Professor Laura Hammond
Professor in Investigative Psychology
School of Social Sciences
- Email:
- laura.hammond@bcu.ac.uk
- Phone:
- +44 (0)121 331 7263
Laura’s research has focused on a wide range of related areas, from spatial patterns in crime and Geographical Profiling to investigative processes and decision-making, the modelling of crime and study of criminal actions, public perceptions and experiences of crime and juror decision-making.
Her work is driven by a focus on real-world impact. She has worked with a number of different police forces and law enforcement agencies around the world on a range of consultancy projects and criminal legal cases, as well as with a range of 3rd sector parties, charities and policy-makers.
Currently a big focus of her research activity is exploring how lived experience can be used to drive positive and lasting change in relation to criminal justice processes and systems.
Areas of Expertise
- Investigative Psychology
- Behavioural Modelling of Crime
- Offender Profiling
- The Geography of Crime
- Geographical Offender Profiling
- Investigative Processes and Investigative Efficacy
- Investigative Interviewing
- Investigative and Legal Decision-Making
- The Reliability and Value of Evidence and Testimony
- Public Perceptions and Experiences of Crime
- Lived Experience of Criminal Justice Processes
- Evidence-Based Policing
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity in Criminal and Social Justice
Qualifications
- BSc
- MSc
- PhD
- PGCert (Research Practice)
- SEDA Recognised Research Supervisor
Memberships
- British Psychology Society
- British Society of Criminology
Teaching
Laura teaches on the following courses:
- MSc Forensic Psychology
- MSc Policing and Intelligence Analysis
- BSc Professional Policing
Research
- Evidence based policing and police use of research.
- Improving investigative responses
- Youth knife crime and anti-knife crime interventions.
- The spatial distribution of crime and geographical profiling effectiveness.
- Predictors of offending propensity and vulnerability to victimization.
- Ideographic and nomothetic determinants of DV victimization, reporting and help-seeking.
- Public understanding and perceptions of novel crimes and emerging threats.
- Strategies for tackling Fraud
- Victims’ Experiences of Criminal Justice Responses
Postgraduate Supervision
- Natasha Pope: The Efficacy of School-Based Anti-Knife Crime Interventions.
- Steven Wadley: Evaluating the Impact of the Special Constable Role - Well-Being, Resilience and Academic Attainment of Professional Policing Students.
- Marcia Shakespeare: Exploitation - Awareness, Perceptions and Experiences of Exploitation and Associated Support.
- Kai Gaskin: How does the Subjective Perception of Time affect Public Perceptions of Fairness for Custodial Sentences?
- Lauren Gillespie: Personality Variables of Jurors -The Impact on Jury Decision-Making.
- Jonathan Jackson: Public Perceptions of Police Legitimacy.
- Je-Nice Harris: Relationships Between the Police and Black Communities.
- Emily-Beth Davis-Smith: Police Dogs: Public and Police Perceptions of Their Utility and Value.
- Bobbie White: The Impact of Perceived Safety and Fear of Crime on Engagement with the Police
- Sarah McBrearty: Belief-Motivated Crime.
- Ron Winch: The Ethics of Police Use of Artificial Intelligence.
- Keira Radice: The Use of Language Interventions as Part of Youth Offender Management.
- Klara Del Moro: Public Understanding and Recognition of Coercive Control.
- Sarah Jones: “A Family Tale” - The Lived Experiences of Families of Children Who Commit Homicide.
- Emily Platt: Identifying and Distinguishing between Parental Alienation and Realistically Estranged Children.
- Kyle Bridgman Lewis: The Blurred Lines of Coercive Control - Examining Perceptions of Coercive Control.
- Bryony Hodgetts: Language, Incels, and Policing: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Examining Online Incel Discourse and Police Perceptions of Incel Community Specific Language.
- Dimitra Tsirogianni: Domestic Violence in Greece: Perceptions and Experiences of a Growing Public Health Issue.
