Dr Grace Low

PhD

Lecturer in Criminology

School of Social Sciences

Role

Dr Low is a lecturer in Criminology, in the School of Law and Social Sciences. She completed her PhD at the University of Auckland in 2023.

Teaching and supervision

Courses

Criminology (BSc (Hons))

Modules taught

Understanding Crime and Society
The Prison and Imprisonment
Criminology Skills
Creating Criminology
Criminology Dissertation

Research

Dr Low’s research interests include women's desistance from crime with a particular focus on motherhood, social relationships, and housing. Her recently completed doctoral research explored the desistance journeys of 15 women with histories of imprisonment in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Centres and institutes

Centre for Legal, Criminological and Social Justice Research

Groups

Publications

Mills A, Low G, Lindsay Latimer C, "Set up to fail": The "pains" of post-prison transitional housing as a barrier to desistance from crime
The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice [online first] (2026) ISSN: 2059-1098 eISSN: 2059-1101 "Set up to fail": The "pains" of post-prison transitional housing as a barrier to desistance from crime Open Access version on RADAR
Low G, Expanding The Lens: Developments and Theoretical Limits in Desistance Research
Deviant Behavior [online first] (2025) ISSN: 0163-9625 eISSN: 1521-0456 Expanding The Lens: Developments and Theoretical Limits in Desistance Research Open Access version on RADAR
Mills A, Low G, Lindsay Latimer C, Barriers and Limitations of Employment in Desistance: Exploring the Experiences of Men Leaving Prison in Aotearoa New Zealand
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 70 (1) (2025) pp.104-124 ISSN: 0306-624X eISSN: 1552-6933 Barriers and Limitations of Employment in Desistance: Exploring the Experiences of Men Leaving Prison in Aotearoa New Zealand Open Access version on RADAR
Low G, Mills A, ‘A Safe Place to be Happy and Content’: Housing and ‘Home’ in Women’s Desistance
Feminist Criminology 20 (1) (2024) pp.24-46 ISSN: 1557-0851 eISSN: 1557-086X ‘A Safe Place to be Happy and Content’: Housing and ‘Home’ in Women’s Desistance Open Access version on RADAR
Low G, “I feel like I’ve come so far with my family”: Families of origin in women’s desistance in Aotearoa New Zealand
Women and Criminal Justice 35 (6) (2024) pp.444-462 ISSN: 0897-4454 eISSN: 1541-0323 “I feel like I’ve come so far with my family”: Families of origin in women’s desistance in Aotearoa New Zealand Open Access version on RADAR
Low G, Lindsay Latimer C, Mills A, Stable housing, "home" and desistance: Views from Aotearoa New Zealand
Criminology & Criminal Justice 25 (5) (2023) pp.1629-1649 ISSN: 1748-8958 eISSN: 1748-8966 Stable housing, "home" and desistance: Views from Aotearoa New Zealand Open Access version on RADAR
Low G, Working Through Desistance: Employment in Women’s Identity and Relational Desistance
The British Journal of Criminology: An International Review of Crime and Society 64 (2023) pp.846-862 ISSN: 0007-0955 eISSN: 1464-3529 Working Through Desistance: Employment in Women’s Identity and Relational Desistance Open Access version on RADAR
Low G, “Go and Look in the Mirror and Make a Change, Mum”: Motherhood and Identity Change in Women’s Desistance in New Zealand
Women and Criminal Justice 33 (5) (2022) pp.325-348 ISSN: 0897-4454 eISSN: 1541-0323

Low G, Women's Desistance in a Colonial Context: Lived Experiences from Aotearoa New Zealand ,
Routledge (2025) ISBN: 9781003494607 eISBN: 9781003494607

Low, G. 2022. ‘Go and Look in the Mirror and Make a Change, Mum’: Motherhood and Identity Change in Women’s Desistance in New Zealand. Women & Criminal Justice, DOI: 10.1080/08974454.2022.2074613