DrAlexSimpson

Articles by: Alex Simpson

Two police officers walk in a bustling Australia urban area, engaging with pedestrians. The scene suggests community safety and the visible presence of law enforcement in daily life.

Weapons and violence: How does Australia stack up against other similar countries?

Weapons and violence in Australia

OPEN

9th August 2025

Dr Alex Simpson, Associate Professor, Macquarie University

ANALYSIS: Recent horrific events and the accompanying media headlines have led some to believe Australia is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic; in this second article in a series from The Conversation on weapons and violence in Australia, Macquarie University lecturers Professor Alex Simpson and Dr Vince Hurley argue that the latest crime data suggests the use of weapons and violent crime in the country is decreasing, and that compared to many other others, Australia fares well on these issues.

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Alex Simpson
Associate Professor in Criminology

Profile
Dr Alex Simpson is Associate Professor in Criminology at Macquarie University; his work focuses on the criminology of harm, cultural marginalisation and the sociology of political economy. Alex undertook his PhD at the University of York; this ethnographic study examines the culture of finance and the neutralisation of deviance within the City of London. He was also part of a British Academy funded, ethnographic study of class-based experiences of dirt and dirty work. Out of this critical engagement, Alex has a keen interest in qualitative research methods, including ethnography, photographic representation and elicitation, critical discourse analysis and in depth interview techniques.