Laura J Hamblin

Background

About Laura J Hamblin

I’m a Ph.D. Excellence Scholarship Student from the University of East London (UEL) and Researcher in Psychology. HISTORY Having completed my BSc (Hons) in Psychology with Criminology at UEL in 2008, I went on to work as a Research Assistant within the School of Psychology working on projects including drugs and addictive behaviours, abnormal psychology and the effective rehabilitation of Gambling Addicts. Whilst completing my undergraduate degree I was also involved in the Chicago School study at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and as Psychology Assistant in the Francis Willis, Semi Secure Unit as attached to HMP Lincoln. As a postgraduate, I have also worked on a research project about adolescent suicide prevention. My specialist area of interest is the intersection between cultural / social psychology and the aetiology of criminal behaviour, specifically child abuse. CURRENT RESEARCH My current research centres on child protection. Specifically; Child Abuse linked to a belief in Witchcraft or Spiritual Possession as it occurs in the UK context. I meet with both survivors of historical abuse and professionals involved in child protection cases with an aim to improve understanding of the abusive context thus leading to improved identification and reporting of such incidences. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS I conduct my research as both a student & member of the Centre for Social Work Research (CSWR) at UEL. Subsequently, I represent the CSWR at the ‘National Working Group for Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief’ and am a member of, and Research Assistant for, the ‘BME & Migrant Advisory Group; Safeguarding Children and Young People’. I have recently attended the UNHRC Experts Workshop on Witchcraft and Human Rights at the United Nations in Geneva and have forged working links with international authorities related to my area of research. I am also a Graduate member of the British Psychological Society and lecture in the school of Psychology.