Professor Barry Godfrey has over twenty years of experience in researching comparative criminology, particularly international crime history; desistence studies; and longitudinal studies of offending. Over that time he has received funding from the ESRC, Wellcome Trust, The Leverhulme Trust, Nuffield Foundation, the British Academy, and other funders, for projects on the treatment of dangerous or habitual offenders; private policing; violence in society; and sentencing patterns over long periods of time.

Barry began his academic career at Keele University, joining in 1995 as a junior lecturer and leaving as Professor of Criminology in 2011. Since joining Liverpool University he has continued his research within the Risk, Security and Crime Research Cluster; and he enjoys supervising theses on sentencing and desistence, long-term trends in criminal justice policy, criminal justice history, and the management of risk in society

Research: Longitudinal studies of crime and sentencing; how individual and structural factors can affect desistence from crime; comparative international studies of offending and sentencing; court culture and practice; the history of Liverpool; and convicts in America and Australia.