Dr Sarah Pemberton
Having initially studied Social Policy as an undergraduate Sarah became immersed in the study of the social world, this served as the foundation for an unrelenting interest in social research which she pursues to this day.听 Sarah鈥檚 teaching and research interests are very much interwoven and are currently concerned with understanding and contextualizing domestic and sexual violence.
For Sarah, academia is a space within which she can make a contribution to society through education whilst continuing to seek new knowledge through her research.听 It is this combination of skills and the variety of the many elements of academic life which attracted Sarah to Higher Education. It is challenging and rewarding work which, through time in the classroom, creates a unique opportunity to unlock the same sense of academic curiosity in others.听
Areas of Expertise
- Sexual offending
- Sexual consent, refusal and coercion
- Domestic abuse, coercive control
- Qualitative research
Qualifications
- PhD Psychology, Nottingham Trent University
- MA Criminal Justice Studies, Sussex University
- BA (Hons) Social Policy and Administration, University of Brighton
Teaching
- Understanding Domestic and Sexual Violence (Postgraduate)
- Social Construction of Crime and Deviance
- Victims and Victimology
- Prisons and Punishment (Postgraduate)
- Advanced Criminological Research
- Gender and Crime
Research
Sarah's research focuses on domestic abuse, sexual violence, and the criminal justice system's response to these issues.听 She has a particular interest in policing and the management of individuals convicted of sexual offences, exploring the tensions between public protection and rehabilitation.听 Her work also examines the role of police in supporting desistance and preventing sexual harm through trauma-informed and positive criminological approaches.
Postgraduate Supervision
- Ian Thomas听(Director of Studies) Forging Pathways to Healing from Childhood Trauma.听
- Lisa Edge听(Director of Studies) Gendered Trauma in the Lives of Criminal Justice-Involved Women who have used Violence.鈥�
- Emma Pickering, Agency responses to technology-facilitated stalking and barriers to accessing support for victims.听
- Lynette Lee-Messenger,听Religious Women鈥檚 Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV).听
- Zainab Ibrahim,听Does the cost-of-living crisis further compel street- based female sex workers to work with dangerous and risky clients?听
- Jessica Hughes,听The听insidious nature of fiction 鈥� Challenging the existence of rape mythology within the Criminal Justice System. A feminist investigation into the adoption of rape myths within the Criminal Justice System and the听subsequent听implications on the treatment of rape victims.听
- Je鈥� Nice Harris, Policing and Community: A Critical Race Theory exploration of Community Policing and Black experiences in communities within听the West Midlands region.听
- Steven Wadley, Evaluating the impact of the Special Constable role; well-being,听resilience听and academic attainment of Professional Policing students.听
- Loukas Ntanos,听Murderabilia: An analysis of the commodification of homicide in England and Wales.听
- Craig Kelly, Violent Realities: An ethnographic exploration of violence within the lives of rough sleepers in the United Kingdom.听听
- Max Hart, Consuming Violence: Conceptualizing Engagement with Violent Content as a Contemporary form of Leisure.听
- Thaiba听Salim, Do Domestic Violence Laws Reduce Harm? A Social Policy Evaluation of Legislation, Funding and Practice in England and Wales.听
- Alex Black, Hetero-Hegemonic Masculinity, Victimisation and Offending of sexually minoritised men.
