Skip to main content

EOS is a CIC, run by ex-prisoners, for prison leavers. They provide high quality, long-term support to prison leavers to allow them to re-establish themselves in the community through gaining access to education, training and employment.

The Criminal Justice and Human Rights Centre is a group of researchers, practitioners and community members studying the ‘justice’ in the criminal justice system. The Centre is interested in addressing the multiple challenges facing criminal justice, both nationally and internationally. The Centre takes a strategic focus on penal policy reform, international justice and human rights, and women’s justice.

Rethink Mental Illness is a value based charity, formed over 50 years ago, striving to improve the quality of life for all those severely affected by mental illness. They have 3 key business areas, campaigning, service delivery and advice and information provision.

They currently deliver in the following areas:

The Black Criminology Network (BCN) is an independent Global hub for Criminologists. particularly of Black heritage, to network, learn and achieve. They endeavour to support current and prospective Criminologists, particularly of Black heritage by facilitating monthly networking events, encouraging development, and sharing opportunities. They also consult individuals and organisations on how to support students or peers.

Dr Emma Milne’s research is interdisciplinary, focusing on criminal law and criminal justice responses to infant killing and foetal harm. The wider context of Emma’s work is social controls and regulations of all women, notably in relation to pregnancy, sex, and motherhood.

Dr Mary Fraser is a modern social historian of the police. Her current work considers the extended role of the police, particularly in preventing civil unrest in the First World War. Her primary data sources are occupations journals. aims to produce research that informs policy and practice and advances our understanding of justice.

Madeline is an Associate Professor at the University of Greenwich. Madeline’s research interests are focused on women’s experiences in the justice system and trauma-informed approaches to rehabilitative practice. Madeline is professionally qualified as a Probation Officer and has specialised in working with women on community supervision and in custody. She has previously acted as Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Community Justice/Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) – the qualifying award for trainee Probation Officers.

David Adlington-Rivers is a PhD researcher exploring hope and resilience for people in and released from prison, and the role it plays in crime desistance. David has published a self-help book, Freedom is in the Mind, about the power of hope for people in prison.

Dr Natalie Rutter’s current research work focuses on the stigmatisation of criminalised women, and the role of social media within this. General research interests and focus fall within the areas of desistance, gender, stigmatisation and probation delivery with a focus on narrative, visual and inclusion methodologies.

Sarah Learmonth’s PhD research explores the effectiveness of bail use in rape cases from the perspective of adult female survivors and is an extension of her Masters study on bail use in rape cases.

The methodology includes primary interviews with women survivors and professionals in universities, police, social care, housing, barristers, solicitors and magistrates to explore what influence bail as protection discourse has on their affective evaluation of survivor allegations and claims to protection in the wider safeguarding framework. Survivors’ voices, indeed victims of any offence, have been consistently absent from any government consultations, policy, or legislation reform on bail, so it is in this context she argues the nexus of myth, discourse and affect serve ideological agendas with regard to the use of bail in rape cases, inhibiting knowledge construction in favour of preserving systemic authority.

A key focus of Professor Layla Skinns’ research is police detention, in England and Wales, but also in other parts of the Anglophone world. In this setting, Layla examines police powers and their relationship with the law, police cultures and police discretion, and furthermore, how this impacts on equality and on state-citizen relations. She is also interested in how the public – particularly detainees – perceive the police, which links her research to police legitimacy and ‘good’ policing.

Over the last 15 years she has led research projects funded by the British Academy, the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Economic and Social Research Council. The most recent of these is the ‘good’ police custody study, which sought to ‘robustly’ examine what is meant by ‘good’ police custody and to instigate changes to police custody policies and practices in England and Wales.

Professor Nicholas Hardwick’s research, teaching and practice builds and reflects on his previous roles leading organisations in the CJS. Nicholas’ particular interests are accountability in the criminal justice system, the administration and management of the prison system, and the impact on and implications of digital technologies for justice.

Professor Annison’s interest centre on how political and policy making dynamics relate to penal change. Substantively, his areas of interest mainly include probation and parole.

A main focus of Dr Katie Maras’ research is on autistic people’s experiences within the Criminal Justice System and the adaptations that can be made to accommodate their differences. Katie works with police and other legal professionals to provide evidence-based policy, guidance and training when working with autistic people, and she has particular expertise regarding police interviewing techniques. She is currently extending this work to courtroom questioning in a large ESRC-funded project running 2023-2026.

Professor Roman Gerodimos’ research explores the root causes, manifestations and effects of shame as a driver of violence, subjects explored in Interdisciplinary Applications of Shame/Violence Theory: Breaking the Cycle, a book Roman recently edited. He also designs and delivers shame-awareness workshops and works with diverse community groups – including museums, theatre ensembles, criminal justice stakeholders – to raise awareness of the role of shame across all levels from the individual to the social.

SAMM National provides a wide range of peer support services to people bereaved by murder and manslaughter. All services have been designed by the bereaved for the bereaved to meet a persons’ emotional support needs. Support is delivered by specially trained volunteers with lived experience of homicide.

Dr Ed Johnston is currently researching how the effective use of Pre-Charge Engagement could help reduce the backlog in the criminal courts and provide swifter resolutions for all involved in the criminal justice system.

Danica Darley is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield who, having spent time in prison, has personal experience of the criminal justice system. Danica’s doctoral work examines the experiences of children in care with child criminal exploitation (CCE).  The research hopes to contribute to a greater understanding as to why care-experienced young people can become criminally exploited. The project is co-produced with 3 young people who have experience of the care system and of child criminal exploitation.

AVZ campaigns to end road danger and traffic harm. They lobby for road safety programmes to be based on road danger reduction and thus concerned about the intimidation, emissions and carbon consumption of excessive and inappropriate use of motor vehicles, in addition to road casualties.
Their Roads Policing campaign calls for better use of the limited resources with a focus on tackling offences which pose harm to others, especially those walking and cycling. They monitor the justice system’s response to motoring offences and try to identify what good practice looks like.

Beam is a social enterprise that delivers tailored 1-2-1 support to people in prison or on probation to progress them into secure employment and housing. Beam’s proven model – which combines person-centred 1-2-1 support, the lived experience of their caseworkers, and the power of their innovative technology, has enabled 97% of their service users to maintain desistance. Since their founding in 2017, they have supported over 1,000 people to achieve high-quality employment and housing, despite being out of work for 5 years on average. Their comprehensive in-work and tenancy sustainment support has ensured 86% of their service users sustain employment for over 3 months and 96% sustain tenancies for over 6 months.