After earning degrees in sociology and psychology, as a mature student, at Birkbeck College and the University of Leicester, Taylor joined the department of sociology at the University of York, eventually becoming a professor at that institution. He is retired from York.[1]
Taylor is divorced from his third wife (whom he married in December 1988 in Camden), radio producer Cathie Mahoney who works on Loose Ends on BBC Radio 4. He was previously married to journalist Anna Coote, a former deputy editor of the New Statesman, who has also been associated with various public organisations. He is now married to Sally Feldman, journalist and former editor of Radio Four's Woman's Hour and currently a humanistcelebrant.
Taylor has a particular interest in criminology. He was one of the founder members of the National Deviancy Conference.[4] A popular author writing on the media and fame, he has published widely in criminology. Perhaps his best-known early work was the book co-written with Stanley Cohen: Escape Attempts: The Theory and Practice of Resistance to Everyday Life. The book arose from research into the wellbeing of long-term prisoners. He has collaborated with bank robber turned author, John McVicar, on research.[5]
Since 1998, Taylor has regularly presented the discussion programme Thinking Allowed on BBC Radio 4, a series mainly devoted to the social sciences. In addition, he is known for his long-running and mainly humorous column in the Times Higher Education Supplement[8] as well as writing for the New Humanist and being a distinguished supporter of Humanists UK. He is the presenter of In Confidence,[9] a series of one-hour in-depth interviews with public figures.
Taylor, L. 1967. Signs of Trouble: Aspects of Delinquency. BBC.
Taylor, Laurie; Cohen, Stanley (1972), Psychological Survival: the Experience of Long Term Imprisonment, Harmondsworth: Penguin
Taylor, Laurie; Taylor, Ian (1972), Politics And Deviance, Harmondsworth: Penguin
Cohen, S. & Taylor, Laurie (1976), Escape attempts: the theory and practice of resistance in everyday lifeISBN978-0-415-06500-9. New edition Routledge, 1992.
Taylor, L, R Lacey and D Bracken. 1980. In Whose Best Interests?: Unjust Treatment of Children in Courts and Institutions. Civil Liberties Trust.
Taylor, Laurie (1984), In the Underworld, Oxford: Blackwell
Taylor, L and B. Mullan. 1986. Uninvited Guests: Intimate Secrets of Television and Radio. Chatto & Windus.