Kirsty works as a Research Associate at CYCJ. She has a background of working across the criminal justice system, including with firms of defence solicitors, the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA), the police and the prison service.
Kirsty completed her PhD at the University of Glasgow in 2019, titled ‘Families – Inside Prison and Out: Young people’s experiences of having a family member in prison’.
She went on to complete an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Strathclyde in 2021. This looked at the experiences of prison staff in relation to families of prisoners and involved research investigating how prison service staff understand and operationalise the Scottish Prison Service Family Strategy.
Kirsty has also worked on academic research projects looking at desistance amongst ex-military personnel in custody and trauma-informed policing, as well as working with CELCIS on projects relating to care-experienced children and young people. She has also held roles as a research officer with SCRA and as a Senior Criminal Justice Researcher at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).