School of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy

Research

Working closely with communities, partners, and stakeholders, we conduct methodologically diverse and innovative research that transforms theory, policy, and practice at local, national, and global levels. 

Our research addresses two broad themes:

Inclusive and secure societies

Working with individuals, communities and institutions, our research strives to build a society that is safe, secure, and underpinned by the principles of equality and social justice.

Beyond the gaze: working practices, safety and regulation of internet-based sex workers in the UK

Professor Teela Sanders and Dr Rosie Campbell have been funded by the ESRC to investigate how digital technologies have affected the sex industry using a participatory research methods approach which locates sex workers at the centre of the work.

We have produced the largest datasets of online sex workers and their customers in Europe, if not beyond, to expand our understanding of how the sex industry has changed and now operates. We have interviewed 55 police across 16 police forces and have some clear recommendations regarding policy and practice as police and others try to react to a fast changing industry. The project has produced safety resources for the sex work community, and good practice guidelines for health practitioners based on a collective consortium of practitioners and sex workers.

Learn more about the project or download the 5 briefings

This study will lead to the development of an outreach information service for sex workers via the internet and a Netreach toolkit for good practice guidance on models of internet outreach and working with internet-based sex workers.

Criminal justice demands

Tammy Ayres and Matt Hopkins, School of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy. Time frame: 2 years over contract.

The Home Office commissioned an REA to synthesize evidence on the relationship between demand and decisions on resource allocation within agencies of the CJS, and how this affects volume and progression of cases. There remains a lack of understanding around how changes to criminal justice demand, policy, practice, and resources impact on case progression, charge volumes, criminal justice outcomes and criminal justice capacity (such as courts and prisons). This presents significant challenges to the criminal justice system (CJS), the agencies that comprise it and its administration of justice. As this was such a huge undertaking, the overarching aim of the REA was narrowed down to synthesize research evidence on how specific innovations within the police influence CJS outcomes with a focus on two areas – trace DNA and Body Worn Cameras (BWCs). These two areas were selected as the research was primarily interested in upstream (i.e., police-led or police focused) changes and how they impact on CJS outcomes downstream (i.e., an increase in charges, convictions or prison places), and will constitute the final report.

East Midlands Forensics Network

East Midlands Forensic Network logoThe East Midlands Forensics Network (EMFN) is a collection of practitioners, academics, researchers and service providers from across the East Midlands region who work in partnership to champion meaningful, sector leading research and knowledge development across various areas of forensic science and practice. The EMFN draws together experience, knowledge and expertise to identify areas in need of development within forensic science practice and research, and proactively works to address this.

Learn more about the East Midlands Forensic Network

Enhancing the detection and prosecution of prolific serial offenders through crime linkage

Led by Professor Matt Tonkin, this programme of research focuses on supporting law enforcement agencies globally to identify, catch and convict those prolific serial offenders who impose the greatest harm on society. Specifically, the research supports law enforcement agencies to develop more effective methods of behavioural crime linkage, which is a crucial component in the effective investigation of serial offenders.

Behavioural crime linkage involves the detailed analysis of where, when and how crimes are committed to identify groups of offences that are similar to each other and distinct from other offences, which suggests they might be committed by the same individual.

Professor Tonkin has worked in collaboration with academics, police forces and law enforcement agencies in five continents to develop statistical methods that can support behavioural crime linkage with a range of crime types, including burglary, robbery, sexual offences, and vehicle crime.

This research has changed policy, practice, and the law in the UK, New Zealand, Belgium, and Sweden. The research has enhanced crime linkage practice at multiple stages, from data collection and storage to the application of crime linkage techniques during ongoing police investigations, resulting in 50+ convictions for serial rapists and burglars and the recovery of $20,000 in stolen property.

His research has been funded by a wide range of agencies, including UKRI, central Government, law enforcement agencies, British Academy, and Leverhulme Trust, and has made important contributions to new knowledge via publications in a range of leading academic journals (e.g., Journal of Criminal Justice; Legal and Criminological Psychology; Forensic Science International).

Global Justice and Forensic Science

Lisa Smith and two Men in a lab looking at a computer screenThe Global Justice and Forensic Science programme of research focuses on addressing sexual and gender-based violence in low resource settings. The current project is piloting the use of innovative self-examination DNA kits in Kenya. The kit allows survivors of sexual violence to collect quality forensic evidence under supervision, to provide a pathway to access to justice, to assist investigations and prosecutions of perpetrator/s. The project has been sustainably developed to ensure long-term integration of the kits into the justice system while building capacity and understanding through training programmes with healthcare workers, police, and the Kenya Survivors of Sexual Violence Network.

Gender inequality continues to be one of the world’s most enduring violations of human rights, and sexual and gender-based violence is one of the most damaging manifestations of gender inequality. It is globally recognised that there is a need for accountability for perpetrator/s, better access to justice and to end the current culture of impunity. In low resource settings it is made more difficult to investigate these crimes due to complex social, regulatory and political reasons.  These include barriers such as the lack of availability of medical facilities and trained practitioners, as well as cultural norms and safety concerns that deter victims from seeking invasive medical examinations. The lack of high-quality forensic evidence, particularly DNA, contributes to continued cycles of violence in some regions in a number of ways.

