Biography
Jake’s current research focuses on children who are looked after, also known as children in care. Jake is particularly interested in the typically negative outcomes associated with being in care. His current ESRC funded studentship is a project working alongside Cambridgeshire County Council. The research is primarily focused on the process by which children who are looked-after are returned to birth parents, known as reunification. The ultimate purpose of the research is to promote an evidence-influenced approach to the return of children to birth parents.
Jake is skilled in both quantitative and qualitative research methods to a high level. Jake is a mixed method researcher who believes that research is a process through which knowledge is created with participants. He promotes reflexivity, acknowledging the unique perspectives that researchers will bring to research due to their own life experiences which influence data collection and analysis.
In 2018 Jake completed an MPhil in Criminological Research at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. He also graduated with 1st class BA (Hons) in Applied Social Science (Crime and Criminal Justice) from the University of York in 2017. Jake’s research at an Undergraduate and Master’s level focused on policing and in particular on police officer mental health, and propensity to develop burnout. During his time in Cambridge Jake has taken on the post of PhD representative at the Institute of Criminology and has been the student representative for the ESRC Doctoral Training Programme.
Jake worked as a research assistant whilst at the University of York completing a collaborative study inside HMP Buckely Hall, alongside prisoners on long tariffs (defined as 10 years and over) exploring the meaning and purpose of rehabilitation. Jake also has experience researching police work and was research assistant to Professor Ben Bowling of King’s College London, editing the latest edition of Politics of the Police – one of the UK’s leading textbooks on Policing.
Research
Jake has experience in applying various Criminological theories in both police and prisons studies, and is now applying these principles to social services. Jake is interested in understanding the ways in which power is experienced by professionals vested with it by the state, and members of the public that are subject to it. Jake is exploring the extent to which power-holders are considered legitimate in their interactions with a member of the public influences the individuals relationship to agencies of the state. Jake is also interested in the link between structural inequality and criminal behaviours, particularly in young people.
Key interests
- The legitimacy of state agencies
- Youth Justice and structural inequalities
- Social Harm and Victimology
- Processes of Criminal Justice in England and Wales
Teaching and Supervisions
Jake is a former supervisor on the Undergraduate Law course Criminology, Sentencing and the Penal System and the Undergraduate Psychology and Behavioural Sciences course Foundations in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Jake is currently a supervisor in the Undergraduate Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS) course which is titled Long Essays on a range of Criminological Topics.
