Research impact
Brunel’s Harm and Justice Research Group actively engages and collaborates with various communities and looks to impact policy and practice, both beyond and within academia.
Past research projects of group members have resulted in:
Practice-focused publications and presentations
We have made significant contributions through practice-focused publications and presentations.
Dr Matthew Cracknell has delivered presentations and webinars for the National Association of Probation Officers on resettlement and reintegration policy and practice, and at the Probation Institute on supervision and return to prison for short sentence populations.
Dr Julie Trebilcock has made several presentations on gambling harms for the HM Prison and Probation Service Steering Group, Probation Service, GamCare, the Commission on Crime and Gambling Related Harm, and the Bristol University Hub for Gambling Harms.
Dr Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal has published articles in The Conversation on the forced eviction of the Chagossians due to state co-offending by the US and the UK, and her work on developing a framework for criminology to embed a decolonising culture in teaching has led to presentations to scholars in other disciplines, including law, sociology, and psychology.
Dr Daniel Alge has published articles in The Conversation on various aspects of criminal justice and sentencing, including jury trials and the courts backlog.
Dr Matilde Rosina has delivered presentations on migration governance to officials from the UK’s Foreign Office and Home Office, as well as to counterparts in Italy. She has also published articles on the topic in The Conversation.
Dr Colin Luoma authored a report and provided public advocacy for the human rights NGO Minority Rights Group International, concerning ongoing human rights violations in a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Books with global readership
Professor Peggy Froerer’s recently published a book, Education, Aspiration and Social Mobility, examines social and structural inequalities in educational access and attainment amongst marginalised communities in rural India.
Dr Louise Forde has co-authored Children in Conflict with the Law: Rights, Research and Progressive Youth Justice, which charts the evidence base supporting a children’s rights approach to youth justice, and co-edited Responses to Serious Offending by Children: Principles, Practice and Global Perspectives, which examines international responses to cases of serious offending by children.
Dr Colin Luoma’s recently published book, Cultural Rights and Wrongs in Transitional Justice (OUP 2025), interrogates the the role of culture and cultural rights in global transitional justice processes.
Impactful community collaborations
Our research has also resulted in impactful community collaborations.
Dr Magali Peyrefitte produced a report and magazine with the Colinsdale Communities Trust on public and community engagement on the Grahame Park Estate in London.
Dr Julie Trebilcock’s research on gambling and crime has empowered community members to voice their experiences and support their recovery journeys, leading to the development of a Lived Experience Advisory Panel that provides avenues for gambling treatment support.
Dr Cristina Asenjo Palma works closely with Trinity Homeless Projects on what works to reduce homelessness. In May 2025, Cristina co-organized a dialogical workshop that brought together practitioners, researchers, and people with lived experiences of homelessness, funded by the UK Social Policy Association.
Changing practice
Our work has led to changes in practice within the public sector and the criminal justice system.
Dr Matthew Cracknell's evaluation of the Transitioning to Adulthood Probation Hub has resulted in meaningful changes.
Dr Julie Trebilcock's work has influenced discussions about modifying screening tools used to assess gambling harms among criminal-justice-involved individuals.
Dr Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal has contributed to the evaluation and support of police-run restorative justice programmes.
Government reports and evidence
Members of our group have influenced public policy by presenting evidence and reports to the Government.
Dr Matthew Cracknell has produced reports on improving the prison estate, the future of the probation service, and community sentences.
Dr Eoin Guilfoyle has provided expert evidence on community sentencing and sentencing guidelines.
Dr Julie Trebilcock has authored reports on gambling-related harms and the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway.
Dr Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal serves on the advisory board of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Restorative Justice.
Dr Colin Luoma has consulted on issues with and been cited in the reports of numerous UN experts.
Dr Cristina Asenjo Palma co-authored an evaluation of the sustainability and feasibility of community champion programmes in Hillingdon, which helped guide the implementation and development of volunteer-based public health projects.
In the media
- Dr Julie Trebilcock’s interview with BBC’s Woman’s Hour on women’s experiences of gambling crimes and addiction
- Dr Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal's interviews on BBC World, BBC Scotland, and BBC Gloucestershire on the war crimes in Ukraine and with ABC News Australia on the Chagos Archipelago