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Criminology, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Arts (Honours), The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Arts, The University of Queensland

Publications

View all Publications

Grants

View all Grants

Supervision

  • Effects of Community Support on Violence against Immigrant and Refugee Women in Australia

    Doctor Philosophy

  • Understanding the Progression to Violence: Background Characterstics and Risk Factors for Radicaisation to Violent Extremism

    Doctor Philosophy

  • ¿Disaster Strains¿: An exploratory, comparative, thematic analysis of the 2010-11 Brisbane floods and COVID-19 pandemic, through the theoretical lenses of Agnew's General Strain Theory.

    Doctor Philosophy

View all Supervision

Available Projects

  • Understanding public spaces from young people's perspective: Identity, territoriality and guardianship

    Project description: Public spaces play a vital role in contemporary cities. Beyond their primary function, public spaces such as parks, transport stations and shops, provide opportunities for social interaction, community attachment and a sense of belonging to develop (Francis et al 2012). Public spaces can also provide opportunities for crime. Opportunities for crime arise as a product of situational factors that bring a motivated offender and suitable target together in time and space, in the absence of a guardian (Cohen & Felson 1979). Everyday users of public spaces are frequently present when formal guardians, like police, are absent. These everyday users provide some level of guardianship through their presence alone; merely because they are visible to would-be offenders. More effective guardianship is provided by everyday users of public spaces who act to deter or respond to a crime event by consciously monitoring, proactively preventing and responding to behaviours (Hollis-Peel et al 2011). Active guardians are essential for safe public spaces. In the residential neighbourhood we know that familiarity with place and collective identity with neighbours motivates a sense of responsibility for the shared territory and enhances active guardianship (Newman 1972; Reynald 2011).

    Young people frequent public spaces during the course of their everyday lives and may experience public spaces differently than other users. We have a limited understanding of the extent to which young people develop familiarity with public spaces they regularly visit and how this may influence their actions, perceptions and potential guardianship in public spaces. The aim of this PhD would be to address this research gap.

    Other requirements:

    • Applications will be judged on a competitive basis taking into account the applicant's previous academic record, publication record, honours and awards, and employment history.
    • A working knowledge of environmental criminology, neighbourhood effects and/or crime and deviance literature would be of benefit to someone working on this project.
    • The applicant will demonstrate academic achievement in the field(s) of criminology, psychology or sociology and the potential for scholastic success.
    • A background or knowledge of research methodologies is highly desirable.
    • The successful candidate must commence by Research Quarter 4, 2021. You should apply at least 3 months prior to the research quarter commencement date. International applicants may need to apply much earlier for visa reasons.

View all Available Projects

Publications

Book Chapter

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Effects of Community Support on Violence against Immigrant and Refugee Women in Australia

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Understanding the Progression to Violence: Background Characterstics and Risk Factors for Radicaisation to Violent Extremism

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • ¿Disaster Strains¿: An exploratory, comparative, thematic analysis of the 2010-11 Brisbane floods and COVID-19 pandemic, through the theoretical lenses of Agnew's General Strain Theory.

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Impact of Urbanisation on Biodiversity

    Master Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Assessing violent extremist risk assessment practices: an international comparison.

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Urbanization, ecosystem services and biodiversity in the Global South

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • DO AUSTRALIANS PERCEIVE IMMIGRATION AS A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY?

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • Understanding public spaces from young people's perspective: Identity, territoriality and guardianship

    Project description: Public spaces play a vital role in contemporary cities. Beyond their primary function, public spaces such as parks, transport stations and shops, provide opportunities for social interaction, community attachment and a sense of belonging to develop (Francis et al 2012). Public spaces can also provide opportunities for crime. Opportunities for crime arise as a product of situational factors that bring a motivated offender and suitable target together in time and space, in the absence of a guardian (Cohen & Felson 1979). Everyday users of public spaces are frequently present when formal guardians, like police, are absent. These everyday users provide some level of guardianship through their presence alone; merely because they are visible to would-be offenders. More effective guardianship is provided by everyday users of public spaces who act to deter or respond to a crime event by consciously monitoring, proactively preventing and responding to behaviours (Hollis-Peel et al 2011). Active guardians are essential for safe public spaces. In the residential neighbourhood we know that familiarity with place and collective identity with neighbours motivates a sense of responsibility for the shared territory and enhances active guardianship (Newman 1972; Reynald 2011).

    Young people frequent public spaces during the course of their everyday lives and may experience public spaces differently than other users. We have a limited understanding of the extent to which young people develop familiarity with public spaces they regularly visit and how this may influence their actions, perceptions and potential guardianship in public spaces. The aim of this PhD would be to address this research gap.

    Other requirements:

    • Applications will be judged on a competitive basis taking into account the applicant's previous academic record, publication record, honours and awards, and employment history.
    • A working knowledge of environmental criminology, neighbourhood effects and/or crime and deviance literature would be of benefit to someone working on this project.
    • The applicant will demonstrate academic achievement in the field(s) of criminology, psychology or sociology and the potential for scholastic success.
    • A background or knowledge of research methodologies is highly desirable.
    • The successful candidate must commence by Research Quarter 4, 2021. You should apply at least 3 months prior to the research quarter commencement date. International applicants may need to apply much earlier for visa reasons.

This staff member is a UQ Expert for media in the following fields:

crime, youth, delinquency, community, social ties, population health, resilience, neighborhood, mobility

They are happy to lend their expertise to your articles or broadcasts and share their research discoveries and insights with the community via media channels.

For additional assistance with story ideas, general advice and information or help with seeking further experts, please email the UQ Media Team or telephone (07) 3365 1120.

Links

ResearcherID:

ORCID: 0000-0001-5796-9443

Scopus ID: 55634491700

Google Scholar ID: eirl5NAAAAAJ

Unit Links
Other Media

Related Resources

Similar Staff
Researchers in Associated Units