My research interests coalesce around gender, crime, harm, victimization and justice. I combine my interest in victimology and social harm with a critical/feminist infused approach and in adopting this perspective I have explored a range of contemporary social problems – both visible and hidden. My early research explored female offending and the inter-play between women’s offending patterns and experiences of victimization. More recently I have developed this perspective and used it to examine tensions around social and environmental justice adopting a case study approach. I have lead a number of research projects and evaluations of multi-agency innovations that tackle gendered forms of harm including interpersonal violence, domestic abuse, the policing of serial perpetrators and support for victims. The ways in which gender mediates our life experiences continues to provoke new areas of inquiry and I am currently working with colleagues on ‘gendering green criminology’.

My publications show I have published widely on the subject of victimization and social harm and on how gender connects to matters of community safety and security. I am the series editor of the Palgrave Macmillan ‘Victims and Victimology’ book series (with Associate Professor Tyrone Kirchengast, University of New South Wales, Syndney).

I joined Northumbria University in a full-time capacity in 1993 having moved north to Newcastle-upon-Tyne to begin work in a research post with Northumbria Police in 1989. In 1991 I spent a year on secondment on a project entitled 'Police Co-operation in Europe' funded by Commission for the European Communities. My current research interests filter into my teaching in criminology and victimology where I adopt a gendered lens to exlore the crimes, victimisations and harms of the powerful.

My research interests coalesce around gender, crime, harm, victimization and justice. I combine my interest in victimology and social harm with a critical/feminist infused approach and in adopting this perspective I have explored a range of contemporary social problems – both visible and hidden. My early research explored female offending and the inter-play between women’s offending patterns and experiences of victimization. More recently I have developed this perspective and used it to examine tensions around social and environmental justice adopting a case study approach. I have lead a number of research projects and evaluations of multi-agency innovations that tackle gendered forms of harm including interpersonal violence, domestic abuse, the policing of serial perpetrators and support for victims. The ways in which gender mediates our life experiences continues to provoke new areas of inquiry and I am currently working with colleagues on ‘gendering green criminology’.

 My publications show I have published widely on the subject of victimization and social harm and on how gender connects to matters of community safety, public protection and well-being. I am the series editor of the Palgrave Macmillan ‘Victims and Victimology’ book series (with Associate Professor Tyrone Kirchengast, University of New South Wales, Sydney).