Jessica Gallagher

I have been lecturing in Penal Reform and Criminal Justice Policy for a year while beginning preparation for current doctoral study, with both my teaching and research focused on issues within penal reform, the current prison crisis, the mental health of prisoners and further Criminal Justice Policy issues. I've found myself to be hugely passionate about this area, and have forged my academic career based on the idea that academia can, and will influence major policy change.

Throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate study, I have focused on these areas of study from a legal and criminological background, something which I am now building on with my doctoral study which focuses on the psychological effect that imprisonment has on self-harm and suicide amongst offenders. Throughout this research, I will be focusing on the mental health of prisoners by undertaking qualitative research with Criminal Justice service users in an attempt to inform change for the better. My undergraduate was in Law and my postgraduate was in Criminology and Psychology, which has meant that I could influence my teaching with these theories and practices.

As well as teaching within De Montfort, I have attended and taken part in external lectures and conferences, in an effort to raise discussion and awareness of the severe problems facing the prison estate at the moment, and to educate others on this issue. These talks have been focused on sentencing and prison conditions specifically, and have been to multiple audiences, from undergraduates to academics.