Dr Jessica Urwin

Jessica is a Lecturer in Criminology and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. After gaining a BSc in Psychology from Coventry University Jessica worked in secondary schools with at-risk young people and completed research for the National Youth Agency. This led her to complete a MRes in Social Work at De Montfort University prior to undertaking her PhD. She currently teaches on Criminology programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Jessica’s doctoral research focused on the provision of mental health services for young people who offend; considering how the criminal justice context impacted the approach of mental health care. This work was the basis of a monograph published in 2018. Since then Jessica has worked on research projects investigating police officers’ reasoning for stop and search practices, evaluating mental health training programmes for police officers and considering the mental health impacts of AR games on young adults. Currently Jessica’s research is focused on the treatment of young people by youth justice systems, police, and society.

Urwin, J. and Flick, C. (2019) "AR Games as a Potential Source of Improved Mental Wellbeing: Implications for self-help and individual support" Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds 11(3) 309-328

Urwin, J. (2018) A Return to Social Justice: Youth Justice, Ideology and Philosophy, London: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 978-3-319-73042-4

Urwin, J. (2018) "Imposter Phemonena and Experience Levels in Social Work: An Initial Investigation" British Journal of Social Work 48(5), 1432-1446

Urwin, J. and Hine, J. (2018) Evaluation of Inter-professional MHFA Training in Leicestershire: Interim Report De Montfort University DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28731.31524

I am currently supervising PhD research on BAME young men's experiences of probation services and visual iconography of far-right groups. I am happy to accept applications to supervise PhDs on the following topics:

• Youth crime and youth justice,
• Mental health support within criminal justice
• Social justice and criminal justice ideologies
• Youth subculture and cultural criminology

• Youth Crime and Justice (Undergraduate)
• Punishment and Rehabilitation (Undergraduate)

BSc Psychology

MRes Social Work

PhD in Youth Justice

PGCert Higher Education