About

I am Discipline Lead: Head of Forensic and Health Psychology. As well as having academic knowledge of this field, I also bring professional experience having worked in the rehabilitation of individuals previously convicted of a sexual offence at one of Europe's largest sex offender treatment facilities. This allows me to bring the 'real-world' into the discipline. Further, as psychology has the second biggest gender divide in HE with women outnumbering men by 4:1, I am involved in working with our Widening Access team to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in Forensic and Health Psychology.

Research interests

I am currently working on two research projects. The first aims to look at women offenders who may have committed their crimes as a result of Intimate Partner Violence (including coercion, retaliation, or self-defence) and the second aims to identify the specific needs of women veterans who, following discharge from active service, suffer emotional adversity and trauma which can make daily life difficult to navigate. Both projects involve national and international collaborations.

Recent publications

• Spenser, K. A., Childs. C., Adhikari, J., & Edwards, P. (2021). 'WAF0042 - Inquiry: Women in the Armed Forces: From Recruitment to Civilian Life.' UK Parliament
• Spenser, K.A., Bull, R., Betts, L.R., & Winder, B. (2021). Gender Differences in Theory of Mind, Empathic Understanding, and Moral Reasoning in an Offending Population. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211010287
• Spenser, K.A., Bull, R., Betts, L.R., & Winder, B. (2020). Age-Related Development of Theory of Mind, Empathic Understanding and Moral Reasoning in the Context of Offending Behaviours. Cognitive Development
• Spenser, K.A., Bull, R., Betts, L. and Winder, B., (2019). Executive functioning as a predictive measure of offending behaviour. Journal of Criminal Psychology. DOI: 10.1108/JCP-07-2018-0032
• Spenser, K. A. & Betts, L. R. (2018). Defining and Conceptualizing Cyberbullying. In Encyclopaedia of Information Science and Technology, 4th Edition. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-2255-3.ch361
• Betts, L.R. & Spenser, K.A. (2017). People think its a harmless joke: A young peoples understanding of the impact of technology, digital vulnerability, and cyberbullying in the United Kingdom. Journal of Children and Media, 11(1), 20-35. DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2016.1233893
• Betts, L.R. & Spenser, K.A. (2017). Developing the cyber victimisation experiences and cyberbullying behaviours scales. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 178(2), 1 -18. DOI: 10.1080/00221325.2017.1295222
• Betts, L.R., Spenser, K.A. & Gardner, S.E. (2017). Adolescents' involvement in cyberbullying and perceptions of school: the importance of perceived peer acceptance for female adolescents. Sex Roles, 76 (7/8), 1-11. DOI: 10.1007/s11199-017-0742-2
• Betts, L.R., Gkimtzoudis, T., Spenser, K.A. & Baguley, T. (2016). Examining the roles of young people fulfil in five types of cyberbullying. Journal of social and Personal Relationships. DOI: 10.1177/0265407516668585 
• Spenser, K. A., Betts, L. R., & Das Gupta, M. (2015).  Deficits in Prosocial Skills: A comparison between young-adult offenders and non-offenders. Psychology, Crime and Law, 21 (7), pp. 632-647. DOI: 10.1080/1068316X.2015.1028542
• Betts, L.R. & Spenser, K.A., (2015). A large can of worms: Teachers perceptions of young people's technology use. International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning, 5 (2), pp. 15-25. DOI: 10.4018/ijcbpl.2015040102

Membership of professional bodies

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychology Society (CPsychol)
• Associate fellow of the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS)
• General membership of the British Psychological Societies Forensic Division

Professional interests

As well as being a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, I am an experienced Magistrate working in both the adult criminal and family courts. I am also a trustee of the Safer Living Foundation, a charity focused on reducing sexual offending and re-offending through rehabilitative and preventative interventions.

Qualifications

PhD - Nottingham Trent University

My PhD, which was entitled "Socio-Cognitive Determinants of Offending Behaviours" focused on reduced abilities in Theory of Mind, Empathic Understanding, and Moral Reasoning as contributory factors in antisocial and offending behaviours across all ages of male and female offenders.

Recent conferences

• Spenser, K.A. (Sept, 2017). Hit me baby one more time: Domestic violence, rape and desistance. Presented at the 17 Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology
• Spenser, K. A. (May, 2014). “People think it’s a harmless joke when really it could be hurting someone”: Young people’s experiences of cyber bullying. Presented at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference. International Convention Centre Birmingham

Experience in industry

Before moving to the world of academia I worked for the Safer Living Foundation (SLF). The SLF, based in one of Europe's largest sex offender treatment facilities, works on projects that help individuals who have committed sexual offences reintegrate back into society. Adopting a "Through the Gate" approach, I worked with vulnerable groups (individuals with an intellectual disability, the elderly, or those with very little or no social support and/or who are sexually attracted to children and/or adolescents) who may be a higher risk for up to 18 months following release.

In the media

I recently took part in several episodes of Sky's "How I Caught a Killer" series.

Teaching responsibilities

I am responsible for all undergraduate programmes in Forensic and Health Psychology at the University of Derby. I am currently a guest lecturer on a number of our undergraduate modules including Biological and Social Forensic Psychology and Offenders with Mental and Intellectual Disabilities, as well as our postgraduate practice modules such as Rehabilitative Settings and Forensic Interventions.