About our research

We provide an evidence-led approach which delivers thought leadership in the criminal justice system and social care sector.

Our research focuses on understanding how to improve services that tackle offending and the many common social care challenges that can hold people back from fulfilling their potential.

We work to:

Find solutions to reduce the likelihood of reoffending
Learn what interventions work best
Understand wider patterns associated with people’s behaviour

Our research aims to improve services so everyone has an opportunity to break away from their past and make positive life choices as they navigate their way to a crime-free life.
Graham Wines Director of Professional Standards, Research and Development

Improving social inclusion

The evidence-base we collect is used to make arguments about system-wide changes that aid efforts to improve social inclusion by:

Working to strengthen public protection
Support desistance
Breakdown barriers to education and employment opportunities
Tackle inequalities
Our research also looks at long-term social care issues including substance misuse, family dynamics, domestic abuse, homelessness and mental health to address people’s needs in a holistic manner.

Through this approach, we aim to help both the criminal justice and social care sectors to embrace new ideas and ways of working to achieve better futures and wellbeing for all.

Our research priorities

Our research priorities will build on our work in supporting probation organisations and their partners to deliver effective, meaningful, and sustainable services, which help people to go on to have happier, healthier or crime-free lives.

This year, we will focus on understanding the types and characteristics of effective interventions, so we can support the development of the strongest and most promising approaches.

Home Office funded research to reduce victims of domestic abuse in future.

Our new study will help aid policymakers’ and commissioners’ understanding of perpetrators’ behaviours to reduce the devastating impact these crimes have on victims’ lives.

The findings will inform future government crime prevention strategies and solutions to end domestic abuse.

Good quality housing helps individuals with convictions lead a crime-free life.

The study will consider the effectiveness of supported housing as a community intervention in the UK.

Through interviews with supported housing residents and staff, our research will explore the impact of this intervention on individual’s rehabilitation.

Our Research Team

Dr Kerry Ellis Devitt – Head of Research

Kerry has 24 year’s experience as a researcher, and has worked in the public, private, academic and charity sectors. Having begun her career in 1998 as a psychology-based, quantitative researcher, she moved into social research in 2003, and specialised in criminal justice research in 2008. Kerry has lectured for many years in various universities, teaching psychology, criminology and social research, and most recently held a post at the University of Portsmouth as a lecturer on the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) programme. In 2020, she completed her PhD with her research, The life-stories of young adult men in the criminal justice system: A critical narrative analysis. Kerry’s research interests include, young adults in the CJS, women in the CJS, probation practice, families of people on probation, practitioner wellbeing, mental health in probation, and most recently, the life-stories of domestic abuse perpetrators.

Holly Dono – Education Practice Research Officer

Holly is an education specialist; she achieved her undergraduate degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Education Studies with a first class honours and was awarded the Ede&Ravenscroft award for being the highest achieving student across her school. After demonstrating her academic ability, she was offered an opportunity to enrol on the PhD programme at Cardiff Metropolitan University where she is investigating the impact that classroom language teaching has on English language variation in different European settings.

Holly has taught English as an additional language for over four years in numerous settings within the UK and internationally to both adults and children. Her previous research has been qualitative in nature and explored key themes regarding English language teaching, accessibility for learners and appropriate assessments for refugee doctors. Her research interests include classroom methodologies and their impact on learning, increasing access to education for all students, promoting social mobility through education and providing effective SEND provision.

Jess Lawrence – Social and Justice Practice Researcher

Jess (she/they) has a background in Social Psychology, and has been working in the justice sector since 2017. She is a qualitative researcher and has worked on several collaborative research projects, including with the University of Cambridge and in the HMPPS Probation Workforce Programme. Her previous research includes projects on supported housing and reviewing the Senior Probation Officer role.

Jess is passionate about diversity and improving outcomes for people accessing services and the staff that deliver them. Her research interests include exploring the experiences of LGBTQ+ people (particularly people with minority gender identities), supporting the probation workforce and probation practice.

Our Education Research

Seetec’s Apprenticeships, education and skills pillar, Seetec Outsource, provides research that focuses on understanding effective teaching practice and how to improve education services to ensure challenges that learners face do not become a barrier to their learning.

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