Helen is currently an Associate Professor in Criminology in the Law School, having joined UEA in August 2021, where she is Director of the BA Criminology programme and Deputy Director of the LLB Law with Criminology. She is the Module Organiser for three modules: 'Crime and Society', 'Studying Criminology', and 'Contemporary Concerns in Crime and Justice'.

She has previously taught at the University of Hertfordshire and the University of Suffolk, prior to which she was a Research Associate at the Institute of Criminology, Cambridge University. She has also worked as a Researcher for HM Inspectorate of Prisons and has undertaken several projects as an independent researcher for both the Prison Service and private companies.

Her PhD is titled 'Identifying the High-Performing Prison Officer' for which she was awarded an ESRC scholarship.

Prisons and Punishment

My specialist areas of research include: the work and role of prison officers; prison officer selection, assessment and training; EI and the role of emotions in the prison context; the experience of imprisonment, rehabilitative cultures; the role of the prison desistance; staff-prisoner relationships; and the effects of prison for staff and prisoners.

Helen has experience teaching a range of subjects within criminology, including, for example, key concepts and theories in criminology, penology and imprisonment, crime and deviance, psychology and crime, rehabilitation of offenders, contemporary issues and research methods.

She is open to supervising students whose research proposal relates to:

• prison officers
• staff-prisoner relationships
• sentencing and punishment
• rehabilitation and desistance
• the experience of imprisonment