Dr Josh Bullock
Faculties, departments and locations
- Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
- Department of Criminology, Politics and Sociology
- School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences
- Penrhyn Road
Senior lecturer in criminology and sociology
- Email:
- [email protected]
About
I am Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Social Sciences. My research revolves around two key areas. The first explores the impact of true crime consumption on audiences and their perceptions of the criminal justice system. The second investigates the sociology of religion and nonreligion, community and belonging, as well as paranormal, superstitious, magical, and supernatural beliefs.
My latest research project (2023–24) "Weekday Worldviews: The Patrons, Promise and Payoff of Psychic Nights in England" is the first sociological investigation of the relationships between worldviews and psychological wellbeing amongst those attending public psychic/séance events in England. The project offers a unique look at a grassroots phenomenon using mixed methods (survey, observation, interview, comparison), analysing patterns of belief and their implication for understanding the relationship between science, spirituality, and wellbeing.
My previous research has focused on religion, nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as vaccine hesitancy with publications in Nature, PLOS ONE, Culture and Religion and The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe.
I was awarded best lecturer and best use of technology 2021 in the School of Law and Social and Behavioural Sciences, Student Awards. I was awarded runner-up best dissertation supervisor 2022 at Kingston University. I was awarded teaching excellence in 2023 the School for Law, Social and Behaviour Sciences. Faculty of Business and Social Sciences Lecturer of the year 2024.
I am the Research Ethics Lead for the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences.
Qualifications
- PhD, Kingston University, London
- MSc Social and Cultural Theory, University of Bristol
- BA Media and Cultural Studies and Sociology, The University of the West of England
Domains
I teach on the following modules: Crime, Law and Justice, Crime, Media and Culture and Researching Social Problems.
Qualifications
- Senior Fellowship (SFHEA)
Courses taught
My research has been supported by a range of international and national funders, focusing on themes of belief, identity, social cohesion, and digital engagement.
From 2024 to 2028, I served as Co-Investigator on the PERceived threats, SOcial identity, and cohesioN (PERSON) project (€41,500), funded by the NextGenerationEU National Recovery and Resilience Plan. This project explores how perceived social threats shape collective identities and cohesion across European contexts.
In 2023–2024, I was an External Partner on the Collaborative Digital Storytelling for Educational Advantage (CoDiSEA) project (714,000 NOK), funded by the University of Bergen, Norway. The project examines the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool for inclusive and collaborative learning.
During the same period, I was Co-Investigator on Weekday Worldviews: The Patrons, Promise and Payoff of Psychic Nights in England (£19,518), funded by the International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society. I also led the project "True crime obsession" and its socio-psychological effect on anxiety, fear, and perception of the English and Welsh Criminal Justice System (£2,104), funded by Kingston University.
Earlier research includes Religion and Vaccine Hesitancy (2021–2022, £1,000) and Nonreligion, Values and European Migration (2020–2023, £6,530), both funded by Kingston University, where I served as Principal Investigator.
My postdoctoral work (2018–2019) was as Co-Investigator on the Templeton Foundation-funded project Reaching for a New Sense of Connection? Towards a Deeper Understanding of the Sociality of Generation Y Non-Believers in Northern and Central Europe (£99,993), which examined the social worlds and meaning-making practices of young non-religious people across Europe.
Qualifications
- University of Amsterdam Digital Research Methods Winter School 2018
Specialisms
- Religion
- Nonreligion
- Research methods
- Belief
- Belonging
- True Crime
Using expertise in survey design and application, I am an adviser on the survey design tool Accipi which is under development.
I have worked with REToday to produce publications used in the UK secondary school curriculum. Research from my Understanding Unbelief research project helped to illustrate the reality of lived religious and non-religious experience in the UK and Europe.
