Dr Hannah Cassidy is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology at the School of Humanities and Social Science. She completed her undergraduate studies in Psychological and Educational Sciences at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium (2009-2012) and a Masters in Forensic Psychology at the University of Portsmouth (2012-2013). Following the completion of her PhD at the University of Portsmouth, she joined the University of Brighton in September 2017 where she successfully achieved a PGCert in Higher Education. She is currently Co-Course Lead for BSc (Hons) Psychology for L4 students.

I am the Lead and Creator of the Understanding Childhood and Adolescence Research Excellence Group. I am also the Director of the associated research lab, The Wonder Laboratory.

More specifically, I am interested in vulnerable persons, particularly children and adolescents, being involved in the criminal justice system, whether it be as victims, witnesses or suspects. My PhD research focused on detecting children’s false allegations, but now I am focused on researching evidence-based, developmentally-appropriate forensic interviewing practices that facilitate disclosure of sensitive, crime-relevant information.

My current research projects are:

• Understanding developmental and contextual factors that influence decisions to disclose or withhold information;
• Creating an evidence base for effective child forensic interview techniques that enhance detailed responding and support the memory retrieval process;
• Comparing and contrasting international approaches to child forensic interviewing to establish key best-practice principles;
• Implementing effective investigative interviewing principles (Mendez principles) in relation to child forensic interviewing through networking and training.

I am the Module Lead for SS571 Childhood, Psychology & Society. I also design and deliver Psychology lectures and seminars across all three undergraduate levels, with a specific focus on Developmental Psychology, Forensic Psychology and Forensic Security. I am a Dissertation Supervisor on SS603 Psychology Dissertation, with my final-year students usually investigating forensic topics.

My goal when teaching is to engage students and to get them excited about the topic we’re discussing. In my lectures and seminars, I like to challenge students’ beliefs about a subject and broaden their understanding. Where possible, I endeavour to integrate my research into my teaching. As an active researcher, I am able to give my students insights into areas of Child Interviewing and Deception that have yet to published! Having worked with police child interviewers, I am also able to demonstrate the applied importance of my research and can highlight potential obstacles that the police face.

I would be very interested in supervising postgraduate students conducting projects on:

• Vulnerability and forensic investigative interviewing;
• Evidence-based child forensic interviewing techniques;
• Working with police (nationally and internationally) to overcome barriers to prosecuting cases involving children and adolescents;
• Understanding factors that promote decisions to disclose and designing strategies to promote honesty.