Published: October 1, 2020
Written by: Dr Nicola Roberts
I have been a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University for 14 years. Over this time, I have taught and supervised undergraduate and post-graduate students about criminal justice, gender-based violence, and carrying-out research. My professional experience comes from my time as a former practitioner in the probation service. Hence, where my passion for teaching and research about the probation service and offender rehabilitation, particularly domestic and sexual violence offenders, comes from. As I have worked in Higher Education for many years, I have increasingly focused on researching student safety.
Very little research has been carried out on student safety and campus security in the UK. After having completed two research projects on student safety, my Individual Research Plan for 2019/20, focused on carrying out my third research project into student safety. This new research aimed to build on the findings of the previous two projects by seeking to enhance students’ perceptions of safety and security on-campus. To achieve this, a university-wide online survey was distributed to students studying on city campuses asking them about their perceptions of safety and security on-campus.
The survey was live for three months: from November 2019 to February 2020. The data was then analysed and the findings were presented to the university community, including campus security. I sit on the University’s Crime Prevention Group and I advise them about evidenced-based practices to enhance students’ perceptions of safety and security on-campus. The findings have also been presented at a national academic conference. The research has been written-up and is currently under journal review. Once published, this enables the findings to be disseminated and subsequently built-upon by the academic community in this under-researched area.
My research is important because it points to evidence-based practices about how campus security might enhance students’ perceptions of safety and security on-campus.
If you would like to contact Nicola about this research and/or you are interested in post-graduate research (e.g., PhD) study in this area, please e-mail : nicola.roberts@sunderland.ac.uk. Learn more about Nicola Roberts in her staff profile.