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Biography I research in the areas of victimology, restorative justice and community safety. I am currently the Chair of an EU-funded COST Action called: Cultures of Victimology: understanding patterns of victimisation across Europe (see: https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA18121/) and I am Principal Investigator of two further projects funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner looking at domestic abuse and violence reduction respectively. I am also the Academic lead of the University's AHRC Impact Accelerator Account.

As well being based in the School of Criminology, Sociology and Policing, I am also Senior Researcher in the Wilberforce Institute (see: https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/research/institutes/wilberforce-institute) which investigates historical and contemporary slavery. I am particularly interested in the victims of modern slavery and how they are identified, protected and supported.

I have received funding from the ESRC, Technology Strategy Board, Horizon Europe, British Academy / Leverhulme, Home Office and the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner.

I have been Head of Social Sciences (2016 -2018), Associate Dean for Research and Enterprise (2018 - 2022) and am the author of the Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education successful Athena Swan Bronze Award (2021 - 2025).
Research Interests My doctoral research critically investigated how different types of community become involved in crime control strategies. Combining social theory, crime prevention, community justice and cultural criminology, my book 'Crime, Community and Morality' (2015) provides a new theory of rule-breaking and an analysis of the risks of involving victims in penal decision-making. My most recent publications are: A New Approach for Researching Victims: The 'Strength-Growth-Resilience' Framework in the British Journal of Criminology available at: https://academic.oup.com/bjc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bjc/azaa093/6130762 and Barlow, Kidd, Green & Darby 'Circles of analysis: a systemic model of child criminal exploitation in the Journal of Children's Services, available at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JCS-04-2021-0016/full/html

My ongoing research interests revolve around the intersection of victimology, community justice, power, agency and exploitation. In particular, I am interested in narrative / cultural victimology and how people construct their self-identity in the aftermath of victimisation. These interests have led me to increasingly research the victims of modern slavery and exploitation; gender-based violence and victim resilience.

Alongside my victimological research, I am heavily involved in developing Knowledge Exchange and am co-lead (with Brennan and Treloar) on the Humberside Police Academic Partnership (H-PAC). In this capacity I am working with colleagues in Computer Science to develop a predictive policing app (iBrief) and VR crime scene and domestic violence de-escalation training scenarios.
Teaching and Learning I am the Programme Director for the Professional Policing Degree.

I have previously been the Programme Director for Undergraduate Criminology, Postgraduate Criminology, Probation Training (Hull lead, Yorkshire and Humberside Probation Training Consortium).

I teach the module 'Victimology, Victims and Witnesses' to second year students on the Professional Policing degree and the module 'Critical Victimology and Contemporary Slavery' on the MA Criminal Justice and Crime Control.

I have extensive experience developing and delivering academic and vocational degrees in criminal justice and significant experience of developing and delivering online distance taught courses in partnership with other universities and training providers. I have previously taught in the areas of: criminological theory, social theory, criminal investigation, crime and politics, victim rights, offenders in the community and restorative justice.

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).
Scopus Author ID 55929098000
PhD Supervision Availability Yes
PhD Topics I am very interested in supervising doctoral students in the areas of: victimology, exploitation, contemporary slavery, reducing re-offending, restorative justice and community justice more generally

Completed PhD students:

Nicola O'Leary, (PhD Criminology) Negotiating Collective Identities: crime, the media and victim communities.

Kathy Kondor (PhD Criminology), Flying the Árpád Flag: The extreme right in Hungary and the revival of the Hungarism movement.

Alicia Kidd (PhD Social Justice), The Dynamics of Contemporary Slavery and Conflict: agency, asylum and accountability.

Craig Barlow (PhD Criminology), Forced Criminal Exploitation of Children: prevention, prosecution and punishment.

Chloe Wilson (PhD Law), Human Trafficking: Identification, Referral and Rehabilitation. ‘Every Victim Matters’.

Loria-Mae Heywood (PhD Law), Forced Criminal Exploitation of Children: a comparative study of Nigeria, Albania and Vietnam.

Charlotte Russell (PhD Criminology) Child trafficking and vulnerability in refugee camps.

Current PhD students:


Bethany Darby (PhD Criminology): County Lines: Protecting Children from Organised Crime Groups.

Isabel Arce Zelada (PhD Criminology) Victim Testimonies: stories, courts and justice.