This interdisciplinary team includes researchers and experts from the School of Criminology, the Department of Genetics, Genomics and Cancer Sciences, Kenyatta University, and the Wangu Kanja Foundation. Since 2015 the project team has received funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund, the Humanitarian Innovation Fund, the Ring for Peace Foundation, and the University of Leicester Impact Fund. 

In 2018 the project was awarded the Times Higher Education Awards ‘Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences’.

Publications and outputs

Resources

Media

Project members

Find us on campus

Qualitative and quantitative research into the motivations of offenders who carry and use acid and other corrosives in violent attacks and other criminal acts

Matt Hopkins has been involved in body of work over several years on acid attacks and corrosive substance crime. This has included work Commissioned by the Home Office exploring the motivations of offenders who use corrosive substances (such as acid) in violent and other criminal acts (with Professor Teela Sanders and Dr Lucy Neville). He has also been involved in work exploring the use of various forms of education targeted towards potential carriers of corrosive substances (with Acid Survivors Trust International) and work looking at the impact of attacks on survivors). Matt has also made regular appearances in national media on the subject.

Key publications

Sex workers in crisis

The COVID-19 outbreak and the policies put into place to manage the disease are creating severe, life-threatening challenges to marginalised communities around the world. Teela Sanders, Professor in Criminology, is exploring the impact of both the virus and its management on female sex workers in Kenya. This research is supported by a grant through the University’s QR Global Challenges Research Fund allocation (Research England).

Through Professor Sanders’ Nairobi-based partner organisation, the Bar Hostesses Empowerment and Support Project (BHESP), it has come to light that many of the Kenyan government’s restrictions designed to contain the outbreak are creating conditions that are adversely affecting the sex worker community. These measures include a night curfew, closure of all public spaces including bars and clubs, universities and shops. Health facilities have been drastically reduced and transport prices have been increased dramatically, reducing access to essential services. These changes, which were introduced without notice, has had an immediate and intense impact on sex workers which has led to greater exposure to danger and risk.

Professor Sanders is working to document and understand these changes as well as developing a practical tool for sex workers in Nairobi to deliver health care during the movement restrictions. Her project, which is supported by a grant through the University's QR Global Challenges Research Fund allocation through Research England, will record sex workers’ experiences, document local practitioners’ attempts to deliver services and will collate strategic policy responses.

Women stood around a motor bike Professor Sanders’ project will support the Bar Hostesses Empowerment and Support Project through the development of new policies, practices and service provision. She hopes to enable services to be delivered to sex workers in new and enhanced technological ways to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions whilst still providing a direct service. 

The project outcomes have included funding a motorbike scheme and training peers to be drivers, delivering crucial supplies to sex workers across the city. This has been an essential lifeline during curfews and mobility restrictions imposed by the government.

Student Sex Work

Developing good practice within Higher Education: Student sex work, safety and inclusion

Teela Sanders supported by researchers Gaynor Trueman and Jessica Hyer, will carry out a programme of outreach to Higher Education institutions, as well as relevant HE organisations with responsibility for welfare, student experience and inclusion.

Background to the work at Leicester

In November 2019, the University and Students’ Union ran a joint campaign around supporting student sex workers. The focus of this campaign was to provide information and an education for those who attended events and other sessions, and to vitally highlight support options available. 

After this Teela, along with Student Union staff, initiated a working group at the University of Leicester headed up through the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion department, which is working on a University policy on student sex work inclusivity. Teela was able to consult with national stakeholders including those with lived experience, practitioners, academics and activists for comments. We also were able to engage School’s where fitness to practice was a complication, particularly where there are external professional bodies in Education, Medicine and School of Healthcare.

The University of Leicester is the first university to have a dedicated policy for student sex workers. 

Key priorities from this programme of work

  1. To engage with high level decision making organisations in Higher Education namely
    • Office for Students
    • AdvanceHE
    • National Union of Students, to achieve policy change around student inclusion in HEIs.
  2. To complete a programme of outreach to a range of HEIS to showcase the Leicester package of policy and toolkits
  3. To enhance the student sex work network in the UK and build greater mass inter terms of individuals across different audiences involved. 

Who are the beneficiaries?

  1. University staff and in particular welfare and pastoral staff
  2. Student Unions and National Union of Students 
  3. Students involved in sex work. 
  4. Scholars working in the area
  5. Health Practitioners developing services for students in their area 

Key findings across these studies

  1. There is a likelihood that students entering sex work is increasing in number because of digital markets;
  2. That students are moving into online environments such as webcamming which are very isolating;
  3. Disclosures of sex working often happens in university settings where sexual violence is being reported;
  4. There are major concerns amongst students about being ‘outed’ and disciplined by universities and professional bodies leading to termination of their studies, having major effects on career, debt, privacy and mental health;
  5. The stigma still associated with sex work for all gender identities is a barrier to seeking help, reporting crimes (particularly sexual violence) and receiving support services. Recently there have been more information about the growth in students engaging in sex work, with medical students being particularly vulnerable to this because of their increase debts and time studying.

