Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis

I am registered with the UK Health and Care Professions Council as both a Forensic and Clinical Psychologist and am currently a Reader in Applied Forensic Psychology at the University of Bath, UK.

I have varied experience in both clinical practice and academic settings. I spent several years working in Birmingham Children and Family Services undertaking child/parenting assessments and providing Expert Witness testimony to the courts in child protection cases. I also worked with children and families who were being fostered and/or adopted. Although I have worked with both victims and offenders, the majority of my practice work has focussed on victims of child maltreatment and their parents.

I have an extensive body of research published in peer reviewed journals, as well as by national and international organisations. My research focuses on child maltreatment, trauma and risk assessment, considering both victims (e.g., prediction, prevention and impact of maltreatment) and offenders (e.g., harmful sexual behaviour; online grooming). It always has an applied element, with an aim to impact on individuals, organisations and policy making. During my career, I have undertaken international consultancy (e.g., the British Council) and led European and nationally funded research. I have worked collaboratively with a variety of NGOs and other organisations, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Escaping Victimhood, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and regional police. My work on the early institutionalisation of young children across Europe was considered at international level and led to training in multiple European countries. Current projects are focused on online abuse (e.g., offender identification and differential impact), homicidal bereavement and institutional care.

Research interests 

• Child maltreatment: prediction, prevention and impact (online and offline), including resilience
• Online abuse:  victim vulnerabilities, offender grooming and policing
• Institutionalisation of children
• Interventions for children and families at risk of or affected by maltreatment
• Harmful sexual behaviour in young people

My previous and current PhD research team have a variety of projects; examples include:

• Online bystander interventions (A. Davidovic; current)
• Neuroimaging and resilience (H. Cornwell & S. Eaton; current)
• Cultural perspectives of child maltreatment in Malaysia and the UK (E. Ong Chet; 2019)
• Parental role in children’s response to trauma (Hope Christie; 2019)
• Homicidal bereavement (F. Costa; 2018)
• Attachment representations in institutional care in Chile (M. Garcia Quiroga; 2017)
• Online sexual grooming and abuse via technologies (J. Kloess; 2014)
• Victim vulnerabiltiies to online grooming (H. Whittle, 2014)  

Postgraduate: Director of Studies on the new MSc in Applied Forensic Psychology and Counselling. My teaching topics include child maltreatment (theories and practice), online grooming and abuse; expert witness testimony; report writing; professional issues (e.g., codes of conduct; professional and personal boundaries).