About

Prof. Nicholas Blagden is a Professor of Criminological Psychology who has worked and researched within the Criminal Justice System and HM Prison and Probation Service for nearly 15 years. He has a proven track record for highly impactful and internationally significant work. Prof. Blagden is committed to conducting impactful research that has practical relevance for the Criminal Justice System and for the reintegration and rehabilitation for individuals with sexual convictions more specifically.

Research interests

Prof Blagden’s main research interests are on the reintegration and rehabilitation of those with convictions, with a focus on men with sexual convictions. Current research projects include:-

• Rehabilitation in prisons and the role of prison climate in rehabilitative programmes.
• Reintegration and rehabilitation of individuals with sexual convictions including barriers to reintegration, experience of licence conditions, and social isolation.
• Identity change and transition during long term therapy with those with personality disorder.
• Exploring religiosity and individuals with sexual offences.
• Crime desistance through meaningful experience including peer support roles.
• Circles of support
• Fathering in prison
• Intrafamilial offending
• Therapeutic approaches including personal construct psychology, acceptance and commitment and compassion-focused and their application to assessment and formulation in forensic settings (and beyond).

Prof. Blagden has a proven track record of grant capture. Since 2014 he has been instrumental in fundraising over £1 million for the Safer Living Foundation to continue their vital work in keeping communities safe. Current funded projects included:-

• co-PI on a collaborative EU Horizon programme with key strategic partners with the total bid worth 2.8 million Euros. This project entitled 2PS (Prevent and Protect through Support) aims to conduct cutting edge research on the prevention of child abuse and to implement best practice across Europe in child abuse prevention.
• co-I on a successful NIHR bid on an RCT to manage problematic sexual arousal in men with sexual convictions worth £2.6 million.
• PI Qualitative Evaluation of the Thinking Skills Programme, MoJ
• Intrafamilial familial offending, Institute of Mental Health, Ontario, Canada.

Membership of professional bodies

British Psychological Society (BPS) – Full Chartered Member

National Register of Psychotherapists & Counsellors (NRPC) – Full Accredited Member

British Society of Criminology (BSC) – Full Member

Qualifications

PhD Forensic Psychology

MSc Forensic Psychology

MSc Research Methods (Psychology)

PgDip Psychological Therapies

Cert. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

PCPD Professional Development

BA (hons) Criminology

International experience

Prof. Blagden actively collaborates with a range of international partners and individuals, including Correctional Services, Australia, Institute of Mental Health, Canada, CEPOL (European Police College), Polish Platform for Homeland Security, University of Bergen, Norway, Charite, Germany.

Additional interests and activities

Prof. Blagden is a co-founder and trustee of the Safer Living Foundation, a multi-award winning charity, recognised nationally for its ground breaking and high-impact work with both individuals with sexual convictions and those at risk of offending. Since work began in 2014 we’ve worked with more than 200 individuals and help them lead offence-free lives.

Prof. Blagden is a core member of the HMPPS’ Correctional Services Advice and Accreditation Panel (CSAAP). As part of a team we review programme design, quality assurance, and evaluations. The panel make recommendations to the HMPPS Accredited Programmes and Interventions Delivery Strategy Board (APIDSB) on accreditation of programmes within custodial and community settings.

Prof. Blagden also sits on the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) Policy and Practice committee.

Prof. Blagden is a Chartered Psychologist and registered psychotherapist.

In the media

Prof. Blagden engages positively with the media, he has appeared in several documentaries including Channel 4's Lets Talk: Child Sexual Abuse and has worked with the BBC and Ladbible.

