Prof. Vincent CHENG

Academic Staff

Assistant Professor

鄭誠教授

GH303
+852 2766 4670
vincent-s.cheng@polyu.edu.hk

Biography

Prof. Vincent CHENG earned his PhD in Sociology and Criminology from the University of Hong Kong. His interdisciplinary research and teaching lie at the intersection of sociology, criminology, and ageing studies, with a focus on older women and men’s experiences of crime persistence and desistance, drug use and recovery, and the experiences of people who use drugs in the workplace.

Prof. CHENG has published in international journals such as the International Journal of Drug Policy, Punishment and Society, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, and Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy. He is also the author of two books:

Wasted Lives: The Social Exclusion of Older Triads Who Used Drugs in the Hong Kong Illegal Employment Market
Hypocrisy: The Tales and Realities of Drug Detainees in China

His book Hypocrisy received the 2020 ACS Distinguished Book Award (Honorable Mention) from the Asian Criminology Society.

Education and Academic Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology and Criminology, The University of Hong Kong
Master of Philosophy, The University of Hong Kong
Bachelor of Arts, The University of Hong Kong

Teaching Area

Hong Kong Society

Emerging Issues of Social Policy in Asia

Research Interests

Grants

PI (changed to CO-I after joining PolyU), “Life course trajectories of drug treatment among middle-aged and older people who use heroin in Hong Kong”, funded by the Faculty Development Fund, Research Grant Council (UGC/FDS16/H04/22), HKD 567,543, 01 January, 2023-30 June, 2024

CO-I, “A longitudinal study of the impact of adverse housing conditions on the development of children living in subdivided units in Hong Kong: A mixed-method analysis”, funded by the Research Matching Grant Scheme, Research Grant Council, $1,355,134, 01 January, 2023-31 May, 2025.

PI, “The boomerang effect in anti-drug advertisements in Hong Kong”, Faculty Development Fund, Research Grant Council (UGC/FDS16/H01/19), HKD 502,075, 01 January, 2021-31 March, 2023.

PI, “The social exclusion of older drug users in Hong Kong”, funded by the Katie Shu Sui Pui Charitable Trust Research and Publication Fund (Applied Research) (KS 2020/01), HKD 99,932, 01 April, 2020-31 March, 2021.

PI, “Nerd and Snitch: A Case Study of Prison Culture in Chinese Drug Detention Centres”, funded by OUHK R&D Funding (2017/1.1), HKD 99,892 1 February, 2018 – 31 July, 2019.