Psychology
Profile
Background
Lucy graduated from Portsmouth with a BSc (Hons) Psychology degree in 2004 and completed her MSc in Forensic Psychology here in 2005. She worked for the National Probation Service and then HM Prison Service as a Forensic Psychologist (in training) before returning to the University of Portsmouth to complete a PhD. Her PhD was inspired by her work with adult offenders, but concentrates on the development of criminality in children and how popular methods of adult rehabilitation might be appropriate with this age group (or not). Post-PhD, it is her ultimate aim to help young people avoid a life of crime (and imprisonment) and make the best of their lives. Lucy’s PhD was funded by Economical and Social Research Council (ESRC) but with sponsorship from the children’s charity, Kids Company London.
Currently, she works principally as the lead Research Psychologist at Kids Company but also works at the University of Portsmouth as an associate lecturer. She lectures on both BSc and MSc courses, on subjects relating to her work with offenders, such as risk assessment, ‘what works’ & rehabilitation, child offenders and their development and best practice in the workplace. Lucy is a personal tutor and you can find her on Wednesdays in room 3:04.
The work I experienced in these two positions inspired me to return to academia, to explore the development of criminality and the appropriateness of popular methods of rehabilitation. After gaining financial backing from Kids Company, a pioneering charity helping children and teenagers with emotional and behavioural needs, I was granted a CASE studentship with the Economical and Social Research Council (ESRC) and have now commenced my research degree.
Research
My research aims to investigate whether research findings from the 1970 showing deviant children to have deficits in their thinking patterns are still valid with children in 2010. This finding forms the basis of much rehabilitative work conducted in the UK and North America. This research also aims to explore the concept of self-identity and its relationship to cognitive deficits and criminal attitudes in the same children. By establishing whether there is evidence of cognitive deficits” forming in childhood and examining how they are developing and how this can be prevented can inform academics, politicians, teachers and parents of interventions appropriate to child offenders in the fight to prevent criminality. This project also aims to determine whether the Good Lives Model (in contrast to the Deficits model) can offer a more pro-social explanation for the difference between offending and non-offending children, including their sense of identity and cognitive functioning.
PhD Project
Title: Identity Formation and the Development of Cognitive Deficits in Children.
My Director of Studies is Dr Claire Nee, with Dr Aldert Vrij and Dr Kevin Howells (University of Nottingham) as additional supervisors.
Recent Publications
More recent publications