Dr Ciara Staunton has been lecturing on the topics of forensic psychology and criminality at UCC for over 15 years.

She designed the Diploma in the Psychology of Criminal Behaviour for Adult Continuing Education (ACE) at UCC in 2006. This two-year Special Purpose Level 7 award is very popular with law enforcement personnel. She also delivers a short course on the Criminal Mind for those who are simply true crime fanatics. Ciara is a graduate of UCC (BSc. Applied Psychology, 1999, HDip Computer Science, 2001) and Leicester University (MSc. Applied Forensic & Legal Psychology). She completed her Ph.D. doctoral studies at UCC in 2009.

My research focus has always been around the topic of sexual violence. For my MSc., I investigated the crime of rape and contributing factors to attrition rates within the Irish Criminal Justice System. My PhD research was more focused to methods of assessment for deviant sexual arousal patterns. This investigated the use of psychophysiological forms of assessment of sex offenders, focussing specifically on the detection of deception as well as the sexual arousal patterns of females with a view to developing an assessment tool for female sexual offenders.

My current research interest centres on the crime of stalking with a particular focus on the behaviours that constitute the stalking process, reasons for reporting or not the crime to An Garda Siochana as well as the impact on those who have experienced it.

Criminal Justice & Legal Reform Trauma, Mental Health & Recovery Domestic, Intimate Partner & Family Violence