Dr Sharon Beckett

Sharon has an MSc in Social Research and a PhD in Criminology where she explored Women's Experiences of Workplace Violence and the hidden experiences of women, as victims, across a range of occupations. Moreover, Sharon's research has included violence against NHS staff, ambulance crews and paramedics. Recently, Sharon has researched The Impact of Austerity and Privatisation on the Working Practices of Probation Staff and she is currently documenting workplace harm experienced by craft workers operating within an unregulated employment market. Outside of Sharon's core research interests, she has worked with colleagues on a diverse range of projects, including:

• The Introduction of the bedroom tax and its affect upon eviction rates in Devon.
• Hate crime within the night time economy. 
• The impact of the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners upon local victim services.
• The resettlement needs of women offenders following a term of imprisonment.
• The impact of austerity and privatisation on the working practices of probation staff.
  

Alongside of her teaching and research role, Sharon is an active volunteer with Locate International, a UK Registered Charity dedicated to helping the families of unsolved missing person cases find their loved ones. As a result this work, Sharon has established a cold case Unit at Plymouth University. Plymouth's Colds case Unit (PCCU) has a dedicated team of student volunteers who actively undertake missing person research on behalf of Locate International and families of the missing. If you would like to know more about Locate International, use the following link http://locate.international/

If you are interested in becoming part of PCCU, as a volunteer, or, if you are interested in studying for a postgraduate research degree in criminology, please contact Sharon on the email address provided on this page. 

Publications:

Sharon's research Interests include: The workplace, in particular the harms experienced by front-line workers, women and workplace violence and the experiences of workers more generally.

Additional Interests: missing persons, gender studies, domestic and sexual violence, victims of crime, historical crime and animal welfare.