Research findings

Films and documentaries

Media accounts

Toolkits and resources

Collaborators

Healthy, resilient and sustainable futures

Our research is building new understandings of how individuals, communities, and societies are affected by and respond to change, and how we can ensure a more healthy, resilient, and sustainable world in the face of such change.

Covid in Cartoons

Nicolas Vadot of Belgium Cartooning for PeaceThe Covid in Cartoons projects worked with young people, political cartoons and cartoonists in the UK, South Africa, Kenya and Côte d'Ivoire to foster processes of meaning-making in relation to the pandemic and peace-making.

Learn more about the Covid in Cartoons project

DREAMS

DREAMS: Improving the identification of and responses to domestic abuseDetecting and Responding Effectively to domestic Abuse in Mental health Settings (DREAMS): Improving service provision for domestic abuse survivors

Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (grant number: NIHR204884), DREAMS is a collaboration between the University of Leicester and Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT). Led by Dr Kate Walker (NHFT) with collaboration from Dr Emma Sleath (University of Leicester), DREAMS seeks to address three main research questions:

  • What knowledge, attitudes, and understanding do professionals have about identifying and responding to domestic abuse in mental health settings? 
  • What are the experiences of professionals and service users including the barriers, facilitators, and harms to identification of and responding to domestic abuse in mental health settings? 
  • What are the key components of a domestic abuse identification and response framework for use in mental health settings? 

This project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit programme (Grant Reference Number NIHR204884]. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Lived experience involvement

We strongly believe in the importance of including individuals with lived domestic abuse and mental health experience in this project, to have a ‘lay’ voice throughout the project and increase the value, integrity and quality of the research. Therefore, in initially developing our ideas about this research project, we spoke to a number of survivors who helped us shape our research. Ultimately, this strengthened the research bid and we are very thankful for their input.

We believe that it is important to amplify the voices of survivors and as such, we have involved a number of previous survivors as ‘experts by experience’ to support the delivery of this project. Our lived experience group will provide their input across the project, advising on what’s important to service-users, helping in the development of project service-user facing materials, data analysis, synthesis and framework development, report writing (for service-users/lay person), and dissemination.

In short, we believe it is important that our lived experience group are integrated into the central working of the project, so that we can shape our research in a way that is survivor-focussed and co-produced with survivors. As we develop our project, we will share testimonials from our lived experience group about their involvement with the project.

Project summary

Last year, over 2 million people in England and Wales are estimated to have experienced domestic abuse. This includes physical (e.g., hitting), verbal (e.g., insults) and controlling behaviours (e.g., isolating someone from their family). Domestic abuse costs health services £2.3 billion each year. Domestic abuse has destructive consequences on survivors’ lives, with effects rippling across families and subsequent generations [Shields et al., 2020]. Long-term physical and mental health issues are experienced by domestic abuse survivors [Loxton, Dolja-Gore, Anderson, and Townsend, 2017], with victimisation associated with depression, anxiety, psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and serious mental illness [Chandan et al., 2020], post-traumatic stress disorder [Jones, Hughes, and Unterstaller, 2001], and eating disorders [Bundock et al., 2013]. Domestic abuse also affects families, and particularly children. Children exposed to domestic abuse have a higher risk of behavioural, emotional, social, and cognitive difficulties [Holmes et al., 2022]. Domestic abuse victimisation reinforces health inequalities as intersections with deprivation and culture can increase the risk of experiencing domestic abuse and/or barriers to seeking support [Lacey, Jiwatram-Negron, and Powell Sears, 2020]. Domestic abuse reduces economic participation, social well-being, and health outcomes for under-served communities and contributes to increasing inequalities [Bellis, Hughes, Perkins, and Bennett, 2012].

Stopping domestic abuse is challenging, with contradictory research evidence on how to achieve this, particularly in relation to domestic abuse identification and screening. The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) (2019) review identified large gaps in understanding effective ways to ask patients about domestic abuse (screening), emphasising screening should not be standalone, but integrated into an effective referral intervention pathway. UK guidelines (NICE) are clear in advising healthcare professionals that they should screen for domestic abuse [Nice, 2013; WHO, 2014]. However, healthcare professionals rarely ask about domestic abuse and often fail to identify victimisation [Correa, Cain, Bertenthal, and Lopez, 2020]. Professionals do not feel competent or confident responding to domestic abuse [Rose et al., 2011]; are incapable and uncomfortable discussing DA [Taylor, Bradbury-Jones, Kroll, and Duncan, 2013]; lack knowledge regarding responding to victims [Rose et al., 2011]; receive little training on how to respond to domestic abuse [Rimmer, 2017, Waldersee, 2019]; and do not see it as a requirement for their role [Waldersee, 2019].

Survivors are frequent users of mental healthcare services; however, their victimisation often remains hidden because they struggle to tell others about their abuse. Waldersee (2019) found that only 7% of referrals to Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) are made through health services, despite 72% of victims working with an IDVA reporting they accessed health services because of their abuse. In short, mental healthcare professionals’ hesitancy and reluctance to ask, alongside their inability to recognise signs of domestic abuse, results in inadequate care of survivors [Bradbury-Jones and Broadhurst, 2015].

