Dr Dominic Willmott

  • Senior Lecturer in Criminology
  • ResearchGate
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on LinkedIn

    • Dominic is a psychologist interested in examining bias within legal decision-making and the criminal justice system. His main research interest and specialism is jury decision-making within rape trials, alongside examining the attitudes that underpin gender-based violence. To date, Dominic has published more than 50 scientific articles and book chapters on legal and criminological psychology topics and received almost £5 million pounds in research funding to carry out this research.

    He joined Loughborough University in April 2022 as a Senior Lecturer in Criminology, having previously taught Forensic Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. His PhD research, obtained from the University of Huddersfield, examined the fairness and functionality of jury decision-making within English rape trials.

    He is a Visiting Professor of Criminological Psychology at SWPS University of Social Sciences in Poland and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, awarded in recognition of the contributions that he has made to the discipline of Psychology. In January 2023, Dominic was selected to be a founding member of the Royal Society’s newly established UK Young Academy, a network of researchers from across the UK said to have made significant contributions to their fields. Dominic and other UKYA members are tasked with identifying innovative interdisciplinary solutions to help tackle the biggest challenges that face global societies, during their five-year tenure.

    He is a trustee for JusticeisNow! a registered charity aiming to reform rape justice in the UK and formerly served as Academic Advisor to the Victim Commissioner for England and Wales (Dame Vera Baird), until her appointment came to an end in late 2022. Dominic also continues to work closely with collaborators from Poland, the United States, the Caribbean, India and Uganda, as well as UK colleagues at Lancaster, Loughborough and Huddersfield Universities.

    Dominic is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Criminal Psychology and serves on the editorial board of a number of other international journals including the: Journal of Criminal Justice, Frontiers in Psychology, The Police Journal, Frontiers in Quantitative Psychology and Measurement, Heliyon (Psychology), and Frontiers in Sociology. 

    Dominic’s main research interests involve examining bias within the Criminal Justice System alongside attempting to measure and reduce problematic attitudes which underpin gender-based violence throughout global societies. He regularly consults government agencies and NGO’s in the UK and abroad on such issues.

    Until early 2022 he was a Co-Investigator on a large UKRI GCRF multi-country research project based at the University of Huddersfield, tasked with developing and evaluating prosocial computer games that educate children and young people about gender-based violence. As part of this research, known as the ‘None-in-Three’ Project, Dominic and his colleagues carried out research and educative interventions with more than 20,000 children and young people in Uganda, India, Jamaica, and the UK. Since then, in collaboration with researchers at Lancaster University and Loughborough University, he has received both small and large-scale funding to further investigate varying aspects of public and juror attitudes towards victims of sexual violence. Alongside Dr Siobhan Weare at Lancaster University, he recently secured funding from the prestigious Economic and Social Research Council to examine jury-decision making within sexual offence trials where men are the victims of violence perpetrated by other men and women.

    External Research Funding 

    • ESRC - £438,634.72 (2023 – 2026)
      • Examining jury-decision making in rape trials involving male victims. 
    • AHRC (GCRF) - £4.3 Million (2017 – 2022)
      • Testing the effectiveness of pro-social computer games to tackle GBV. 
    • ESRC - £13,080.00 (2020 – 2021)
      • Assessing public perceptions towards male victims of sexual violence. 
    • British Academy - £9,966.00 (2020 – 2021)
      • Investigating public attitudes towards rape justice.

    At Loughborough University Dominic delivers teaching on a range of topics and contributes to teaching on the following modules:

    • Forensic Psychology (Module Leader)
    • Violence and Violent Crime
    • The Criminal Justice System in England and Wales
    • Becoming a Criminologist
    • How to win at Criminology and Sociology
    • Criminology Dissertation

    Dominic is available to supervise PhDs exploring; jury decision-making in sexual offence trials, the nature and prevalence of rape myths and broader attitudes towards sexual and domestic violence, offending behaviour and motivations, and more generally, research exploring bias within the criminal justice system.

    Completed PhD students:

    • Dr Lara Hudspith – ‘Justice for Rape Victim-Survivors: Exploring the Need for a Court-Based Intervention to Address Jurors' Rape Myth Acceptance, and Other Measures, in the Criminal Justice System’ (Awarded 2022).
    • Dr Russell Woodfield – ‘Profiling Trauma and the Associated Mental Health Outcomes in Prison Personnel’ (Awarded 2020).

