Welcome to the University of Lincoln, College of Social Science Research website. This website aims to provide an overview on the wide range of research undertaken within the College of Social Science. It contains details of events, current studies, community resources and information on how you or your organisation can become engaged with research within the College.
If you are interested in collaborating or discussing potential research ideas with our academics you can visit the Contact Us page.
Featured Research
An exploration of the wellbeing of prison governors and senior managers in England, Wales and Scotland.
In 2021, a multi-disciplinary team of researchers at the University of Lincoln were commissionsed by the Prison Governors Association to evaluate the state of their members’ health and wellbeing, with this being particulary pertinent following the immense pressure experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on semi-structured interviews with 63 prison governors and senior managers, two members of the team will discuss our findings and talk about the next steps in terms of how we hope these will impact on policy and practice. Key themes of our research include not feeling valued, impact on mental and physical health, frustration over lack of autonomy and fears for the future. Our recommendations for a more
positive way forward will also be included.
Latest News
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The gendered weight of desistance and understanding the ‘love of a good woman’: Desistance emotional work (DEW)Despite increasing academic focus on intimate relationships as positive influences on desistance, research has yet to examine the experience and impact of support provision for women who are intimate partners of desisters. This exploratory study draws on six in-depth interviews with partners of desisters to elucidate their experiences of support provision and the impact of desistance. This paper finds that women provide resources to their desisting partners, and that identities and agency can be strained through this provision. The desistance process entails an investment of emotional work and capital from intimate partners which is conceptualised in this paper as Desistance Emotional Work (DEW). Desistance research has not yet acknowledged the support needs of women who invest in their partner’s desistance, and so DEW should be considered further both theoretically and in policy and practice....
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An Exploration of Rural–Urban Residence on Self-Reported Health Status with UK Cancer Survivors Following Treatment: A Brief ReportObjective: To explore the effect of rural–urban residence on the self-reported health status of UK cancer survivors following primary treatment. Design: A post-positivist approach utilizing a cross-sectional survey that collected data on demographics, postcode and self-reported health status. Methods: An independent samples t test was used to detect differences in health status between rural and urban respondents. Pearson’s χ2 was used to control for confounding variables and a multivariate analysis was conducted using Stepwise linear regression. Setting: East Midlands of England. Participants: Adult cancer survivors who had undergone primary treatment in the last five years. Participants were excluded if they had recurrence or metastatic spread, started active oncology treatment in the last twelve months, and/or were in receipt of palliative or end-of-life care. Main outcome: Residence was measured using the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) RUC2011 Rural–Urban Classifications and Health Status via the UK ONS self-reported health status measure. Ethics: The study was reviewed and approved (Ref: 17/WS/0054) by an NHS Research Ethics Committee and the Health Research Authority (HRA) prior to recruitment and data collection taking place. Results: 227 respondents returned a questionnaire (response rate 27%). Forty-five percent (n = 103) were resident in a rural area and fifty-three percent (n = 120) in an urban area. Rural (4.11 ± 0.85) respondents had significantly (p < 0.001) higher self-reported health statuses compared to urban (3.65 ± 0.93) respondents (MD 0.47; 95% CI 0.23, 0.70). Conclusion: It is hoped that the results will stimulate further work in this area and that researchers will be encouraged to collect data on rural–urban residency where appropriate....
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Upskirting: A Systematic Literature ReviewUpskirting’ – the non-consensual taking and/or dissemination of intimate images taken surreptitiously up a skirt – is a relatively new addition to the repertoire of men’s violence against women and girls. Recently, it has received considerable media and public attention in many countries and some academic scrutiny. This systematic review explicates how scholars construct upskirting as a matter for academic inquiry and a social problem that requires remedy. Four research sub-questions address how scholarship constructs: the problem of upskirting; perpetrators of upskirting; victims of upskirting, and remedies. Five bibliographical databases were searched, yielding 26 sources that met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies (16) and most of the earlier work are from the discipline of Law. Other studies come from a combination of Criminology, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, and Computing. The predominance of legal scholarship has created a framing of upskirting which constructs it as an individual sexual act, for purposes of sexual gratification, as gender-neutral, as the act of aberrant individuals, and scrutinises the act of taking the photograph. By contrast, scholarship from other disciplines is more likely to locate upskirting as highly gendered behaviour in the context of gendered relations of power, and of violence against women and girls, and to consider both the act of taking the photograph and its dissemination online. We argue that future research ought to: approach upskirting as a form of violence against women and girls; be empirical and intersectional, and engage with victims and perpetrators....
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Interdisciplinarity of Sport and Exercise[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/12.-Sport-and-Exercise-Science.pptx"/] Performance Research Group The goal of the Performance Research Group is to conduct research to explore fundamental and applied sport science topics for enhancing sport performance. The complexity of living beings lends itself to multi- and inter-disciplinary research to investigate how humans and other living organisms are able to achieve and improve their performance. Consequently, we conduct research from a range of perspectives on topics including: Biomechanical feedback in sport; Physiology of the female athlete; Professional practice issues and interventions in sport psychology, and; Psychological states underlying excellent performance in sport....