- Gavin May: Police Interventions in Intimate Partner Violence - The Role of Orientation and Perceived Femininity
Publications
Journal Articles:
Rosewood, E., & Hammond, L. (2023). The Impacts of Conservatism, Social Dominance, and Rape Myth Acceptance on Blame Attribution in Ambiguous Rape Scenarios. Violence Against Women, Online First: https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012231200474.
Ashton, S., Ioannou, M., & Hammond, L. (2020). The relationship of gang membership status to psychological and social risk factors in a sample of adolescent and young adult males. Journal of Gang Research, 28(1); 29-52.
Ashton, S., Ioannou, M., Hammond, L., & Synnott, J. (2020). The relationship of offending style to psychological and social risk factors in a sample of adolescent males. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 17(2), 76-92.
Mojtahedi, D., Ioannou, M., & Hammond, L. (2019). Intelligence, authority, and blame conformity: Co-witness influence is moderated by the perceived competence of the information source. Psychology, Crime and Law, 35, 422-431.
Mojtahedi, D., Ioannou, M., Hammond, L., & Synnott, J. (2019). Investigating the effects of age and gender on co-witness suggestibility during blame attribution. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 16(3), 153-168.
Ciesla, K., Ioannou, M., & Hammond, L. (2019). Women offenders’ Criminal Narrative Experience (CNE). Journal of Criminal Psychology, 9(1), 23-43.
Ciesla, K., Ioannou, M., and Hammond, L. (2018). Women offenders' emotional experience of crime. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 15(3), 287-303
Mojtahedi, D., Ioannou, M. and Hammond, L. (2018). Group size, misinformation and unanimity influences on co-witness judgments. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 25(9), 844-865.
Mojtahedi, D., Ioannou, M. and Hammond, L. (2018). The dangers of co-witness familiarity: Investigating the effects of co-witness relationships on blame conformity. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 33(4), 316-326.
Yaneva, M., Ioannou, M., Hammond, L. and Synnott, J. (2018). Differentiating contract killers: A narrative-based approach. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 57(1), 107-123.
Ashton, S., Ioannou, M. and Hammond, L. (2018). Offending patterns of youth gang members and leavers. Journal of Gang Research, 25(2), 29-49.
Mojtahedi, D., Ioannou, M. and Hammond, L. (2017) Personality correlates of co-witness suggestibility. Journal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice, 4, 249-274.
Ioannou, M., Hammond, L. and Machin, L. (2017) Male-on-male sexual assault: Victim, offender and offence characteristics. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 14(2), 189-209.
Hammond, L., Ioannou, M. & Fewster, M. (2016) Perceptions of male rape and sexual assault in a U.K. male sample: Barriers to reporting and the impacts of victimisation. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 14(2), 133-149.
Williams, L., Ioannou, M., & Hammond, L. (2016). Proposal for a community-based perpetrator, primary caregiver and child victim sexual risk assessment tool - The ‘Sexual Allegation Form Evaluating Risk (SAFER)’. Assessment and Development Matters, 8 (1).
Ioannou, M. & Hammond, L. (2015) The changing face of homicide research: The shift in empirical focus and emerging research trends. Journal of Criminal Psychology, 5(3); 157-162.
Hammond, L. & Ioannou, M. (2015) Age effects on juvenile homicide perpetration. Journal of Criminal Psychology, 5(3); 163-176.
Ioannou, M. & Hammond, L. (2015) A model for differentiating school shooters characteristics’. Journal of Criminal Psychology, 5(3); 188-200.
Evans, L., Ioannou, M. & Hammond, L. (2015) A predictive model of criminality in civil psychiatric populations’. Journal of Criminal Psychology, 5(1); 1-12.
Ioannou, M. & Hammond, L. (2014) The detection of deception within investigative contexts: Key challenges and core issues. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 12(2); 107-118.
Hammond, L. (2014) Geographical profiling in a novel context: Prioritising the search for New Zealand sex offenders. Psychology, Crime and Law; 20(4); 358-371.