- Laura听Riley (Director of Studies), Silent child protectors: The voices of non-professionals who support those with sexual offending histories听(completed).听
- Tiffany Cater, Stalking听behaviours among young people: an enquiry into the aetiology,听nature听and extent of stalking behaviours in 16-24-year-olds听(completed).听
- Morag Kennedy,听It鈥檚听a Family Affair: Victims鈥� families accounts of intimate partner homicide, the 鈥榳eb of abuse鈥� and the role of media (completed).听
- Dan Rusu, Life after Life, Beyond the Gate: The Construction and Reconstruction of Identify Amongst Homicide Offenders (completed).听
- Cristiana Cardoso (Director of Studies), Improving the provision of services independent from the CJS for people with a sexual attraction to minors, people at risk of committing CSA and people who have committed CSA (completed).听
Publications
Journal Articles
-
Kewley, S.,听Pemberton, S., Mydlowski, L., Burnside, P., & Horne, A. (2026). A Desistance Practice Framework to support police professionals working with people with sexual convictions. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 84
-
Pemberton, S., Kewley, S.,听&听Mydlowski, L. (2023). The Police as Formal Agents of Change: Assisting Desistance in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offences. Journal of Community Safety and Well-being, 8(4),听191-196.听
-
Kewley, S.,听Pemberton, S., Black, B., &听Socolof, M. (2023). Editorial Introduction to the Journal of Sexual Aggression Special Issue on Sibling Sexual Abuse. Journal of Sexual Aggression. Pp.303-305.鈥�听
-
Wilson, D., Yardley, E.,听&听Pemberton, S.听(2016), 鈥楾he 鈥楧unblane Massacre鈥� as a 鈥楶hotosensitive Plate鈥�, Crime, Media, Culture, 13(1), 55-68.听
-
Weich, S., Griffith L., Commander, M., Bradby, H.,听Sashidharan, S.P.,听Pemberton, S., Jasani,听R.,听&听Bhui听K.S. (2012). Experiences of acute mental health care in an ethnically diverse inner city: qualitative interview study, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 47(1), 119-128.听
-
Blagden, N.听&听Pemberton, S.听(2010). The challenge in conducting qualitative research with convicted sex offenders Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 49(3), 269-281.听
-
Harley, D., Winn, S., Wilcox, P.听&听Pemberton, S.听(2007). The Role of SMS Text Messaging in Supporting Transition to University. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 44(3),229-241.听
-
Winn, S., and Wilcox, P., Harley, D.听&听Pemberton, S.听(2007). Reconceptualising Student Motivation: Accounting for the Social Context Beyond the Classroom. LATISS, 3(2), 77-94.听
听Books听
- 听Kewley, S.,听Pemberton, S.,听& Rahman, M. (2021) Preventing Sexual Harm. London: Routledge.听
听
Book Chapters
-
Kewley, S.,听Pemberton, S.,听Mydlowski, L., Burnside,听P.听and Horne, A.听(2026) 鈥楢 case study outlining the co-development of twelve desistance principles needed to help reduce sexual reoffending鈥�. In: E.听Halford听ed., Building an Outstanding Police Service: Understanding the Police Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Legitimacy (PEEL) Inspection Framework.听
-
Kewley, S. & Pemberton, S.听(2026). Examining the tensions between policing people convicted of sexual offending and promoting the desistance process. In: N. Blagden,听B. Winder. K.听Hocken, R.听Lievesley, C. Harper,听H.听Swaby听and P. Banyard听eds.,听Sexual Crime and听Community Reintegration. London: Palgrave-Macmillan.听听
-
Pemberton, S.听& Kewley, S.听(2025). Policing those who sexually offend. In: M. Hart, J. Bahadur Lamb, A. Lynes, J. Treadwell and C. Kelly, eds., 鈥�50 Facts Everyone Should Know About the Police鈥�. The Bristol University Press, University of Bristol.听
-
Blagden, N.,听Pemberton, S.听& Collier, C.J. (2012) Adult Rapists. In: B. Winder and P.听Banyard, eds., A Psychologist's Casebook of Crime: From Arson to Voyeurism. London: Palgrave-Macmillan.听
Media Work
Sarah Pemberton is one of the University鈥檚 dedicated team of trained media champions, and can comment on a range of subjects including:
- Sexual Offenders
To arrange a media interview, please contact Birmingham City University Press Office on 0121 331 6738, 07967 271532,
email press@bcu.ac.uk or via Twitter