Recent publications

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles and Book Chapters (selected – full list of publications available on request)

Blagden, N., McCann, K &  McMillan, S. (2023) “I don’t have relationships anymore…” Navigating Licence Conditions and Transition into the Community for Men with Sexual Convictions in Shingler, J. & Stickney, J, (Eds.) The Journey from Prison to Community: Developing Identity, Meaning and Belonging with men in the UK. London: Sage

Blagden, N., Evans, J., Gould, L., Murphy, N & Hamilton, L. (2023) “The people who leave here are not the people who arrived.” A qualitative analysis of the therapeutic process and identity transition in the Offender Personality Disorder [OPD] Pathway Criminal Justice & Behavior.

Blagden, N., Winder, B., & Leigh, L. (2023). “I don’t really see any kind of change”–multi-perspective analysis of a circle of support and accountability for young people who have previously demonstrated harmful sexual behaviour. Journal of Sexual Aggression, doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2023.2179676.

Blagden, N., & Needs, A. (2022) Personal Construct Psychology and Repertory Grids: Acknowledging and Exploring Perspectives in Liell, G., Fisher, M., & Jones, L. (2022) Challenging Bias in Forensic Psychological Assessment and Testing London: Taylor & Francis

Jahnke, S., Blagden, N., & Hill, L. (2022). Pedophile, Child Lover, or Minor-Attracted Person? Attitudes Toward Labels Among People Who are Sexually Attracted to Children. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(8), 4125-4139.

Clayton, J., Hocken, K., & Blagden, N. (2022). A compassionate intervention for individuals with problematic sexual interests: Group and individual outcomes in the UK. Abuse: An International Impact Journal, 3(2), 4-23.

Blagden, N. (2022). Prison Climate and Rehabilitating Men with Sexual Convictions. In Challenges in the Management of People Convicted of a Sexual Offence (pp. 173-189). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Duncan, K., Wakeham, A., Winder, B., Blagden, N., & Armitage, R. (2022). “Grieving someone who’s still alive, that’s hard”: the experiences of non-offending partners of individuals who have sexually offended–an IPA study. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 1-15.

Tovey, L., Winder, B., & Blagden, N. (2022). ‘It’s ok if you were in for robbery or murder, but sex offending, that’sa no no’: a qualitative analysis of the experiences of 12 men with sexual convictions seeking employment. Psychology, Crime & Law, 1-24.

Pickering, A., Blagden, N., & Slade, K. (2022). ‘You can have a bit of my pain, see how it feels’–understanding male prisoners who engage in dual harm behaviours. Psychology, Crime & Law, 1-24.

Chowdhury, R., Winder, B., Blagden, N., & Mulla, F. (2021). “I thought in order to get to God I had to win their approval”: a qualitative analysis of the experiences of Muslim victims abused by religious authority figures. Journal of Sexual Aggression, DOI: doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2021.1943023

Harper, C. A., Lievesley, R., Blagden, N. J., & Hocken, K. (2021). Humanizing pedophilia as stigma reduction: A large-scale intervention study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1-16.

Winder, B., Blagden, N., Norman, C. & Duncan, K., 2020. 'I've got the energy to change, but I haven’t got the energy for this kinda therapy': a qualitative analysis of the motivations behind democratic therapeutic community drop-out for men with sexual convictions. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. ISSN 0306-624X

Kitson-Boyce, R., Blagden, N., & Wheatley, R., (2020). The Application of the Repertory Grid in Forensic Practice. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 1-22.

Ware, J., & Blagden, N. (2020). Men with sexual convictions and denial. Current psychiatry reports, 22(9), 1-6.

Dwerryhouse, M., Winder, B., Blagden, N. and Lievesley, R., 2020. Conceptualising success and failure in circles of support and accountability. Aggression and Violent Behavior: 101492. ISSN 1359-1789

Ware, J., Blagden, N., & Harper, C. (2020). Are categorical deniers different? Understanding demographic, personality, and psychological differences between denying and admitting individuals with sexual convictions. Deviant Behavior, 41(4), 399-412.

Blagden, N., Winder, B., Hocken, K., Lievesley, R., Banyard, P., & Elliott, H. (Eds.). (2020). Sexual crime and the experience of imprisonment. Springer.