Image of Dr Helen Beckett Wilson

Dr Helen Beckett Wilson

School of Justice Studies

Faculty of Arts Professional and Social Studies

Email: H.E.Beckett@ljmu.ac.uk

Telephone: 0151 231 5159

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Helen is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and has worked at LJMU since 2008. As a critical social scientist, her research examines the operation of power in society, with a specific focus on the justice implications of drug policy. Her current MedCan project with Dr Lindsey Metcalf McGrath highlights the experiences of people who are prescribed cannabis in the UK, and examines the stigma and social harms caused by contemporary cannabis policy - see https://linktr.ee/medcanproject for details.

Helen's research interests also include the social theorisation of drug use; the impact of social capital on social problems; the criminalisation of social policy; reducing reoffending strategies; the ‘justice’ of community punishment policy and practice and the use of critical research methods. She has undertaken research on contemporary changes in cannabis markets in the UK; an EU funded project on ''Reducing Reoffending' which facilitated co-learning and policy/practice enhancement across local and international partners; Home Office research investigating young people’s drug use and service uptake; and an ESRC funded PhD which examined the justice implications of legal interventions for drug users who commit crime.

In her twenty years of lecturing, Helen has taught a broad range of students including Health and Legal Professionals, A-level, Community College, University Undergraduates and Postgraduates. Her university teaching has covered topics including the criminal justice system, criminological theory, research methods, policing, deviance and moral panics. She currently supervises undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations and PhD students, teaches final year undergraduates on the ‘Drugs, Intoxication and Society’ module, and Masters students on the ‘Advanced Research Methods’ module.

In her previous career as a practitioner, Helen began as a Housing Support Officer, working with at-risk populations and homeless people to secure tenancy. Later she became a Hostel Worker, supporting women leaving prison as they transitioned into the community. Her last practice role was as a Drug Worker in the Criminal Justice System, providing services in Probation Offices for people whose drug use and offending were related.

Degrees

2007, Keele University, United Kingdom, PhD
2003, Keele University, United Kingdom, MA Criminology and Research Methods
1998, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, BSocSci Social Policy

Certifications

Higher Education Authority, Postgraduate Certificate of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Academic appointments

Senior Lecturer, Criminology, Liverpool john Moores University, 2008 - present

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