Forensic Psychology Research Group

We have a diverse interest in understanding criminal and harmful behaviours and the criminal justice structures that respond to it. Our interests include the examination of particular types of crime or harmful behaviour (interpersonal violence, cybercrime, terrorism, suicide and self-harm, and anti-social behaviour); responses to crime (criminal justice practitioners/contexts, health, general public); and particular populations who perpetrate crime (people with personality disorder, mental illness, and those engaging in harmful sexual behaviours); finally, we are also interested in examining what helps people desist from crime and prevent harmful behaviours occurring in the first place (primary, secondary and tertiary approaches).

Examples of our current research projects include the following:

• Examination of culture and the attitudes towards weapons
• Use of imagery, eye tracking and persuasion
• An evaluation of the effectiveness of the Psychologically Informed Consultation Service within the National Probation Service in Merseyside
• Examination of the relationship between narcissism and offending behaviour in females
• Evaluation of the Merseyside Domestic Abuse Service, Males Actively Seeking Change programme
• Domestic Homicide Review
• Examination of the impact of domestic abuse on suicide risk
• The experience of Intimate Partner Abuse in South Asian communities
• Lay people’s perceptions of suicide risk
• Examination of the structural failings for victims and perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence
• Examining the scale and nature of secondary public health prevention approaches targeting sexual abuse perpetration
• An examination of how Registered Sex Offenders navigate community controls

COVID-19 specific research:

• Culture and Stress
• The relationship between attitudes around COVID-19 and dark personality traits
• The impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on early adolescents’ mental health
• A situation assessment of multi-stakeholder experiences, prison system preparedness and health, penal and judicial measures taken to mitigate COVID-19 in Malawian and Zimbabwean prisons

We collaborate with researchers across LJMU including the Public Health Institute, School of Justice Studies, School of Law, and the Suicide and Self Harm Research Theme. In addition, we have strong collaborative links, both nationally and internationally, with other universities, charities, and industrial partners. These include:

• University of Liverpool
• Opole University, Poland
• University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA
• Fore School of Management, New Delhi, India
• University of Chester
• University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
• Centre for Human Rights Education Advice Assistance, Malawi
• Lancashire University
• Birmingham City University
• NHS
• National Probation Service in Merseyside
• National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA)
• National Crime Agency

All staff contribute to teaching modules on the BSc (Hons) Applied Psychology; Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice; and Policing programmes and some to the MSc Positive Psychology and Wellbeing and MSc Health Psychology.