Publications
Law, order, and social media: Perceptions of police effectiveness on X/Twitter
Bullock, Josh and Dodsworth, Francis, 2025, Crime, Media, Culture, E-pub ahead of print
Pub psychic nights: spiritual and social transformation beyond institutional boundaries
Starkey, Caroline, Bullock, Josh and Powell, Adam, 2025, Implicit Religion (26), E-pub ahead of print
The jury is in: an evaluation of an experiential court assignment
Bullock, Josh and Sparks, Brandon, 2025, Journal of Criminal Justice Education, E-pub ahead of print
Modeling nationalism, religiosity, and threat perception: during the COVID-19 pandemic
Bullock, Josh, Lane, Justin E., Miklousic, Igor and Shults, F. Leron, 2023, PLoS ONE (18), 4, Published
What causes COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy? Ignorance and the lack of bliss in the United Kingdom
Bullock, Josh, Lane, Justin E. and Shults, F. Le Ron, 2022, Palgrave Communications (9), Published
Modelling threat causation for religiosity and Nationalism in Europe
Bullock, Josh, Lane, Justin.E, Mikloušić, Igor and Shults, LeRon, 2020, arXiv, E-pub ahead of print
Reaching for a new sense of connection: soft atheism and 'patch and make do' spirituality amongst nonreligious European millennials
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh, 2020, Culture and Religion (21), 2pp 157-177, Published
La non-religion et l'Europe
Bullock, Josh and Bullivant, Stephen (2025). In: Davie, Grace, Leustean, Lucian, (eds.), Rennes, France:pp 167-186 [Published]
The diversity of nonreligion: meaning-making, activism and towards a theory of nonreligious identity and group formation
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh (2022). In: Zwilling, Anne-Laure, Arsheim, Helge, (eds.), Cham, Switzerland: Springer [Published]
Non-religion and Europe
Bullock, Josh and Bullivant, Stephen (2021). In: Davie, Grace, Leustean, Lucian N., (eds.), Oxford, U.K.:pp 551-567 [Published]
Does true crime content amplify anxiety, fear, and distrust in the criminal justice system?: A randomized experimental study
Zloteanu, Mircea and Bullock, Josh(2025). [Published]
Law, order, and social media: how Twitter/X shapes and amplifies public perceptions of policing
Bullock, Josh and Dodsworth, Francis(2025). [Published]
Pub psychic nights as a Space for New Religiosity?: Exploring experiences of marginal, unlikely and transformative spaces of contemporary spirit communication in Britain
Starkey, Caroline and Bullock, Josh(2025). [Published]
Pub psychic nights as heterotopia: exploring experiences of marginal, unlikely, and transformative spaces in contemporary spirit communication
Bullock, Josh, Powell, Adam and Starkey, Caroline(2024). [Published]
The impact of true crime podcasts and television engagement on anxiety, fear, and perceptions of the English and Welsh criminal justice system
Bullock, Josh and Zloteanu, Mircea(2024). [Published]
Weekday worldviews: the patrons, promise and payoff of psychic nights in England
Starkey, Caroline, Bullock, Josh and Powell, Adam(2024). [Published]
Soft atheism and 'patch and make do' spirituality amongst nonreligious European millennials
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2021). [Published]
The relationships between religiosity, nationalism, and anti-immigrant sentiment? A preliminary simulation
Bullock, Josh(2020). [Published]
'Nones' in the populist public sphere: non-believing and belonging amongst millennials in Poland and Romania
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2019). [Published]
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The sociality of nonreligion in Europe in Europe
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2019). [Published]
Nonreligion and Europe
Bullivant, Stephen and Bullock, Josh(2019). [Published]
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The sociality of nonreligion in Europe
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2019). [Published]
Reaching for a new sense of connection? From Truro to Transylvania
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2018). [Published]
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The diversity of unbelief in Northern and Central Europe: an early analysis
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh(2018). [Published]
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The diversity of unbelief in Northern and Central Europe: an early analysis
Bullock, Josh and Herbert, David(2018). [Published]
Reaching for a new sense of connection? Towards a deeper understanding of the sociality of Generation Y non-believers in Northern and Central Europe
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh(2018). [Published]
Reaching for a new sense of connection? The diversity of unbelief in Northern and Central Europe: an early analysis
Herbert, David and Bullock, Josh(2018). [Published]
Sunday assembly: a 'radically inclusive‘ congregation?
Bullock, Josh(2018). [Published]
Understanding Sunday Assembly rituals through a post-Christian lens
Bullock, Josh(2017). [Published]
Studying the Sunday Assembly through a post-Christian lens
Bullock, Josh(2017). [Published]
Reimagining the secular: the Sunday assembly - belonging without believing
Bullock, Josh(2016). [Published]
The Sunday Assembly: creating community among the nonreligious
Bullock, Josh(2015). [Published]
The sociology of the Sunday assembly: 'belonging without believing' in a post-Christian context
Bullock, Josh (2018), PhD thesis [Accepted/In press]
Gallery of work
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Religious Diversification in Northern Europe Network
Hosted in Bergen 2023
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Presenting research findings in Tartu, Estonia
Annual conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions 2019
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Research in Germany
Leipzig 2018
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Research in Romania
Timisoara Orthodox Cathedral, 2018
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Research in Norway
Kristiansand, 2018
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Research in Poland
Zakopane 2018
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"Spirited Conversations" Leeds (2023).
Spirited Conversations: Wellbeing, Reason and Communication with the Dead Being Human Event in Leeds
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Criminology goes East!
EuroCrim2024 Bucharest