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Turning Tides: Changing research in Lincoln Law School[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/11.-Lincoln-Law-School.pptx"/] Following a period of significant staffing changes, we decided to organise our research around five thematic clusters in areas of recognised research strength: international law, human rights, criminal justice, environmental law, and corporate/ commercial law. Our aim is to stimulate grassroots research in line with the plans and career stage of researchers in the School, with experienced researchers providing mentoring and peer support. Opportunities for engagement in cross cutting research is enabled through the use of international and external research networks like the Lincoln Centre for Environmental Justice, East Midland Police Academic Network, and the Earth Systems Law network. Leads of Research Units, Groups and Centres: Richard Barnes (Director of Research); Andra Le Roux Kemp (Director of Post-Graduate Studies) Cluster leads: Nicolas Kang Riou (Human Rights); Max Brookman-Byrne (International Law); Richard Barnes (Environmental Law); Karen Harrison (Criminal Justice); Nkechi Azinge (Commercial/Corporate)...
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The School of Education: Lincolnshire Learning Lab[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/10.-School-of-Education.pptx"/] Lincolnshire Learning Lab (LLL) was established to improve the learning of all children and the working environments for teachers within Lincolnshire. The purpose is to bring academic rigour and evidence-based research into the classroom by engaging the three key stakeholders – teachers, academics and anyone involved/interested in the education system (parents/educational consultants etc.). The LLL is so called to enable research to be carried out in schools in a rigorous and innovative manner ensuring that time is spent productively on research that will benefit all (staff/children/families) whilst offering teachers the opportunity to work with academics to ensure that research is effective for all. The group was established by the School of Education at the University of Lincoln in February 2021. The main aims are to: 1. Provide opportunity to work innovatively within the ‘lab’ style approach with a range of educational professionals to provide opportunity for research to become embedded in practice. 2. Devise, lead and carry out research projects that will provide evidence for educational innovation. 3. Provide all teachers, academics and other educational stakeholders the opportunity to develop practice across the county to engage all in improving educational outcomes for all children....
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An Overview of research Groups and Centres in the School of Psychology[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/9.-School-of-Psychology.pptx"/] The presentation will begin with an overview of the diverse domains of expertise and specialism in the School of Psychology by showcasing our principal research groups (Cognitive Psychology Research Group; Development and Behaviour Research Group; Forensic and Crime Research Group; Psychological Health & Wellbeing (PheW); Social Psychology Research Group) and research centres (Autism Research Innovation Centre and Lincoln Sleep Research Centre). It will then showcase three different areas within our groups to give examples of research underpinning some impact case studies. The School of Psychology scored highly on impact in the recent REF. The first example will showcase work on the conservation of the Barbary Macaque, which has led to changes in international trade laws, an updated assessment of conservation status and greater public awareness with regard to eco-tourism. The second will showcase OnlinePROTECT which aims to improve practitioner approaches to online child sexual exploitation. The work has been integrated into staff training within Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Services, which has been rolled out across England and Wales Probation Services. The final example will document some of the negative consequences and harms experienced by disordered gamblers, specifically work that was carried out to investigate the relationship between gambling and violence in nationally and internationally representative samples. This research was cited in Parliamentary briefing papers and influenced the introduction of gambling harm minimisation measures, including the introduction of an amendment to gaming machine legislation to limit fixed odds betting terminal stake size....
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An overview of research and scholarly activity - current studies and initiatives from the School of Health and Social Care[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/8.-School-of-Health-and-Social-Care.pptx"/] Mental Health, Health and Social Care Research Group (MH2aSC), Prof Ros Kane, Professor of Nursing and Public Health and Director of Research: Mental Health, Health and Social Care Research Group...
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Suicide in/as politics[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/7.-Alex-and-Ana.pptx"/] The ‘Suicide in/as Politics’ project is a three-year, interdisciplinary, and qualitative research project (funded by Leverhulme Trust), which examines the ways in which suicide is constructed within public and political discourses. Our project recognises that suicide is complex and is shaped by social, cultural, and political factors which are not reducible to individual mental health problems. Situated between sociology and political studies ‘Suicide in/as Politics’ is generating new knowledge on suicide. We have investigated the ways in which suicide is constructed and employed in formal political discourse and policy documents, an area where there has been very limited academic attention. We did this by analysing all UK suicide prevention documents in use in all four nations of the UK between 2009 and 2019, by examining debates on suicide in all four UK legislatures and by exploring third sector campaigns which address suicide. In the next phase of the project, we are reaching out to and engaging with diverse publics in England and Scotland to share our research and explore public understandings of suicide. Through innovative and collaborative arts-based research workshops we will investigate how community members respond to, and make sense of, political and policy meanings and uses of suicide....