Academic Profiling System

I am a Professor of Political Psychology at Liverpool Hope University and a recent Fulbright Scholar at the national Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland. I have also recently served as a Visiting Research Fellow to the Changing Character of War Programme at Pembroke College, Oxford. My research has focused on political conflict and its psychological implications since I studied towards my PhD at the University of Ulster. I am currently the Chair for the University Research Ethics Committee and have previously served as the Director of the Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies. I have also had the privilege to serve as Research Fellow at University of St Andrews, and teach on courses at the University of Ulster, University of York and Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. I have a long-standing association with, and have served as a member of the Governing Council for the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) for two terms. I am an Associate Editor of Political Psychology and serve on the editorial committees of the Journal of Moral Education, Journal of Deradicalization and the Journal of Social and Political Psychology. I am a trustee of, and the treasurer for the Journal of Moral Education Trust. My current research focuses on processes of engagement, involvement and disengagement from politically motivated violence focusing on paramilitary groups based in Northern Ireland. I have published in both psychological and politics journals, edited and contributed to a number of edited volumes and offered critical advice to various governments, security agencies and NGOs on issues around radicalization, terrorism, counter-terrorism and conflict transformation. I teach across the Psychology curriculum at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervise PhD students researching within the broad field of political psychology.

Research Interests

Qualitative methods
Social Identity approaches
Political conflict
Northern Ireland
Terrorism (radicalization and deradicalization)
Moral reasoning
Peace building and conflict transformation

Contact Details

Contact Type	Details	Actions
Work Telephone	0151 291 3754
ORCID Identifier	ORCHID ID: 0000-0002-0950-450X

Research Expertise and Interests

My research interests are encompassed within developmental, political and social psychology. Within these areas my research has followed a number of themes: moral development, the impact of political violence on children, adolescents and adults, peace building and challenging violence. I am currently involved in a number of research projects and initiatives: including a cross-cultural project exploring the impact of political violence on moral reasoning, an exploration of the meaning of victimhood in Northern Ireland, a study of why and how civilians join paramilitary groups and why and how they leave these armed groups and a number of other projects based in Northern Ireland which explore identity, forgiveness, resistance, conceptions of war and peace, satisfaction with the peace process and solutions to the conflict. I would be willing to supervise research in any of the areas listed below.

Moral Reasoning: I am interested in socio-political factors which either enhance or delay individual moral development. For example, political conflict, urbanization, education, etc.
Armed Resistance & Insurgency: I conduct research which explores why individuals join insurgent, paramilitary or terrorist organisations and engage/disengage in armed resistance.
Groups, Stereotyping, War and Aggression
Research devoted to studies of groups, cultural effects, cross-national differences and ethnicity.
Studies of human aggression, correlates of aggression and attitudes towards the use of violence.
Tolerance of out-groups, stereotypes and stereotyping.
Concepts of War and Peace in countries suffering political conflict.
Belief in a Just World: I am particularly interested in research into factors which influence the strength of just world beliefs such experiences of discrimination and trauma.
Social Identity: I have a wide ranging interest in Social Identity Theory, the salience of in-group identity.
Patriotism and Nationalism: I have an interest in Blind or Constructive Patriotism and Nationalism and social factors that contribute to patriotic beliefs.
Ethnic Memories and Political Violence: The role of ethnic memories among Irish Diaspora and their contribution to the political violence in Northern Ireland.
Forgiveness & Victimhood: I am interested in the meaning and role of forgiveness and victimhood in areas of conflict; for example, is forgiveness essential to peace building?

Research Centre / Group

Centre Name	Actions
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies

Expertise Keywords

Keyword	Actions
Social Psychology
Political Psychology
Psychology
Terrorism
Political Violence
Northern Ireland
Peace Building

Submission Type	Title	Published Year
Authored Book	Post-conflict Reconstruction (Liverpool Hope University Studies in Ethics)	2010
Chapter in Book	The Impact of Political Violence on Moral Reasoning: Socio-political reasoning in Northern Ireland.	2009

University Name	Exam Title	Start Date	End Date
University of York	MA Post-war Recovery Studies	2015	2019
University of Buckingham	PhD	2016	2016
University of Huddersfiled	PhD Annual Monitoring	2016	2016
Queens University Belfast	PhD	16/11/2016	16/11/2016
University of Plymouth	PhD	15/06/2017	15/06/2017

PROFESSOR

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