    Current PhD candidates:

    • Georgia Barnett – How can we stop prison from making people more criminal? An investigation into how to intervene with men in prison in England.
    • Lucie Homer – Exploring Criminal Social Identity (CSI) among OCG prison populations in England & Wales.
    • Gill Kirkman – An investigation of Adolescent Dating Violence and Attitudes (ADVA) among UK adolescents.
    • Hannah Lorimer – Exploring the role of offending identities in the risk assessment and risk management process of offending men.
    • Catherine Phillips – Identifying bias in juror decision making and evaluating the effectiveness of pre-trial educational interventions.
    • Gareth Ross – Investigating the relationship between prison social climate and criminal social identity within inmate populations.

    Jury Decision Making 

    • Lilley, C., Willmott, D. & Mojtahedi, D. (2023). Juror Characteristics on Trial: Investigating how Psychopathic Traits, Rape Attitudes, Victimisation Experiences and Juror Demographics influence Decision-Making in an Intimate Partner Rape Trial. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13:1086026. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1086026 (ISSN 1664-0640). 
    • Daly, E., Smith, O., Bows, H., Brown, J., Chalmers, J., Cowan, S., Horvath, M., Leverick, F., Lovett, J., Munro, V., Willmott, D. (2022). Myths about Myths? A Commentary on Thomas (2020) and the Question of Jury Rape Myth Acceptance. Journal of Gender-Based Violence. DOI:10.1332/239868021X16371459419254 
    • Willmott, D., Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., & Hudspith, L. (2021). Jury Decision Making in Rape Trials: An Attitude Problem? In D. Crighton & G. Towl (Eds.), Forensic Psychology (3rd Ed., pp. 94-119). Chichester: Wiley. ISBN: 978-1-119-67354-5 
    • Hudspith, L., Wager, N., Willmott, D., & Gallagher, B (2021). Forty Years of Rape Myth Acceptance Interventions: A Systematic Review of What Works in Naturalistic Institutional Settings and How this can be Applied to Educational Guidance for Jurors.  Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. DOI:10.1177/15248380211050575 
    • Willmott, D., Boduszek, D., Debowska, A. & Woodfield, R. (2018). Introduction and Validation of the Juror Decision Scale (JDS): An Empirical Investigation of the Story Model. Journal of Criminal Justice, 57, 26-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2018.03.004 
    • Willmott, D. (2017). Jury Psychology. In B. Baker, R. Minhas, & L. Wilson (Eds.), Psychology and Law: Factbook (2nd Ed.). European Association of Psychology and Law Press. ISBN 9781326989651 
    • Willmott, D. & Oostinga, M. (2017). Scientific Jury Selection. In B. Baker, R. Minhas, & L. Wilson (Eds.), Psychology and Law: Factbook (2nd Ed.). European Association of Psychology and Law Press. ISBN 9781326989651 
    • Willmott, D., Boduszek, D. & Booth, N. (2017). The English Jury on Trial. Custodial Review, 82, 12-14.

     

    Sexual Violence & Rape Myths 

    • Lilley, C., Willmott, D., Mojtahedi, D. & Labhardt, D. (2023). Intimate Partner Rape: A Review of Six Core Myths Surrounding Women’s Conduct and the Consequences of Intimate Partner Rape. Social Sciences, 12(1), 34-55. DOI: 10.3390/socsci12010034 
    • Sowersby, C., Erskine-Shaw, M. & Willmott, D. (2022). Masochist or Murderer? A Discourse Analytic Study Exploring Social Constructions of Sexually Violent Male Perpetrators, Female Victims-Survivors and the Rough Sex Defence on Twitter. Frontiers in Psychology. 13: 867991. DOI: 10.3389/FPSYG.2022.867991 
    • Smith, O. Daly, E. Herriott, C. & Willmott, D. (2022). State Compensation as Rape Justice: Are public attitudes a legitimate foundation for reform of the UK’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme? Journal of Gender-Based Violence, 6(1), 79-97. DOI:10.1332/239868020X16057277095797 
    • Debowska, A., Boduszek, D., Willmott, D., & Jones, A. (2019). The None in Three Victim Responsiveness Assessment (Ni3: VRA): A new outcome measure for intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention programmes. Journal of Children's Services, 14(2), 97-106. DOI: 10.1108/JCS-12-2018-0029 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., Jones, D., Minhua-Ma, E., Smith, D., Willmott, D., Trotman Jemmott, E., Da Breo, H., & Kirkman, G. (2019). Prosocial video game as an intimate partner violence prevention tool among youth: A randomised controlled trial. Computers in Human Behavior, 93, 260-266. DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2018.12.028 
    • Willmott, D., Boduszek, D. & Robinson, R. (2018). A Psychoanalytical-Behaviourist Investigation of Russian Sexual Serial Killer Andrei Chikatilo. Journal of Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry, 29(3), 498-507. DOI: 10.1080/14789949.2017.1416658 
    • Debowska, A., Boduszek, D., & Willmott, D. (2018). Psychosocial correlates of attitudes towards male sexual violence in a sample of property crime, financial crime, general violent, and homicide offenders. Sexual Abuse, 30(6), 705-727. DOI:10.1177/1079063217691966

