Emma Holdsworth

Emma Holdsworth is a chartered psychologist, senior lecturer in forensic psychology, and course director of the MSc Forensic Psychology and Crime. Emma completed her MSc in forensic Psychology and her PhD in the engagement of offenders and facilitators in offending behaviour programmes at Coventry University. Emma’s areas of teaching are psychology in the criminal justice system, forensic decision-making, and the treatment of offenders. Her research area is offender rehabilitation – particularly offenders’ motivation to change, facilitator and offender engagement in offending behaviour programmes, the therapeutic alliance, and a solution-focused approach to offending behaviour programmes. Applied research projects Emma works on include the development of solution-focused programmes for short-sentence offenders, domestic violence offenders in the community and in prison (male and female), and the training of programme facilitators.

Area of Expertise:

Offender assessment and rehabilitation, psychology in the criminal justice system,  brief solution-focused therapy, qualitative research methods.

Offender assessment and rehabilitation, strengths-based approaches to offender treatment, Criminal Justice Processes

In order to reduce crime, the assessment and treatment of offenders must be based on everything we know and will continue to learn about what engages offenders in the process of change and desistance. Strengths-based approaches, particularly solution focused approaches that develop offenders' resilience and resourcefulness, facilitators who are supported and empowered to work therapeutically with offenders,  and programmes that adhere to the responsivity principle, may prove to be the most effective to this end.