Dr Helen Nichols

Helen Nichols is a Reader in Criminology. Helen’s research broadly focuses on the impact of prisons on people who live and work within them. Her PhD research explored adult male prisoners’ experiences of education in the processes of personal change and coping with the experience of imprisonment and led to the publication of ‘Understanding the Educational Experiences of Imprisoned Men: (Re)education’ with Routledge in 2021. Helen has also conducted research on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on access to healthcare for people under probation supervision. She continues to actively research in the field of penology and is currently working on projects exploring the wellbeing of prison staff and culture within carceral spaces. Helen is also interested and experienced in working with people with lived experience of the criminal justice system and continues to work on collaborative academic publications in this area.