Dr Lauren Smith and Rachael Mason, along with Roger Bretherton and Karen Harrison have had an external report published online (11th March). The report is entitled Review of the Spark Inside Coaching Programme for Prison Staff. The news article and access to the report can be found here.
The team also took part in a knowledge exchange event about the evaluation findings with Spark Inside, HM Prison and Probation Service, and the Ministry of Justice. It is hoped the work will lead to further evaluation work of other Spark Inside programmes and to increased funding and opportunity for Spark Inside within prisons.
FCRG members, Dr Lauren Smith and Rachael Mason, along with Dr Niko Kargas, facilitated two knowledge exchange workshops – one for staff and one for prisoners – at HMP North Sea Camp on Friday 1st March 2024.
The workshops were based on their previous NHSE commissioned work entitled ‘Meeting the needs of autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities in Midlands prisons’, which aims to develop impact within the prison. They have been invited back to do another workshop, specifically for healthcare staff at North Sea Camp! Well done team!
Dr Matthew King-Parker (along with Dr Ross Bartels, Dr Tochs Onwuegbusi, and Dr Patrick Dickinson) has published an multi-study article examining the burglary scripts in a sample of community-based participants. Study 1 (N = 113) reports the development of a a Burglary Script Assessment. Many participants, despite having never committed a burglary, were found to hold a burglary script containing expert-like knowledge. Also, greater script detail was associated with a proclivity to enact the script. Study 2 (N = 44) examined whether scripts based on four different motivations correlated with a relevant construct. It was found that burglary scripts motivated by desperation and thrill were correlated with burglary distortions and sensation-seeking, respectively. Finally, Study 3 (N = 146) found that engaging in mental imagery about a burglary increased script detail, relative to a no imagery group. These results offer new insights into burglary scripts, providing implications for understanding the risk of committing burglary.
King-Parker, M. T., Bartels, R. M., Onwuegbusi, T., & Dickinson, P. (2024). Examining Burglary Scripts in Community-Based Samples. Deviant Behavior, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2024.2315109
Dr Lauren Smith and Prof Todd Hogue (along with Anthony Ellis in the School of Social and Political Sciences) have been awarded £800 from the Policy Hub Fund to recruit a student to analyse data on behalf of Lincolnshire Police on their Police Education Scheme. The findings will be used to inform a larger scale bid.
Lauren Smith and Rachael Mason from the FCRG, along with Amanda Robert, Jim Rogers, and Thomas George have been awarded £15,000 to conduct an evaluation of Substance Misuse and Housing Grants on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council.
Prof Todd Hogue (colleague Daniel Mills from School of Life Sciences) received an Innovation Voucher award of £8,245.44 to work with the RSPCA to develop a bite risk triage tool for use by RSPCA Welfare Officers.
Todd also received a Research Impact Support Fund award of £3,376.40, for HDA-25 Application to Dog Bite Fatalities to work with PhD Candidate Helen Howell and Prof Daniel Mills to better understand the causes of UK dog bite fatalities
Rachael Dagnall has been successful in receiving funding to undertake a research project evaluating the effectiveness of the Changing Futures project (Sheffield). Changing Futures aims to support people who have been identified as experiencing multiple disadvantages. The programme seeks to engage and work with the most excluded adults and is specifically designed for individuals who have previously experienced challenges engaging with existing support services.
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?“
Prof Todd Hogue and Dr Lauren Smith have had an article published with a previous MSc Forensic Psychology student (Niamh Reeson) that reports qualitative findings from a study examining the perceptions of effectiveness in those working within ARC (Assisting Rehabilitation through Collaboration) in Lincolnshire. From interview data, six key themes were generated relating to the perceived effectiveness of ARC; the ARC Cohort; ARC staff; barriers; outcomes; partnerships; and the wider policing staff.
Reeson, N., Smith, L., & Hogue, T. E. (2023). A Thematic Analysis of the Effectiveness of The Assisting Rehabilitation through Collaboration (ARC) Programme. The Police Journal, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X231211478.