Canter, D., Hammond, L. & Youngs, D. (2013) Cognitive bias in lineup identifications: The impact of administrator knowledge. Science and Justice, 53(2); 83-88.
Canter, D., Hammond, L., Youngs, D. & Juzczak, P. (2013) The efficacy of ideographic models for geographical offender profiling. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29(3); 423-466.
Hammond, L. & Youngs, D. (2011) Decay functions and criminal spatial processes: Geographical offender profiling of volume crime. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8(1); 90-102.
Canter, D. & Hammond, L. (2007). Prioritising burglars: Comparing the effectiveness of geographical profiling methods. Journal of Police Practice and Research, 8(4); 371-384.
Hammond, L., Wagstaff, G. & Cole, J. (2006). Facilitating eyewitness memory in adults and children with context reinstatement and focused meditation. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 3(2), p117-130.
Canter, D. & Hammond, L. (2006). ‘A comparison of the efficacy of different decay functions in geographical profiling for a sample of U.S. serial killers. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 3(2), p91-103.
Book Chapters:
Hammond, L. & Ioannou, M. (2017) ‘Mock Jurors’ Understanding of Forensic Science and Its Perceived Importance in Judicial Processes’. In: Psychology and law in Europe: When West meets East. : CRC Press. pp. 103-124. ISBN 978-1498780988
Hammond, L. & Youngs, D. (2013) ‘Geographical Offender Profiling’. In Youngs, D. (Ed.) ‘The Behavioural Analysis of Crime’. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Hammond, L. & Thole, K. (2008). ‘Interviewing and Testimony’. In Canter, D. (Ed.) ‘Criminological Psychology’. London; Hodder Arnold.
In Press:
Rudolfsson, L., Hammond, L. & Bjorklund, C. (2023). Victims of Rape and the Quality of Encounters with the Swedish Police: A Questionnaire Study. Violence Against Women.
Research Reports:
Hammond, L., Bradford-Clarke, L., Del Moro, K., White, B., & Boag, E. (2023) Life Sentence: Understanding the Experiences and Support Needs of Those Bereaved by Murder and Manslaughter - Findings From a Replication of Louise Casey’s (2011) Research into the Needs of Families Bereaved Through Homicide. Report for the Charity Support After Murder and Manslaughter and the UK Victims' Commissioner.
Hammond, L., & Richards, J, (2023). Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: Barriers to Community Engagement and Suggestions for Improving Police-Public Relations. Report for West Midlands Police.
Hammond, L., & Fraga Dominguez, S. (2023). Understanding the Challenge of Domestic Abuse and the Justice System. Report For Women Acting In Today’s Society.
Harrison, N., Hammond, L., Pornari, C. & Earnshaw, D. (2023). The Impact of DAPPs on Housing Stability. Commissioned Report for Walsall Council.
Hammond, L., Pornari, C., Harrison, N. & Wheeler-Mundy, R. (2022). Proportionate Investigation, Proportionate Outcomes? Understanding the Challenges of Investigative Responses to Domestic Abuse. Commissioned Report for West Midlands Police.
Hammond, L., Fraga-Dominguez, S., & Pemberton, S. (2022). Evaluating the Impacts of the WAITS CIP Project: Findings from Surveys and Interviews with Service Users, Partners and Service Providers. Report for Women Acting In Today's Society.
Hammond, L., Bradford, L., Del Moro, K., White, B. & Boag, E. (2022). The Support Needs of Those Bereaved by Homicide. Report for the Charity Support After Murder and Manslaughter and the Victims’ Commissioner.
Hammond, L. (2022). The Nature and Characteristics of Hate Crime in the West Midlands. Report for West Midlands Police.
Media Work
Work With Industry
Laura works with a number of industry partners, including police and law enforcement bodies, 3rd sector organizations and victim support charities.
Links and Social Media
- Twitter/X: @DrLauraHammond