On the 8-10th November 2023, the Division of Forensic Psychology held their annual conference in Belfast. Some members of the FCRG went along to the conference to present.
On the 8th Nov, Dr Phil Willmot gave a full workshop on “A trauma-informed approach to therapeutic boundaries in forensic settings” to forensic practitioners and researchers.
On the 9th Nov, Rachael Dagnall presented the emerging findings from an ESRC-funded project exploring the experience of those living and working in prison during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Elizabeth Deehan (who recently passed their PhD examination) presented the findings from one of her PhD studies in a talk entitled “How do people who are interested in somnophilia understand and view consent?“
On Oct 11th 2023, Dr Ross Bartels gave an invited talk at the 4th DISPAX World conference on Unruly Airline Passenger Management & Restraint. This two-day conference explored the causes of disruptive behaviour on aircrafts, the responses available, and the legal issues. Speakers and delegates included aircrew, regulatory authorities, industry associations, and law enforcement.
Ross’ talk was entitled “Understanding Frotteurism & Toucherism: Paraphilia in the Aircraft Cabin“, in which he discussed the prevalence of in-flight sexual offences, the potential role of frotteurism and toucherism, the facilitatory factors, and possible prevention methods. The talk was well-received and opened up important lines of conversation afterwards.
On the 5th October, Dr Phil Willmot presented at the BPS Division of Forensic Psychology Scotland on “Trauma-informed Forensic Practice: Challenges and Opportunities”.
On Friday 29th September, Dr Lauren Smith, Dr Niko Kargas, and Rachael Mason (FCRG member from Health and Social Care) delivered a session to the HMPPS Insights Festival on the project (led by Niko Kargas) entitled ‘Meeting the Needs of Autistic Adults and Adults with Learning Disability in Midlands Prisons’.
The session was attended by 80 HMPPS staff, predominantly psychologists.
Also, on Thursday 5th October, Lauren contributed to a session on the HMPPS Insights Festival (led by The Howard League) on crime and gambling harms. She talked about the work developed in HMP Lincoln to address gambling-related harms. The HMP Lincoln ‘whole prison approach’ was developed in response to findings from research by Lauren, as well as by Prof Amanda Roberts
On 30th Aug – 1st Sept 2023, Ross Bartels and Hannah Merdian presented at the 17thIATSO conference in Trondheim (Norway).
Ross presented the findings of a study designed and conducted with Federico Vanni (a previous intern from the University of Padua). The talk was entitled “Do the Sexual Fantasies of Minor-Attracted People Differ Depending on the Target?”.
As an Editor-in-Chief for IATSO’s journal (SOTRAP), Ross also attended the editors meeting at the conference.
Hannah presented a talk showcasing findings from a collaborative project with ‘Stop it Now – Scotland‘. The talk was entitled “Stop It Now! Scotland – Database analysis and development of data quality standards“.
Tochukwu Onwuegbusi (Tochs), Lauren Smith, and Todd Hogue from the FCRG recently attended and presented several papers at the European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL) conference in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (3-8th July, 2023).
Tochs presented some quantitative data of their ARC project
Lauren presented about a project on meeting the needs of autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities in Midlands (UK)
Tochs, Lauren, and Todd gave fascinating on Assisting Rehabilitation through Collaboration: A review
On June June 5th 2023, FCRG member Dr Hannah Merdian presented an invited online talk entitled “OnlinePROTECT – Pathways of Risk and Offender Typologies in the Exploitation of Children via Technologies” to the Medical School Berlin.
The presentation provided an overview of OnlinePROTECT’s research programme, focusing in particular on two current research projects: (1) Circles UK is an international organization providing rehabilitation and rehabilitation services for sex offenders. This offer has now also been extended to online offenders. (2) StopitNow UK provides intervention and prevention work for online offenders, including through an anonymous hotline and therapeutic and psychoeducational offerings.
A successful Pint of Science event recently took place in Lincoln City! The events were hugely popular and all tickets were sold!
One of the speakers was FCRG member Dr Georgina Gous who contributed to the ‘Crime Night’ on 24th May, 2023. Georgina’s talk was entitled “I make my own decisions! When jury biases become a problem“.
Georgina discussed the types of biases that can impact our ability to make fair and impartial decisions in court (for defendants, victims and witnesses), and the new techniques that courts are using to overcome these biases.
At the end of April 2023, FCRG deputy, Dr Lauren Smith, presented at the ‘ECR Addictions’ conference held at Kings College London. Lauren’s paper was entitled ‘Gambling in an English prison: A Whole Prison Response‘.
Lauren also attended the House of Lords following an invite by Lord Goldsmith, KC. This was for the launch of the final report by the Commission for Crime and Gambling Related Harms to which Lauren contributed evidence. The full report can be accessed here.
On 26th April 2023, a fantastic joint conference event between the FCRG and HMPPS North East and Yorkshire Psychology Service entitled “Bridging the Gap” was held at HMP Askham Grange. The event was organised by FCRG member Rachael Dagnall and was attended by the region’s Psychology Senior Management Team and 80 psychology staff, including qualified and trainee Forensic Psychologists.
Todd Hogue, Ross Bartels, Lauren Smith, Phil Willmot, and Michelle Smith facilitated round table discussions during the event to explore future research/practice collaborations. This resulted in some exciting new prospects being suggested for future collaborative ventures. In addition, Ross, Phil, and Michelle undertook collaborative presentations with HMPPS colleagues on their respective research areas. Positive feedback was received and it is hoped that this will become a regular event!
