Lorraine Gamman

Lorraine Patricia Gamman (1957) is Professor of Design at the Design Against Crime Research Centre at Central Saint Martins in the University of the Arts, London.

Her taking of the oral history of professional criminal Shirley Pitts as part of her PhD kindled her interest in oral history (and narrative criminology) as a form and led to her to deliver the biography Gone shopping: The story of Shirley Pitts, Queen of thieves. as well as engage with crime in the design process. In 2012, the production company Tiger Aspect bought an option to acquire the television and film rights to the book.

In 1999 Gamman founded the Design Against Crime Research Centre which has led a socially responsive design focus at Central Saint Martins and won numerous awards. She has worked, since 2002, in partnership with the designer and researcher, Professor Adam Thorpe, who co-founded Vexed Generation, involving students and staff in research projects that address crime and other social problems through design. Also since 2012, linked to involvement with the DESIS network (founded by Ezio Manzini) Gamman has engaged with participatory design projects, including those working with inmates in prison. All this work has attracted significant funding from external research funding councils. Some of the action design research projects Gamman has either led or co collaborated on can be viewed here:

www.makeright.org; www.bikeoff.org; www.grippaclip.com; www.inthebag.org.uk; www.designagainstcrime.com;

Selected publications

• The female gaze. The Women's Press, 1988. (With Margaret Marshment) ISBN 0704341093
• Female fetishism: A new look. Lawrence & Wishart, 1994. (With Merja Makinen) ISBN 0853157553
• Gone shopping: The story of Shirley Pitts, Queen of thieves. Signet/Penguin, 1996. ISBN 0451182588 (2nd edition 2012)
• Tricky design: The ethics of things. 2017. (Joint editor with Tom Fisher) ISBN 978-1474277181