Given the strong association between domestic abuse and mental health, this represents a key setting where intervention can occur and is the main focus of this research. Therefore, this project will build new knowledge about screening, examining the day-to-day practice of mental healthcare professionals, alongside patients’ experiences. We will co-develop a new identification and response framework for domestic abuse survivors, identifying how to embed this into practice, ultimately improving patient care and outcomes.

  • Work phase 1 (December 2023 to April 2024): We will give mental healthcare professionals in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire a questionnaire about their knowledge/attitudes, how able they are to identify and respond to domestic abuse, what (if anything) they currently do to uncover victimisation and help patients access further support. We will recruit different professionals from different mental health services, who work with diverse groups of patients, some of whom might experience health inequalities (related to mental health, domestic abuse, and health generally) so we understand specific issues that affect these groups.
  • Work phase 2 (August 2024 to December 2024): Interviews with professionals and patients/service users (either individually or in groups) will increase our understanding of current practice and what helps or hinders in identifying domestic abuse and supporting victims. We will explore gaps in what is currently provided in existing mental health services.
  • Work phase 3 (December 2024 to February 2025): Working with professionals and service users, we will combine our findings to develop this new way of identifying and responding to domestic abuse for professionals to use in mental health services. We will test how effective this is in a future research project.

Impact and dissemination (project end May 2025): Our new way of identifying and responding to partner violence, including how professionals need to be trained, and how to help IPV victims will be a key output. This will be shared with professionals and patients/the public, through journal articles, reports, and summaries of findings. A video for practitioners, coproduced with our PPI members, will explain best practice in identifying domestic abuse and enabling patients to seek help.

References

  • Bellis, M. A., Hughes, K., Perkins, C. and Bennett, A. (2012). Protecting people promoting health. A public health approach to violence prevention for England
  • Bradbury-Jones, C., and Broadhurst, K. (2015). Are we failing to prepare nursing and midwifery students to deal with domestic abuse? findings from a qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 71(9), 2062-2072.
  • Bundock, L., Howard, L. M., Trevillion, K., Malcolm, E., Feder, G., and Oram, S. (2013). Prevalence and risk of experiences of intimate partner violence among people with eating disorders: A systematic review. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47(9), 1134-1142.
  • Chandan, J. S., Thomas, T., Bradbury-Jones, C., Russell, R., Bandyopadhyay, S., Nirantharakumar, K., and Taylor, J. (2020). Female survivors of intimate partner violence and risk of depression, anxiety and serious mental illness. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 217, 562-567.
  • Correa, N. P., Cain, C. M., Bertenthal, M., and Lopez, K. K. (2020). Women's experiences of being screened for intimate partner violence in the health care setting. Nursing for Women's Health, 24(3), 185-196.
  • Holmes, M. R., Berg, K. A., Bender, A. E., Evans, K. E., O’Donnell, K., and Miller, E. K. (2022). Nearly 50 years of Child exposure to Intimate partner violence empirical research: Evidence mapping, overarching themes, and Future directions. Journal of Family Violence, 37, 1207–1219.
  • Jones, L., Hughes, M., and Unterstaller, U. (2001). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in victims of domestic violence: A review of the research. Trauma Violence and Abuse, 2(2), 99-119.
  • Lacey, K. K., Jiwatram-Negron, T., and Powell Sears, K. (2020). Help-seeking behaviors and barriers among black women exposed to severe intimate partner violence: Findings from a nationally representative sample. Violence Against Women, 27(4), 1-21.
  • Loxton, D., Dolja-Gore, X., Anderson, A. E., and Townsend, N. (2017). Intimate partner violence adversely impacts health over 16 years and across generations: A longitudinal cohort study. PLoS One, 12(6), e0178138.
  • NICE. (2014). Domestic violence and abuse: How health services, social care and the organisations they work with can respond effectively.
  • Rimmer, A. (2017). Domestic violence is poorly covered in medical training, study finds. British Medical Journal, 359, j4646.
  • Rose, D., Trevillion, K., Woodall, A., Morgan, C., Feder, G., and Howard, L. (2011). Barriers and facilitators of disclosures of domestic violence by mental health service users: Qualitative study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 198(3), 189-194.
  • Shields, M., Tonmyr, L., Hovdestad, W. E., Gonzalez, A., and MacMillan, H. (2020). Exposure to family violence from childhood to adulthood. BMC Public Health, 20(1637).
  • Taylor, J., Bradbury-Jones, C., Kroll, T., and Duncan, F. (2013). Health professionals’ beliefs about domestic abuse and the issue of disclosure: A critical incident technique study. Health and Social Care in the Community, 21(5), 489-499.
  • UK National Screening Committee. (2019). Screening for partner violence external review against programme appraisal criteria for the UK national screening committee. 
  • Waldersee, V. (2019). Half of UK healthcare professionals ‘untrained’ to spot domestic abuse. 
  • World Health Organisation. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non- partner sexual violence. Geneva: WHO.

