A PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge is looking for people with lived experience of the criminal justice system to take part in a study.

My name is Freya Rock and I am a doctoral researcher in Criminology at the University of Cambridge. My research focuses on homicide-bereaved families’ experiences of submitting a Victim Personal Statement (VPS) to a court when an offender is sentenced. The VPS, which may be read aloud in court by the family or by somebody on their behalf, details the emotional, financial, social, and other impacts of the offence.

I am interested in families’ understandings of justice and how this is reflected in their experiences of ‘speaking out’ in court through the VPS. I want to explore ways in which the system might be able to be improved and convey these findings to those responsible for developing victims’ rights and VPS policy.

If you have submitted (or plan to submit) a VPS to a sentencing court in a homicide case (for example, where somebody has been convicted of causing death by dangerous/careless driving), you are eligible to participate in the study. Participation involves taking part in an hour-long interview about your experiences of submitting your VPS, which can be conducted online or in person. I will use the information you provide in my PhD dissertation, but participants will be anonymous. All data will be stored securely. The study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge.

To express interest or to find out more, please email me on fgr23@cam.ac.uk or contact me by phone/text on 07539850106.

If you have a story you would like to share, please email info@roadpeace.org with more details.

Updated on: 27 October 2022