Dr Angela Sorsby
School of Law
Lecturer in Criminology
+44 114 222 6809
Full contact details
School of Law
Bartolomé House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
- Profile
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As an undergraduate I studied psychology at the University of Liverpool. Then, after spending a couple of years working in Paris, I came to the University of Sheffield to undertake an ESRC funded PhD within the psychology department which I completed in 1991.
At that time I also taught ‘A’ level psychology. I then worked as a freelance researcher, first on projects for the Institute of Work Psychology and then, since 1993 mostly on projects for the School of Law at the University of Sheffield.
I have worked on a large number of research projects which have spanned a number of areas. I was appointed as a Lecturer in Criminology in 2014.
Much of my research work has been evaluation research, evaluating initiatives for the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office.
A substantial proportion of my work has involved the management and analysis of large quantities of data: designing databases suitable for both case management and research purposes, multivariate statistics and multilevel modelling.
Recent projects on which I have worked, together with other members of the School, include evaluating the impact of a training programme intended to improve the skills of probation staff in relation to engaging with offenders, which we have evaluated both in England and later in Romania and a major evaluation of Restorative Justice schemes in England.
- Qualifications
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- PhD, University of Sheffield
- BSc (Hons) Psychology, University of Liverpool
- Research interests
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- Quantitative methods
- Disproportionality in sentencing
- Probation supervision
- Evaluating initiatives
- Police Custody and Police Legitimacy
- Restorative justice
- Publications
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Books
- Restorative Justice in Practice. London: Routledge.
Journal articles
- “Treat them as a human being”: dignity in police detention and its implications for ‘good’ police custody. British Journal of Criminology. View this article in WRRO
- Preventing crime: a holistic approach. Policing and Society, 28(6), 746-748. View this article in WRRO
- Police custody delivery in the twenty-first century in England and Wales : current arrangements and their implications for patterns of policing. European Journal of Policing Studies, 4(3), 325-348. View this article in WRRO
- Using compliance with probation supervision as an interim outcome measure in evaluating a probation initiative. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 17(1), 40-61. View this article in WRRO
- Staging restorative justice encounters against a criminal justice backdrop. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 7(1), 5-32.
- Situating restorative justice within criminal justice. Theoretical Criminology, 10(4), 505-532.
- The precursors of writing: Graphic representation in preschool children. Learning and Instruction, 5(1), 1-19.
- The effect of task on preschool children's ability to represent meaning through graphic skills. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12(3), 351-364.
- Representational demands in mothers' talk to preschool children in two contexts: picture book reading and a modelling task. Journal of Child Language, 18(2), 373-395.
Chapters
- Promoting quality in probation supervision and policy transfer: Evaluating the SEED1 programme in Romania and England, Evidence-Based Skills in Criminal Justice: International Research on Supporting Rehabilitation and Desistance (pp. 193-216).
- Experiencing Supervision in England—On Licence and on Community Sentences, Parole and Beyond (pp. 19-47). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- International cooperation on the implementation of restorative justice in Poland and Great Britain: research In Miers D (Ed.), Report on the papers given at the seminar held at the Home Office, 5-8 April 2005.
- Functional graphic representation: pictures and symbols. In Faure C, Keuff P, Lorette G & Vinter A (Ed.), Advances in Handwriting and Drawing: a Multidisciplinary Approach Paris: Europia.
- Understanding Penal Practice Routledge
Reports
- External evaluation of the Skills for Effective Engagement and Development (SEED) project in Romania: STREAM Final Report Workstream 2
- Does restorative justice affect reconviction? The fourth report from the evaluation of three schemes.
- Restorative Justice: The Views of Victims and Offenders: The Third Report from the Evaluation of Three Schemes
- Restorative justice: the views of victims and offenders.
- Restorative justice in practice: findings from the second stage of the evaluation of three schemes
- Implementing restorative justice schemes (Crime Reduction Programme): a report on the first year.
- The Junior Bar in 2002
- Evaluation of statutory time limit pilot schemes in the youth court
- A civil justice audit
- Assessing responses to youth offending in Northamptonshire
- Alternative pupillage: the issues
- The Junior Bar in 1997
- Resolving Neighbour Disputes through mediation in Scotland
- Good Practice in Pupillage
- Neighbour disputes: comparing the cost effectiveness of mediation and alternative approaches
- Responding to Victims of Domestic Violence
- Starting Practice: Work and Training at the Junior Bar
- Milton Keynes Criminal Justice Audit.
Website content
- Professional Bodies Communications with Members and Clients.
- Restorative Justice in Practice. London: Routledge.
- Research group
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Areas of Research Supervision
- Quantitative research methods and statistics
- Restorative justice
- Probation supervision
- Desistance from crime
- Training of criminal justice practitioners
- Grants
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Title/Description: Evaluating Skills for Effective Engagement and Development (SEED) in Romania
- Awarding Body: European Commission
- People Involved: Joanna Shapland, Angela Sorsby, Ioan Durnescu (University of Bucharest)
- Dates: 2013-2014
- Amount: Approx. £51,000
Title/Description: Evaluating Skills for Effective Engagement and Development (SEED)
- Awarding Body: National Offender Management Service
- People Involved: Joanna Shapland, Angela Sorsby, Stephen Farrall, Gwen Robinson, Camilla Priede and Fergus McNeill (Glasgow University)
- Dates: 2011-2014
- Amount: Approx. £180,000
Title/Description: Evaluation of Restorative Justice Schemes
- Awarding Body: Home Office
- People Involved: Joanna Shapland, Angela Sorsby, Gwen Robinson, Anne Atkinson, Helen Atkinson, Emily Colledge, James Dignan, Jeremy Hibbert, Marie Howes, and Jennifer Johnstone, (together with Becca Chapman and Rachel Pennant of the Home Office, and NFO Europe Social Research)
- Dates: 2001-2007
- Amount: Approx. £1,300,000
- Teaching interests
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The areas in which I teach are related to my research interests. I try as much as possible to integrate my own research into my teaching, illustrating for example issues involved in conducting research with examples from my own work, which helps to bring the material alive.
I try, through various exercises, to stimulate active engagement with the material to help to promote a more in-depth understanding.
- Teaching activities
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The modules I teach are:
Undergraduate
- Analysing Crime Data (Convenor)
- Criminology Research Project (Convenor)
- Introducing Criminological Research
Postgraduate
- Qualitative and quantitative research methods
- Professional activities and memberships
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I have undertaken consultancy work for Sheffield City Council, NACRO and Remedi.
Recent invited papers and keynote lectures
- Invited talk (with Layla Skinns), Good practice benchmarks: consultation and next steps (with Angela Sorsby), National Custody Forum, University of Sheffield, 27 November 2018
- Invited talk (with Layla Skinns), ‘Seeing the light: findings from the ‘good’ police custody study on why conditions matter, Public engagement event, Festival of Social Sciences, Lifewise Centre, Rotherham, 7 November 2018
- Invited talk (with with Layla Skinns), Making a difference to detainees: predictors of detainee perceptions of the quality of treatment, National Custody Forum, University of Sheffield, 14-15 May 2018
- Invited talk (with Layla Skinns ), Phase 3 of the ‘good’ police custody study: findings update, National Custody Forum hosted by the University of Sheffield, 10-11 October 2017
- Invited talk (with with Layla Skinns), Early findings from the ‘good’ police custody study Phase 3 survey, National Custody Forum hosted by Warwick University, 16 May 2017,