Project team

  • Dr Kate Walker: Project lead and leading work phases 2 and 3 of the project
  • Dr Emma Sleath: Co-lead of the project and leading work phase 1 of the project, alongside supporting the engagement of the lived experience group
  • Mrs Christine Edwards: Co-investigator on the project and providing practitioner input across the project
  • Ms Elena Symeou: Co-investigator on the project and supporting the project through experience of supporting survivors of domestic abuse
  • Ms Ema Baukaite: Research Assistant and supporting the project across its work phases

Evaluation of RECONNECT services for adult prison-leavers

Prison populations have higher rates of health problems than non-prison populations, which are exacerbated by low rates of engagement with community-based healthcare services after release. This poses considerable health risks for prison-leavers, whilst limiting successful rehabilitation and re-entry into society. The RECONNECT service was developed to increase prison-leavers’ access to, and uptake of, healthcare and other relevant services in the community, with this anticipated to have significant benefits for individual prison-leavers and wider society in terms of reduced reoffending and reduced long-term burden on the NHS.

The RECONNECT service has yet to be evaluated, however, and it is important that it is:

  • (i) to ensure that public spending on this programme is justified, and
  • (ii) to identify how prison-leavers can be best supported in their transition from prison to the community.

Funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), Professor Matt Tonkin, Dr Emma Palmer and Dr Ruth Hatcher are leading a national evaluation of the RECONNECT service. Using a range of methods (interviews, surveys, and statistical analysis of administrative data), this project is examining how RECONNECT services are being delivered to see what works well and what doesn’t. The findings will inform the future development and implementation of the RECONNECT service.

The evaluation started in April 2023 and is due for completion in December 2024.

From cross sectional multi level modelling to longitudinal analysis

Image - Green & Purple art imageProject funded by The British Academy

Investigators: David Bartram (PI), Patrick White

Our core idea for this project pertains to research questions asking about the impact of a country-level variable on some sort of individual level outcome. For example: what is the relationship between inequality and status anxiety?  For questions with that structure, most researchers use multi-level modelling. A longitudinal analysis seems impossible because there are no individual-level panel data covering a wide range of countries (panel datasets are almost always national entities). 

What we typically get, then, is a cross-sectional analysis. Most researchers understand that the results then give us an ‘association’ that can’t be interpreted in causal terms (though sometimes an implication along these lines is evident).

Our core claim is that the obstacle to a longitudinal analysis isn’t lack of data – instead, the obstacle is likely found in implicit assumptions about the control variables ostensibly needed for the models. In most instances, it is almost certainly unnecessary to include individual-level controls – because individual-level factors are very unlikely to influence the country-level variable whose impact we are investigating. These individual-level variables do not fit a clear criterion for selection of controls (in particular, control for antecedents of the focal independent variable).

If we are confident about that view, then a longitudinal approach becomes feasible. For the dependent variable (e.g. status anxiety), we can take data from repeated cross-sectional surveys (e.g. the European Quality of Life Survey) and calculate country-level averages – creating a country-level panel. We can then take time-corresponding measures of inequality (plus any needed country-level controls). 

This data structure facilitates a ‘within’ analysis (aka ‘fixed effects’), showing how changes in inequality are (perhaps) followed by changes in status anxiety. This analytical form would be more effective in mitigating against omitted variable bias (for time-constant country-level factors). A causal interpretation is then more reasonable.

The project, carried out in 2022, involved two core components.

  1. A research assistant, Sadie Chana, reviewed a large number of ‘in-scope’ studies (i.e., addressing research questions having the indicated structure). The RA paid particular attention to methods sections, to identify the justifications given (or indeed absent) for key analytical decisions.
  2. A workshop inviting researchers to Leicester to explore our perspective and approach.

The project has produced the following outputs:

  1. A report: Download PDF of the report (PDF, 191kb) evaluating existing research using the analytical perspective we developed for the project
  2. A draft manuscript identifying ways the perspective might be adopted in quantitative methods courses
  3. A recording of a talk given by David Bartram to the Centre for Multilevel Modeling at the University of Bristol

Additional materials already published include the following journal articles:

  • Bartram, D., & Jarochova, E. (2022). A longitudinal investigation of integration/multiculturalism policies and attitudes towards immigrants in European countries. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(1), 153–172. DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2021.1922273
  • Bartram, D. (2022). Does inequality exacerbate status anxiety among higher earners? A longitudinal evaluation. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 63(4), 184–200. DOI:10.1177/00207152221094815

Multidisciplinary Evaluation of Sexual Assault Referral Centres for Better Health (MESARCH)

As part of the Multidisciplinary Evaluation of Sexual Assault Referral Centres for Better Health (MESARCH) Dr Emma Sleath is leading a work package comprising a national mapping of SARCS and in-depth case analyses about the work that SARCs do, experiences of staff and other stakeholders, and the role of SARCs in with the wider context of the community response to sexual violence.

This work stream is concerned with different models of service delivery and the range of interventions offered across SARC settings in England. This work involves interviewing individuals who work in the inward (e.g., police) and onward (third sector) referral routes into and out of SARCs, as well as interviewing SARC workers and survivors who have used SARC services. The evidence drawn from this work will seek to understand whether there is an optimum model of the way in which a SARC can work in providing a response to sexual violence.