     

    Child Abuse and Neglect 

    • Sharratt, K., Mason, S., Kirkman, G., Willmott, D., McDermott, D., Timmins, S., & Wager, N. (2023). Childhood Abuse and Neglect, Exposure to Domestic Violence and Sibling Violence: Profiles and Associations with Sociodemographic Variables and Mental Health Indicators. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(1-2), 1141-1162. DOI: 10.1177/08862605221090562 
    • Fray, C., Powell-Booth, K., Nelson, K., Harvey, R., Reid, P., Wager, N., Willmott, D., Mason, S., Jones, A. (2022). The prevalence and impact of children’s exposure to domestic violence in Jamaica. Caribbean Journal of Psychology. 
    • Debowska, A., Boduszek, D., Jones, A., Willmott, D., & Sherretts, N. (2021). Gender-based violence-supportive cognitions in adolescent girls and boys: The function of violence exposure and victimization. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(3-4), 1233-1255. DOI:10.1177/0886260517741628 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., Ochen, E., Fray, C., Kalule, E., Powell-Booth, K., Turyomurugyendo, F., Nelson, K., Harvey, R., Willmott, D., & Mason, S. J. (2021). Prevalence and correlates of non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt among children and adolescents: Findings from Uganda and Jamaica. Journal of Affective Disorders, 283, 172-178. DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.063 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., Willmott, D., Jones, D., Sherretts, N., & DeLisi, M. (2019). Is female psychopathy linked with child abuse? An empirical investigation using a person-centered approach. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 28(6), 708-725. DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2019.1592272 
    • Debowska, A., Boduszek, D., Sherretts, N., Willmott, D. & Jones, A. (2018). Profiles and behavioral consequences of childhood victimization among adolescent girls and boys from the Eastern Caribbean. Child Abuse and Neglect, 79, 245-258. DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.02.018 
    • Debowska, A., Willmott, D., Boduszek, D. & Jones, A. (2017). What do we know about Child Abuse and Neglect Patterns of Co-occurrence? A Systematic Review of Profiling Studies and Recommendations for Future Research. Child Abuse and Neglect, 70, 100-111. DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.06.014 
    • Ryan, S., Willmott, D., Sherretts, N. & Kielkiewicz, K. (2017). A Psycho-Legal Analysis and Criminal Trajectory of Female Child Serial Killer Beverley Allitt. European Journal of Current Legal Issues, 22(2) 1-22. 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., Trotman Jemmott, E., Da Breo, H., Willmott, D., Sherretts, N., & Jones, A. D. (2017). Victimisation, violence perpetration, and attitudes towards violence among boys and girls from Barbados and Grenada. Huddersfield, UK: University of Huddersfield Press. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.12891.87848

     

