I am a quantitative social scientist, with over ten years experience in research focused on criminal and family justice, and the interlinks with health and social care. My research involves large scale data linkage (including national and international administrative data), data management, statistical analysis and data visualisation, as well as primary data collection, survey design and public engagement.
I am a senior researcher in the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research based in the Sociology Department working on a range of research projects within the Nuffield funded Family Justice Observatory Data Partnership, led by Professor Karen Broadhurst (Sociology, Lancaster University) and Professor David Ford (SAIL Databank, Swansea University). I recently led on the project ‘Uncovering private family law: what can the data tell us about children’s participation?’ investigating, through the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) administrative data, the proportion of private law cases in which children directly participated and the implications for children, families and the family justice system. I have also exposed, through the linking of Cafcass Cymru to health records in Wales, the heightened socioeconomic and health vulnerabilities of women and men involved in private law proceedings in Wales.
I am currently working on a 24-month ESRC-funded data linkage study, led by Professor Judith Harwin (School of Law, Lancaster University), investigating the impact of family drug and alcohol courts (FDACs) on parental offending through the linkage and analysis of three administrative data sources, FDAC, Cafcass and the Police National Computer (PNC). I am co-investigator on a 30-month NIHR-funded project, which aims to provide a comprehensive evidence framework to inform the provision of social care for imprisoned women which will be of utility too service commissioners, providers and frontline staff.
As part of an ESRC funded six-month placement at the Home Office, I explored behavioural patterns of priority and prolific offenders in disadvantaged areas. An important part of my research included data linking, through several deterministic techniques of multiple complex longitudinal databases, including the Drugs Data Warehouse and the Offender Assessment System (OASys).
I also, on a three-month visiting fellowship to Statistics Norway, linked multiple Norwegian population registers comprising 25 million records to determine the effects of static and dynamic socio-demographic characteristics (including education, family type, marital status, employment and benefits) on recidivism rates of convicted offenders in Norway over a 15-year period. I applied several survival analysis techniques including, life table analysis, Cox proportional hazard analysis and discrete time hazard analysis.
Women’s Social Care in Prison: Identifying needs and an appropriate service response, National Institute for Health Research – School for Social Research, £349,304 (Co-I, one of six) Awarded August 2021 [Start date April 2022], 30-month project.
Scoping the current data landscape on adult social care through the criminal justice system, University of Manchester, Institute for Health Policy and Organisation Seedcorn Funding, £5,000 (PI) Awarded January 2021, 6-month project.
A social care based evaluation of COVID-19: Understanding workforce response and effects (The SECURE Study), National Institute for Health Research – School for Social Care Research, £438,163 (Co-I, one of twelve) Awarded January 2021, 24-month project.
Models of social care provision in prison: Preparatory work for a mixed methods study, National Institute for Health Research – Programme Development Grants, £148,357 (Co-I, one of five) Awarded December 2020, 12-month project.
Care and support for people with social care needs on release from prison, National Institute for Health Research - School for Social Care Research, £393,243 (Co-I, one of four) Awarded June 2019, 27-month project.
Effective Healthcare Support to Care Homes, National Institute for Health Research - School for Social Care Research, £346,795 (Co-I, one of three) Awarded November 2016, 30-month project.
Social Care in Prisons, National Institute for Health Research - School for Social Care Research, £201,838 (Co-I, one of three) Awarded May 2015, 14-month project.
Behavioural characteristics of cyber-criminals in online trading, Economic and Social Research Council - Secondary Data Analysis Initiative Phase 2, £141,424. Awarded August 2014, 18-month project.
