About Sarah Connelly
I am a member of the Criminology team within the School of Social Sciences. I joined the University in 2020 and have held my current lectureship since 2022. I teach across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including the BSc Criminology, MSc Leadership in Criminal Justice and Policing, and MSc Inequality and Society. I also contribute to short courses focused on continuous professional development, including the development of additional training for Appropriate Adults in the local area.
I completed a BA (Hons) in Sociology in 2013–2016 (University of Sunderland), a Masters in Sociology in Social Research in 2016–2017 (Newcastle University), and a PGCert in Higher Education 2022–2023 (University of Sunderland). Teaching wise, I was awarded Fellowship status (SFHEA) with the Advance HE in September 2023, completed the Aurora Advance HE leadership development initiative for women in 2025, and started the Influence Leadership Programme in 2026.
I have since returned to Newcastle University as a part-time PhD student in the Geography, Politics, and Sociology department, exploring and applying a sociological response to police custody settings and contexts. I am research active, with current projects focusing on police custody settings in England and Wales. My research interests include the construction and understanding of vulnerability (policy to practice), alongside issues of legitimacy and the broader social processes operating within custody environments. I have worked on projects exploring professional experiences of supporting trans and non-binary people in custody across the UK and institutional ethnographic approaches to understanding higher education.
I also hold leadership and management positions within practice settings. In 2022, I was appointed Manager of the Northumbria Local Appropriate Adult Scheme (NLAAS), where I work with a team of student volunteers to provide 24/7 coverage to local custody suites, ensuring Appropriate Adult safeguards are in place for vulnerable adults (18+). Since then, I have worked with colleagues to expand the scheme by responding to service demand, enhancing training and development, and raising awareness of vulnerability and the role of Appropriate Adults in the local area. In 2023, I was elected to the Board of Trustees for the National Appropriate Adult Network, where I contribute to the charity’s governance and strategic direction. I am also the co-founder and Chair of the first Appropriate Adult Research Network. Linked to the National Appropriate Adult Network, my role within the Appropriate Adult Research Community (AARC) focuses on creating a peer-support space for researchers and practitioners, fostering knowledge exchange, professional development, and collaboration within the field of Appropriate Adult practice.
My roles in practice underpin my research interests enabling me to work on projects that can produce/encourage knowledge exchange, developments to practice, and collaborative working. I also include my practice and research experience within my teaching to support learning and curriculum development. This feeds into modules across the research methods as well as leadership and criminal justice focused modules.
Prior to joining the University, I positioned myself in roles focusing on equality, diversity and inclusion. This included working as an online support worker for 11 – 25 years olds seeking support on gender diversity, within a human rights education team designing and delivering short courses on activism and human rights, and within the private sector acting as the EDI representative within my business unit. I also have a background in applied research experience in industries such as legal research, working on client relationship management, flagship projects, and bespoke projects across on domestic and international research projects.
Teaching and supervision
I currently teach across social sciences including the BSc (Hons) Criminology, MSc Inequality and Society, and MSc Leadership in Criminal Justice and Policing courses. I also supervise dissertations across both undergraduate and masters provisions.
I am the module leader for:
- CRM101 – Criminology Theories, Trends, and Myths
- CRM105 – Becoming a Criminologist
- CRM107 - Investigating Inequalities In Crime and Justice
- LCPM08 – Practitioner and Lived Experience Perspectives in Criminal Justice
You will find me teaching across:
- CRM101 – Criminology Theories, Trends, and Myths
- CRM105 – Becoming a Criminologist
- CRM205 - Doing Criminological Research
- CRM206 - Human Rights: Crime, Justice, and the State
- LCPM08 – Practitioner and Lived Experience Perspectives in Criminal Justice
- SWKM42 – Advanced Safeguarding Children
- FDN002 - Foundation Project
Dissertation supervision:
- SOC332 – Social Science Dissertation
- SOC333 – Social Science Work-Based Dissertation
- LCPM03 – Leadership in Criminal Justice and Policing Dissertation
- SSCM26 – Inequality and Society Dissertation
As the Scheme Manager for NLAAS, I also work to design and provide additional training and CPD opportunities to our active appropriate adults. This includes designing training based on the bespoke needs of our volunteers and service needs. Outside of delivering the national training standards, I have also provided bespoke training such as:
- Unconscious Bias Training – Applied to the role of the appropriate adult (2025)
- Co-locating with integrity and independence – Applied to the NLAAS Scheme since the 2022 co-location strategy.
We also work to encourage a range of additional training for our volunteers included inviting a range of specialists to provide training based on the needs of the scheme.
I have also contributed to the training of CNTW (Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear) NHS nurses on the role of the Appropriate Adult and the work of the Northumbria Local Appropriate Adult Scheme (NLAAS). These sessions were delivered in 2022 and 2025, and designed to support knowledge exchange and strengthen interagency collaboration, particularly in understanding how services intersect in the safeguarding of vulnerable adults within the local area.
Interests
- Police custody research
- Appropriate adult safeguard applied across England and Wales
- Vulnerability in criminal justice
- Intersectionality and marginalised groups
- Applied criminological research
- Safeguarding and criminal justice
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
Research
Supporting Staff to Research
This project (in collaboration with Dr Nicola Roberts) adopts an institutional ethnography approach to analyse institutional texts and 'work knowledge' to inquire how an HEI can best support staff to research.
Exploring the experiences of trans and non-binary people in custody in the UK: implications for policy and practice)
This project (in collaboration with Dr Helen Williams) will explore the experiences of trans and non-binary people in relation to being processed within a custody suite. Trans and non-binary people face unique challenges within custody. A person’s rights and treatment are based on the custody officer involved and their understanding and decision-making around gender identity. We will gather the perceptions and experiences of people with lived experience and practitioners within custody to explore how guidance from governmental bodies is negotiated by officers, and how this is experienced by individuals.
Continuity of Appropriate Adult Services for Vulnerable Suspects During the Covid-19 Pandemic
This paper (in collaboration with Dr Donna Peacock and Samantha Reveley) draws upon qualitative data collected from providers of AA services to develop an understanding of the impact of Covid-19 on service provision. We conclude that while demand during the pandemic remained at a similar level, the availability of volunteer AAs was impacted, and that PPE provision was inconsistent.
Social Science Placement Research Project
This project (in collaboration with Dr Liz Henry) will use a mixed methods approach to explore the experiences and initiatives behind choosing a social science placement to feed into supporting provisions in future for students, staff, and providers.
Nightstop
For this project, I worked as a research assistant for Dr Lesley Deacon and Dr Sarah Lonbay on a project to support a third-sector organisation. The role includes designing a data collection tool that will explore awareness, service usage, and procurement processes.
I am also currently applying to start a PhD which aims to unpack the term ‘vulnerability’ and the mechanisms impacted by it.
Past research
My master's dissertation explored the ways in which medical diagnoses reinforce heteronormativity. Using the sociology of diagnosis, this body of work analysed the reification of binary coding upon bodies and the nosological approaches cast upon social identities.
Further information
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