Imprisonment, effects of imprisonment, prison-based parenting programmes, penal reform, penal policy, desistance, reintegration, conflict, criminological psychology and social media related crimes. 

My research background is in criminological psychology and imprisonment. Criminological psychology involves understanding why people engage in crime, how society reacts to and manages criminal behaviour and how individuals begin to leave behind a criminal career. In recent years, I have been involved in investigating the outcomes people experience in prison, penal policy and prison-based parenting programmes. Additionally, I have examined the experiences of those with complex needs, how the imprisonment of parents/caregivers may affect children and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the challenges involved in dealing with social media related crimes. I have also been involved in projects assessing how a history of conflict may affect penal reform, desistance and reintegration.  

I have supervised a number of PhD students and would encourage prospective PhD students to contact me to discuss their proposals.

Current PhD Students

Mohammed Al-Dosari - A critical understanding and investigation into the impact of the use of Snapchat by Qatari youth and its effect on the culture of Qatar

Hannah Blair - Exploring late-diagnosed ADHD within the desistance process.

Elliot Bowden - Media representations of deaths in prison: A critical analysis. 

Karen Johnson - Developing a measure of desistance self-narrative.

Kirsten McGregor - Assessing the feasibility and viability of Restorative Justice interventions for serious sexual offending. 

Xiang Long Cheng - Investigating the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and substance use in an Asian offender sample: Mediating effects of early maladaptive schemas and social histories and its link to desistance. 

Past PhD Students

Kelly Huie - Self-disclosure on Snapchat stories and experiences of harm and victimisation.

Daniel McFadden - Social support, trauma and mental wellbeing experiences of imprisoned men in Northern Ireland.

Sinead Meade – “You have to be fluid”. Prison officer types, perceived quality of staff-prisoner relationships, and staff burnout in the Irish Prison Service.

Abdullah Al Habsi - Cyber security on social media: The self-disclosure of sensitive private information and risk of online blackmail on WhatsApp in Oman.

Keira Flanagan - Unlocking potential and learning to desist: Exploring the transformation of a Young Offenders Centre into a Secure College.

Aimee Muirhead - Behind closed doors: A study of cell-sharing, wellbeing and coping in prison.

Shane Bell - Doing desistance in divided neighbourhoods: The role of conflict affected neighbourhoods.

Lauren Hogg – The impact of state intervention on the work of community-based restorative justice projects in Northern Ireland.

Annemarie Millar - Policing incidents of domestic abuse involving children: Children's and police officers' experience.

Julie Harris - Initiations and transitions to and from injecting drug use and heroin use.

Punishment, Penal Policy and Prison (CRM3001)

Psychological Perspectives on Crime (CRM3005)

Reintegration After Prison (CRM3008)

Educational Qualifications

BA in Psychology, University College Dublin

MSc in Forensic Psychology, University of Kent

PhD in Criminology, University of Cambridge

Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching, Queen's University Belfast

Twitter: @MichelleBQUB

Google Scholar Profile 

Researchgate Profile