Centre of Research & Education in Forensic Psychology

About the centre

CORE-FP centre video

Forensic Psychology research at Kent and all forensic-related teaching operates through our newly established Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychology or CORE-FP as it is more informally known.

The main aim of the centre is to conduct high impact psychological research to:

  1. further understand key forensic issues of social significance, and
  2. lead to cutting edge teaching and research opportunities for post graduate students.
Forensic psychology is an extremely popular and modern branch of psychology that seeks to understand the psychological processes underlying offending behaviour, (including group processes), the reduction and supervision of offending behaviour (i.e., rehabilitation, treatment, and management of community risk), victim responses to offending, the mechanisms underlying the criminal justice system more generally (i.e., jury decision making and the courts), and attitudes to offenders and offender reintegration in society.

Areas of forensic psychology research that we are currently working on as a Centre include: bullying in prisons, prison gang behaviour, jury decision-making, child sexual offending, rape, rape proclivity, female sexual offending, theories of offender rehabilitation, firesetting, sexual harassment, violence, aggression and alcohol, and the infrahumanisation of offenders. Other areas of research include social cognition, social and moral emotion, and group process theory; all of which are applied to the study of offending behaviour or court process issues.

Forensic psychology research at the Centre is funded by various national and international sources which include:

  • The British Academy
  • Economic and Social Research Council
  • Home Office
  • Leverhulme
  • Ministry of Justice
  • The Nuffield Foundation

 

Enquiries: +44 (0)1227 823961 or contact us.

Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NP

Last Updated: 19/10/2012