Dr Laura Briody

Biography

Dr Briody gained her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews, where she would also gain her Masters of Research in Social Anthropology. She won an ESRC-funded CASE PhD studentship for her postdoctoral project at Keele University on operationalising 'vulnerability': investigating how the police are informed about, identify and respond to individuals categorised as 'vulnerable'. She continues to examine how structural inequalities and social hierarchies perpetuate barriers within the public sector and criminal justice policy and practice under the guise of 'vulnerability'. Her project involved working closely with an English police force, and therefore has substantial knowledge of policing practice, policy, history and legislation.

She has been a researcher with the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme and the College of Policing. She was the Data Insights Team for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 annual reports for the child safeguarding practice review panel, published by the Department for Education. She has significant knowledge of the safeguarding system and a emphatic interest in children's rights.

She taught courses such as mental health and offending, as well as crime and psychology, during her postdoctoral studies. She is thrilled to be lecturing in criminology at the University of Cumbria full-time.

Qualifications and memberships

MA (Hons) Psychology and Social Anthropology, University of St Andrews
MRes in Social Anthropology, University of St Andrews
PhD in Criminology, Keele University

Academic and research interests

Topics of interest include policing practice, history and policy; mental health provision; victimisation and victim's rights; the politics of 'vulnerability' in policy and practice; politics and history of child sexual abuse; safeguarding and children's rights; intersectionality and inequality within research, the public sector and the criminal justice system.

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