An infographic was developed with the aim of raising the visibility of sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) in England, and for it to be useful to a whole range of individuals who work in settings where survivors may seek help or healthcare. This infographic derives from data that we gathered directly from SARC managers, in coordination with the MIMOS project, and also from our analysis of NHS England and NHS Improvement data. We know, from our participants in the MESARCH cohort study, just how valuable it is for providers to know what to do and who to contact at the point of disclosure, so please use this infographic to learn more about SARCs and how they can help.

To find out more check out the SARC provision in England infographic launch hosted by Dr Emma Sleath (University of Leicester) entitled "The Impact of Covid-19 on staff and services in the sexual violence and abuse sector".

Neurodiverse police officers and staff: The n-POLICE study

This project was spearheaded by Dr Michelle O'Reilly (University of Leicester and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust), Dr Samuel Tromans (University of Leicester and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust) and Dr Alison Drewett (Loughborough University). 

Project overview

The gaining and retention of employment is a central endeavour for many people. However, some groups in society find this more challenging than others. Those with certain disabilities or health conditions can find it especially difficult due to a range of social and societal barriers. Those with neurodevelopmental conditions like autism or ADHD have particular challenges in gaining and retaining employment (Nicholas et al., 2020).

The aim of our research project was to gain a stronger understanding of the perceptions and experiences of neurodivergent employees in the police from across the UK. Our objective was to identify the facilitators and barriers to strengths-based employment practices so that we can make recommendations to organisations to enable them to capitalise on the strengths within their workforce.

We partnered with the National Police Autism Association to ensure that our work was co-produced and relevant to policing. We recruited 37 police officers and staff to participate in qualitative reflective interviews about their experiences of working in the police while being autistic, having ADHD, or being autistic with co-occurring ADHD.

Download the PDF of the report (PDF, 673kb) for details of our findings and presents recommendations for organisations who employ neurodivergent staff in ‘jeopardising careers’.

The LOSST LIFFE project

Along with colleagues Dr Michelle O'Reilly also run the LOSST LIFFE project (Learning from Officers Suicide Support Tasks: Leicester Investigation of a Framework for Family Engagement). Find out more about the LOSST LIFFE project.

R-NEET: Protecting African youth who are NEET against depression

Funder: Wellcome Trust

R-NEET Team

Led by Professor Linda Theron (University of Pretoria and Leicester Institute for Advanced Studies Fellow) our team members are world leaders in studying multi-systemic resilience and youth wellbeing, but we still do not know which precise combination of physical, psychological, social, institutional, and environmental risks and resources predicts stable low/improving versus chronic high/worsening depression trajectories among African youth.

Discovery of this combination is urgently needed: within 30 years Africa's young people are likely to be the world's largest youth population, but at least 1 in 5 African youth is 'not in education, employment, or training' (NEET) making them disproportionately vulnerable to depression. 

To conduct this multisystemic research, we will follow 1,600, 18-24-year-old youth who are NEET in Nigeria and South Africa for 24 months to identify the network of risk factors and resilience resources that predict depression. Then, to explore resilience-enabling mechanisms further, we will follow for 12 months a subsample who report the highest chronic risk/elevated depression versus highest chronic risk/minimal depression (i.e., those who show resilience). The smaller purposeful sample will allow us to gather more contextually specific data on combinations of systemic factors that have the most protective value. This work is vital to pre-empting depression and informing precision interventions tailored to the needs of African youth who are NEET.

Find out more

Find out more on the R-NEET website.

We carried out some preliminary participatory activity in the Niger Delta and Gauteng in February 2023 in evolving this project:

The Digital Ethics of Care project

Supporting education of children and young people in digital media, digital citizenship and online moral decision making

Dr Michelle O'ReillyPI Dr Michelle O’Reilly (Associate Professor of Communication in Mental Health, Chartered Psychologist in Health (C. Psychol. AFBPSS), Assistant Deputy Chair (UEIC); Co-Chair (RIWG), Assistant Deputy Director Midlands DTP in Mental health and Neuroscience, University of Leicester)

This research comprised of two projects: 

Project one – funded by the Wellcome Trust

Social media and adolescent mental health: A preliminary qualitative exploration of the potential use of social media for promoting mental health and well being among 12-18-year-olds.Wellcome Trust (2015) £4160 (project reference: 109393/Z/15/Z) (FEC – £22,558.33).

Michelle O’Reilly, Paul Reilly, Panos Vostanis, Nisha Dogra, Jason Hughes, and Natasha Whiteman.

Participants were recruited from London and Leicester (UK) through 2016, and focus groups were conducted separately with different groups, which included six groups (6-12 participants in each) with adolescents, 11–18 years (N=54), two with mental health practitioners (N=8) and two with educational professionals (N=16). We primarily utilised reflexive thematic analysis to analyse our data. 

