Applications sought for PhD Studentship addressing sexual offending
Applications are being sought for a 1+3 Collaborative PhD Studentship beginning on 15 September 2014 funded by the Economic and Social Research Council through the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science.
This project involves an exciting collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, the City of Edinburgh Council and Scotland’s Risk Management Authority, to explore criminal justice practices in action.
The candidate will conduct research on a new groupwork programme for addressing sexual offending, entitled “Moving Forward: Making Changes”, which is based on the Good Lives Model (Ward & Maruna, 2007).
The student will focus on analysing video recordings of the groupwork sessions, paying close attention to the nature of the interactions and their consequences for behaviour change, drawing on discourse analysis and conversation analysis.
The candidate will benefit from academic supervisors experienced in research and practice on criminal justice groupwork programmes (Prof Bill Whyte) and the analysis of interactions in criminal justice settings (Dr Steve Kirkwood). They will also benefit from supervision from people highly experienced in practice and policy related to the programme from the two partner organisations. As part of the research, the student will spend a proportion of their time located at the Criminal Justice Social Work office in Edinburgh.
The project is an excellent opportunity to develop theory and practice in criminal justice through collaboration and the innovative use of research methods.
Candidates for this studentship should hold an ESRC-recognised 1st Class or 2:1 Honours degree in a relevant social science discipline. Relevant professional experience, such as practice experience in criminal justice / social work, will be taken into account.
The candidate will undertake a year of research methods training through the MSc by Research in Social Work before commencing the PhD research. Full awards (fees plus maintenance stipend) are open to UK Nationals and EU students who can satisfy UK residency requirements. To be eligible for the full award, EU Nationals must have been in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the course for which they are seeking funding.
Further information on the eligibility criteria is available here:
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/postgraduates/prospective-students/eligibility/index.aspx
Further information on the value of the scholarship is available here:
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/postgraduates/prospective-students/studentship-worth/index.aspx
The studentship will be in the Social Work pathway of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (the ESRC’s Scottish Doctoral Training Centre http://www.socsciscotland.ac.uk/ ); it will be based at the University of Edinburgh, although students will be encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities that being part of a Scotland-wide DTC offers.
Prospective applicants wishing to enquire about these studentships should contact Dr Steve Kirkwood at [email protected] to whom applications should also be sent no later than the closing date of 20 June 2014. Applications should include a CV, the names and contact details (postal, e-mail and phone) of 2 referees (consisting of 2 academic referees or 1 academic referee and 1 professional referee if the candidate has relevant professional expertise), and a 200-word statement on what they would bring to the study of the topic.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview at the University of Edinburgh in July 2014.
After being selected the candidate will still need to formally apply to the MSc by research and the PhD programme in Social Work at the School of Social and Political Science: http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/gradschool/applicants/how_to_apply.
Further information on how to apply for admission to the programme will be available to the successful candidate.
