Anna Jones
KTP Associate
My profile
Biography
Anna-Christina is an interdisciplinary researcher currently working in the area of criminology and youth justice. Anna-Christina has a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Investigative and Forensic Psychology from the University of Liverpool. She is currently completing a PhD in Youth Justice at Man Met.
Anna-Christina’s PhD draws on theories of desistance from crime; specifically those that focus on identity, transitions in adolescence, social capital and social recognition to propose a new theoretical paradigm of youth justice practice shaped by the use of participatory action research.
In addition to completing her PhD, Anna-Christina also leads the Greater Manchester Youth Justice University Partnership (GMYJUP) Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project, an initiative that facilitates the bi-directional transfer of ideas and initiatives between academics at Man Met. and practice to champion the collaborative development of effective practice within the Greater Manchester YJS. This pioneering project focusses on enhancing evidence-based, assessment-led early intervention for those receiving out of court disposals, as well utilising Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) to champion young people’s voices and explore their direct experiences and journeys towards desistance from crime.
Academic and professional qualifications
PhD candidate at Manchester Metropolitan University
MSc Investigative & Forensic Psychology from the University of Liverpool
BSc Psychology from the Universtiy of Liverpool
Practioner roles
Under the KTP project, Anna-Christina is currently seconded from Man Met. to the Youth Justice Services across Greater Manchester. This arrangement facilitates the transfer of knowledge between practice and academia and supports the development of effective, evidence-based practice, enabling academia to directly inform practice and visa-versa.
Projects
Anna-Christina leads Man Met’s Youth Justice Knowledge Transfer (KTP) Partnership. This KTP project was the first of its kind in the field of youth justice, and was also a first for MMU’s Faculty of Humanities Languages and Social Sciences (now part of the Faculty of Art & Humanities). Worth close to £120,000 in funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the Economic & Social Research Council, and part funded by YJS, the project set out to transform the youth justice landscape in Greater Manchester by pioneering the application of a Youth Participatory Action Research (or YPAR) approach to service redevelopment. The KTP engages young people in the development of creative approaches to manage their behaviour, giving them a voice in the dialogue around how youth justice services should operate.
The KTP project operates under the umbrella of the Greater Manchester Youth Justice University Partnership (GMYJUP). GMYJUP provides an innovative, ground-breaking model linking effective practice, research capabilities and collaborative approaches, supporting Greater Manchester to lead the way nationally in collaborative approaches to delivering effective practice in youth justice.
Research outputs
Anna-Christina’s current research interests include desistance from crime and young people’s participation. She has a specific interest in theortical approaches to desistance that focus on identity, transitions in adolescence, social capital and social recognition.
Anna-Christina has a particular interest in how participatary approaches to youth justice can be used to elicit and ultilise the expertise of the young people themselves, serving as a tool by which to explore and facilitate desistance journeys and aid knowledge construction.
Anna-Christina’s previous research interests include false memories and the cognitive interview, a technique used by the police for interviewing witnesses. She has also worked as a cognitive psychologist in the area of consumer research and behaviour change in industry, where she managed an academic collaboration established to enhance understanding of sensorial and perceptual experiences. She has experience with a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods and holds an MSc recognised by the ESRC as research methods training.