Outputs from the project

  • O’Reilly, M., Levine, D., Donoso, V., Voice, L., Hughes, J., and Dogra, N. (2023). Exploring the potentially positive interaction between social media and mental health: the perspectives of adolescents. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28(2), 668-682
  • O’Reilly, M., Levine, D., and Law, E. (2021). Digital Ethics of Care philosophy to understand adolescents' sense of responsibility on social media. Pastoral Care in Education, 39(2), 91-107
  • O’Reilly, M. (2020). Social media and adolescent mental health: The good, the bad and the ugly. Journal of Mental Health, 29(2), 200-206
  • O’Reilly, M., Dogra, N., Hughes, J., Reilly, P., George, R., and Whiteman, N. (2018). Potential of social media in promoting mental health in adolescents. Health Promotion International,34 (5), 981-991
  • O’Reilly, M., Adams, S., Whiteman, N., Hughes, J., Reilly, P., and Dogra, N. (2018). Whose responsibility is adolescent mental health in the UK? The perspectives of key stakeholders. School Mental Health, 10, 450-461
  • O’Reilly, M., Dogra, N., Whiteman, N., Hughes, J., Eruyar, S., and Reilly, P. (2018). Is social media bad for mental health and wellbeing? Exploring the perspectives of adolescents. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 23(4), 601-613
Project two – funded by the ESRC (eNurture network +)

Empowering pre-teens online through a digital ethics of care, ESRC (eNurture network funding) (2021) £17,659.48 (22,074.35 FEC), Ref: G107030 PA-R2.

Michelle O’Reilly, Diane Levine, and Sarah Adams.

Engaging one primary school in England two year 6 groups of children had training in interview shills and of those who received training, 18 children (with parental consent), volunteered to participate. These 18 children formed nine interviewer/interviewee dyads (N=18). The children interviewed each other as in a traditional qualitative interview study and had adult support in the form of a teaching assistant in the classroom and a researcher online. Each dyad worked together for up to 60-minutes.

Outputs from the project

  • O’Reilly, M., Adams, S., Batchelor, R., and Levine, D. (in press). Exploring the practice of 10-11-year-olds as co-researchers: Using a hybrid approach in educational research to promote children as interviewers. International Journal of Social Research Methodology,
  • O’Reilly, M., Levine, D., Batchelor, R., and Adams, S. (In press). Digital ethics of care and digital citizenship in UK primary schools: Children as interviewers. Journal of Children and Media 

We are still publishing from this project. A toolkit was also created with lesson plans for teachers. More information can be found on our figshare pages.

The Mental Health Assessment project

Dr Michelle O'ReillyInvestigating health communication in real world practice

PI Dr Michelle O’Reilly (Professor of Communication in Mental Health, Chartered Psychologist in Health (C. Psychol. AFBPSS), Assistant Deputy Chair (UEIC); Co-Chair (RIWG), Assistant Deputy Director Midlands DTP in Mental health and Neuroscience, University of Leicester).

The is work was largely unfunded and exploratory, but our pilot work and PPI activity that preceded it was funded and enabled our project to be conducted: Decision making in child mental health assessments: A pilot study. Heart of England Hub: Mental Health Research Network. £13,000.02 (FEC- £24,228.72). Khalid Karim and Michelle O’Reilly.

We recruited participants from a Child and Adolescent mental health service in England. This included 29 practitioners from the outpatient team, and included consultant, staff-grade and trainee child and adolescent psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, assistant psychologists, community psychiatric nurses (CPNs), occupational therapists and psychotherapists. This also included 28 families, and of the children 64% were boys and 36% were girls, with a mean age of 11 years (6-17 years). All initial mental health assessments were video recorded as they occurred naturally in practice. 