    Offending Populations & Prison Research 

    • Filkin, S., Mojtahedi, D., & Willmott, D. (2022). Motivations for Adolescent Offending and Truancy from School: Retrospective Interviews with Adults recently released from a Custodial Prison Sentence in England. Heliyon, 8 (6), e09762. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09762 
    • Woodfield, R., Boduszek, D., & Willmott, D. (2022). Latent Profiles of PTSD, Anxiety and Depression and association with Trauma Exposure within UK Prison Personnel. European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 6(3). 100268. DOI/10.1016/J.EJTD.2022.100268 
    • Willmott, D., Hunt, D., & Mojtahedi, D.  (2021). Criminal Geography and Geographical Profiling: A Brief Introduction. Internet Journal of Criminology, 1-24. 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., Sharratt, K., McDermott, D., Sherretts, N., Willmott, D., Popiolek, K., & Hyland, P. (2021). Pathways between types of crime and criminal social identity: A network approach. Journal of Criminal Justice, 72, 101750. DOI: 10.1016/J.JCRIMJUS.2020.101750 
    • Woodfield, R., Boduszek, D., & Willmott, D. (2019). Introduction and Psychometric Validation of the Prison Personnel Trauma Measure (PPTM). European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 3(4), 257-262. DOI:10.1016/j.ejtd.2018.04.005 
    • Ryan, S., Sherretts, N., Willmott, D., Mojtahedi, D. & Baughman, B. (2018). The Missing Link in Training to Detect Deception and its Implications for Justice. Safer Communities, 17(1), 33-46. DOI: 10.1108/SC-07-2017-0027 
    • Thew, H., McDermott, D., & Willmott, D. (2018). Mindfulness as a Psychological Approach to Managing Self-Harming Behaviours: Application and Review within Clinical Settings. Crime, Security, & Society, 1(2), 5-13. 
    • McDermott, D., & Willmott, D. (2018). Self-harm and violence ‘at an all-time high’ in the male prison estate – what are we doing so wrong? Custodial Review, 86, 28. 
    • Willmott, D., & Ioannou, M. (2017). A Narrative Based Model of Differentiating Rioters. Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 56(1), 105-124. DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12194 
    • Sherretts, N., Boduszek, D., Debowska, A. & Willmott, D. (2017). Comparison of murderers with recidivists and first time incarcerated offenders from U.S. prisons on psychopathy and identity as a criminal: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice, 51, 89-92. 
    • Willmott, D., & Sherretts, N. (2016). Individual Differences in Eyewitness Identification Accuracy between Sequential and Simultaneous Line-ups: Consequences for Police Practice and Jury Decisions. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 4(4), 228-239. 
    • Sherretts, N., & Willmott, D. (2016). Construct Validity and Dimensionality of the Measure of Criminal Social Identity using Data drawn from American, Pakistani, and Polish inmates. Journal of Criminal Psychology, 6(3), 134-143. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.03.002

     

    Psychopathy 

    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., McDermott, D., Willmott, D., & Sharratt, K. (2022). Psychopathic Personality Traits Scale – Revised (PPTS-R): Empirical investigation of construct validity and dimensionality in a forensic and non-forensic sample. Deviant Behavior, 43(7), 821-828. DOI: 10.1080/01639625.2021.1919496 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., Sherretts, N., Willmott, D., Boulton, M., Kielkiewicz, K., Popiolek, K., & Hyland, P. (2021). Are prisoners more psychopathic than non-forensic populations? Profiling psychopathic traits among prisoners, community adults, university students, and adolescents. Deviant Behavior, 42(2), 232-244. DOI: 10.1080/01639625.2019.1665221 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., & Willmott, D. (2019). Psychopathic Personality Traits Model (PPTM): a new approach to defining psychopathy. In M. DeLisi (Eds.). Routledge International Handbook of Psychopathy and Crime. Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 9781138085169 
    • Debowska, A., Boduszek, D., Dhingra, K., Sherretts, N., Willmott, D., & DeLisi, M. (2018). Can we use Hare’s Psychopathy model within Forensic and Non-Forensic Populations? Empirical Investigation. Deviant Behavior, 39(2), 224-242. DOI: DOI:10.1080/01639625.2016.1266887 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., Sherretts, N., & Willmott, D. (2018). Psychopathic Personality Traits Scale (PPTS): Construct validity of the instrument in a sample of US prisoners. Frontiers in Psychology, 9:1596, 1-9. DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01596 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A. & Willmott, D. (2017). Latent profile analysis of psychopathic traits among homicide, general violent, property, and white-collar offenders. Journal of Criminal Justice, 51, 17-23. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.06.001 
    • Boduszek, D., Debowska, A. & Willmott, D. (2017). A New Model of Psychopathy. Custodial Review, 81, 16-17.

     

    Psychological Theory (Identity, Motivation, Personality) 

    • Barnett, G.,Boduszek, D., & Willmott, D. (2021). What works to change identity? A Rapid Evidence Assessment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 51(7), 698-719. DOI:10.1111/jasp.12776 
    • Willmott, D., Ryan, S., Sherretts, N., Woodfield, R., & McDermott. (2018). Motivation: A Critical Consideration of Freud and Rogers’ Seminal Conceptualisations. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 49(2), 229-234. DOI: 10.24425/119490 
    • Willmott, D., Mojtahedi, D., Ryan, S., Sherretts, N., Simpson, O. & Dlamini, T. (2017). Psychometric tests as a measure of Personality: A Critical Assessment of Trait versus Situationalist Positions and the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Psychology and Psychiatry, 3(1), 13-18.