Outputs from the project 
  • O’Reilly, M., and Kiyimba, N. (2024). Investigating question-answer sequences in child mental health assessments: Engaging children and families through declarative question design. Patient Education and counseling, 121, - 108105
  • O’Reilly, M., Kiyimba, N., Lee, V., and Hutchby, I. (2023). Give my child a label: Strategies of epistemic corroboration in case-building within child mental health assessments. Sociology, 57(6), 1410-1429
  • Lester, J., O’Reilly, M., Smoliak, O., Muntigl, P., and Tseliou, E. (2023). Soliciting children’s views with circular questioning in child mental health assessments. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28(2), 554–566
  • O’Reilly, M., and Kiyimba, K. (2021). Responsibility inoculation: Constructing ‘good parent’ accounts when accessing child mental health services. Human Systems: Therapy, Culture and Attachment, 1(1), 52-69
  • Hutchby, I., O’Reilly, M., Drewett, A., and Lee, V. (2020). 'I was just thinking': Cognitive self-reports and engagement with feelings-talk in child mental health assessments. Research on Children and Social Interaction, 4(2), 146-167
  • O’Reilly M. Muskett, T., Karim, K., and Lester, J. (2020). Parents’ constructions of normality and pathology in child mental health assessments. Sociology of Health and Illness, 42(3), 544-564
  • Kiyimba, N., and O’Reilly, M., (2020). The clinical use of Subjective Units of Distress scales (SUDs) in child mental health assessments: A thematic evaluation. Journal of Mental Health, 29(4):418-423
  • O’Reilly, M., Kiyimba, N., and Lester, J. (2019). Building a case for accessing service provision in child and adolescent mental health assessments. Discourse Studies, 21(4) 421 –437
  • Kiyimba, N., O’Reilly, M. and Lester, J. (2018) Agenda setting with children using the three wishes technique. Journal of Child Health Care, 22(3) 419–432
  • Kiyimba, N., and O’Reilly, M. (2018). Reflecting on what ‘you said’ as a way of reintroducing difficult topics in child mental health assessments. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 23(3), 148-154
  • Kiyimba, N., Karim, K., and O’Reilly, M. (2017). The use of why questions in child mental health assessments. Research on Children and Social Interaction, 1(2), 222-242
  • O’Reilly, M. Lester, J., Muskett, T., and Karim, K. (2017). How parents build a case for Autism Spectrum Disorder during initial assessments: “We’re fighting a losing battle”. Discourse Studies, 19(1), 69-83.
  • O’Reilly, M., Kiyimba, N. and Karim, K. (2016). “This is a question we have to ask everyone”: Asking young people about self-harm and suicide. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 23, 479-488.
  • O’Reilly, M., Lester, J. and Muskett, T (2016). Children’s claims to knowledge regarding their mental health experiences and practitioners’ negotiation of the problem. Patient Education and Counseling [Special issue], 99, 905-910
  • Stafford, V., Hutchby, I., Karim, K., and O’Reilly, M. (2016). “Why are you here?” Seeking children’s accounts of their presentation to CAMHS. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 21(1), 3-18
  • O’Reilly, M., Karim, K., and Kiyimba, N. (2015). Question use in child mental health assessments and the challenges of listening to families. British Journal of Psychiatry Open, 1 (2), 116-120 
  • O’Reilly, M., Karim, K., Stafford, V., and Hutchby, I. (2015). Identifying the interactional processes in the first assessments in child mental health. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 20(4), 195-201
  • Antaki, C., and O’Reilly, M. (2014). Either/or questions in psychiatric assessments: the effect of the seriousness and order of the alternatives, Discourse Studies, 16 (3) 327-345 

The World Awareness of Children in Trauma project

Supporting mental health promotion and prevention for children facing health inequalities

Dr Michelle O'Reilly

PI Dr Michelle O’Reilly (Associate Professor of Communication in Mental Health, Chartered Psychologist in Health (C. Psychol. AFBPSS), Assistant Deputy Chair (UEIC); Co-Chair (RIWG), Assistant Deputy Director Midlands DTP in Mental health and Neuroscience, University of Leicester)

Led by WACIT and supported by the University of Leicester. Co-Leads – Professor Panos Vostanis (Honorary Professor) and Dr Michelle O’Reilly.

The vision of our research project is to ensure the work provides a framework for the mental health promotion of children and young people living in disadvantaged communities and facing a range of health inequalities. The focus is therefore on supporting the infrastructure of these communities to promote the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable groups. To accomplish this, our research provides a foundation for improving the skills and competencies of professionals working with children and young people and increasing their confidence in the delivery of their services. A further element of the mental health promotion framework is to train and upskill young people themselves as peer educators and peer support workers to deliver activities and engage community members in mental health promotions at a local level. 

Ultimately our work aims to: provide multi-systemic impact with a sustainable goal of improving the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of children and young people in a way that aspires to be decolonial, working directly with local people, paraprofessionals, and communities, for applicability and cultural relevance.

We have undertaken mental health promotion and prevention training to a range of professionals, paraprofessionals, parents, and young people in Turkey, Pakistan, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, and Greece.

Our overarching project is made up from several smaller projects
  • Youth-led impact and knowledge exchange activities to support pregnant adolescent girls in Kenya
    • ESRC IAA £7,540 [ES/X004732/1] November 2023
    • Michelle O’Reilly, Diane Levine, Philip Archard, Jane Auma, Elijah Getanda and Panos Vostanis. 
  • Development of multi-level partnerships to enhance child mental capacity in majority world countries disadvantaged communities
    • ESRC IAA (internal partnership enhancement grant) £15,000 (2022) 
    • Michelle O’Reilly and Panos Vostanis 
  • Child mental health cascade training partnership in South Africa
    • ESRC IAA (internal partnership enhancement grant) £5,000 (2021) 
    • Michelle O’Reilly and Panos Vostanis 
  • Resilience and mental health in street children: Building sustainable partnerships for knowledge exchange and knowledge translation
    • International Research Development Fund (GCRF) (2020) £4,500
    • Michelle O’Reilly and Panos Vostanis 
  • Co-constructing Inequalities and Improving Wellbeing Post-Pandemic: Children’s Vision in five Major World Countries
    • GCRF (Research England) and LIAS (2020) £28,075
    • Panos Vostanis, Michelle O’Reilly, Clare Anderson, Caroline Upton, Effie Law, Kelly Staples, Grace Sykes, Harry Dixon, Sadiyya Haffejee  
  • Evaluation of Digital Intervention to Build Children’s Resilience in Brazil
  • during the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond: 
    • University of Leicester LIAS C19 Call (2020) £7,800
    • Panos Vostanis, Michelle O’Reilly, Effie Law, Sarah Adams, and Juliana Fleury

Research lunches

We have a scheduled series of research lunches for 2024/25.

Centre for Hate Studies

Our School hosts the world-leading Centre for Hate Studies.
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