Kevin Browne
Head of Institute of Work, Health & Organisations, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Biography
Prof. Kevin Browne is the Head of Institute and Chair of Forensic Psychology and Child Health, as well as Director of the Professional Doctorate Programmes in Forensic Psychology and the new Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology.
He was the Professor and Director of the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham until 2007, when he became the Chair of Forensic and Child Psychology at the University of Liverpool.
In 2009 he joined the University of Nottingham as Chair of Forensic Psychology and Child Health, and then became Head of the Institute for Work, Health & Organisations (I-WHO) in August 2010.
Expertise Summary
Clinical Practice
Professor Browne is a Fellow of the Institute of Biology (F.I.Biol.) and is registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC) as a forensic psychology practitioner. He is also a Chartered Forensic Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and holds a European Certificate in Psychology. In addition, he is listed in the Expert Witness Register of Chartered Psychologists under the auspices of the British Psychological Society (BPS).
He regularly offers advice and consultancy to legal proceedings, health and social service agencies, government departments, non-governmental organisations, international societies and agencies of the United Nations. Furthermore, he is actively involved in the development of standards of education and training of forensic psychologists for the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Health Professions Council (HPC).
With regard to psychological reports for the courts, his areas of expertise are concerned with the assessment of violent and sexual offenders, the development and assessment of risk for aggression, antisocial and criminal behaviour in children, teenagers and adults. In particular, he assesses the potential for violence by parents and caregivers and those individuals high risk for child abuse and neglect. Related to this expertise, he carries out assessments on parenting in general and evaluates parent-child interaction and relationships from an attachment theory perspective.
He also conducts evaluations on the consequences and developmental effects of children growing up in a violent family and witnessing spouse or elder abuse or experiencing physical, emotional or sexual abuse. He also assesses the effects of view violent media entertainment on anti-social and aggressive behaviour.
Teaching Summary
Prof. Browne has developed an HPC approved/BPS accredited 3 year professional (practitioner) doctorate in forensic psychology and a Masters in Criminological Psychology within the Institute of Work,… read more
Research Summary
Prof. Browne's research interests are concerned with health systems and organisations to support the transition to parenthood, maternal health and child health. In particular, he is interested in the… read more
Recent Publications
BROWNE, K.D., BEECH, A. and CRAIG, L., eds., 2012. Assessments in Forensic Practice: A Handbook J. Wiley, Chichester UK. (In Press.)
DIXON, L., BROWNE, K.D., HAMILTON-GIACHRITSIS, C. and OSTIAPUIK, E., 2010. Differentiating patterns of aggression in the family Journal of Aggression Conflict and Peace. 2(1), 32-44
CRAIG, L. and LINDSAY, W.R., eds., 2010. Assessment and Treatment of Sexual Offenders with Learning Disabilities J. Wiley, Chichester UK.
Current Research
Prof. Browne's research interests are concerned with health systems and organisations to support the transition to parenthood, maternal health and child health. In particular, he is interested in the concept of infanticide and child abandonment and its relationship to economic transition and poverty. He is currently researching this topic with a grant (EU 350,000) from the European Union Daphne programme in collaboration with 9 country partners. Indeed, he has formulated policy proposals on the prevention of infant abandonment for the Government of Romania, supported by UNICEF. These recommendations were accepted by the Prime Minister's Office in April 2006.
In relation to this work, he co-authored a publication in 2009 entitled 'Child maltreatment: Burden and Consequences in high-income countries' (Lancet Series on Child Maltreatment 1) The Lancet, 373 (9657) 68-81, and have been a part of a successful application for 3 million euro European Union FP7 grant programme on Child Abuse and Neglect in the Balkans.
Deinstitutionalising and transforming children's services across Europe
He has recently completed a five year project funded by the European Commission (80%) and the WHO (20%) on the effects of early institutional care on child health, development and behaviour and the identification of good practices and capacity building to deinstitutionalise and transform children's services across Europe. This was followed by dissemination and training in 12 European countries also supported by the European Commission Daphne Programme.
Read 'Overuse of institutional care for children in Europe' Browne, K.D., Hamilton-Giachritis, C.E., Johnson, R. and Ostergren, M. (2006). Overuse of institutional care for children in Europe. British Medical Journal. 332 : 485-487 (25/02/06).
The application of attachment theory
The consequences of disrupted attachment patterns are of special interest. Theoretically, his research concentrates on the application of attachment theory to social interactions and their pathology with special emphasis on the development of violent and antisocial behaviour, the concept of 'victim to offender' and the intergenerational continuity of family violence, child abuse and neglect.
Previous research
His previous research on human aggression, family violence and child abuse attempted to predict and assess the potential for physical and sexual violence from social and behavioural characteristics of the offender, the victim and the context. In relation to this research, a model has been developed outlining causes of child maltreatment and violence in the family.
This work has been applied to peri-natal screening for child abuse and neglect and to observing the differences between abusing and non-abusing families in clinical environments and in the home. The identification of maltreated children in the classroom environment (through children's drawings and psychometric measures) has proved complex and unreliable. Consequently, he now places even more emphasis on a public health approach to the early prediction and prevention of family violence and child abuse and neglect.
Related to this work, he has produced two recent policy publications:
- A chapter on 'Violence against the child in the home and family' contributed to the UN Secretary General's World Report on Violence to Children (Oct. 2006)
- A policy briefing to the World Health Organisation (Aug. 2007) on 'Preventing Child Maltreatment in Europe: A Public Health Approach'.
His research interests also include the assessment and treatment of both juvenile and adult domestic violent offenders and sex offenders. These studies have also looked at early attachment patterns and the previous experiences of abuse and neglect in childhood. In relation to this research work, he has explored the consequences of children growing up in a violent family and how this interacts with the effects of media violence on young people (see Browne, K.D. and Hamilton-Giachritsis, C.E. 2005. The Lancet, 365, 702-710.).
Future Research
An two year EU Daphne grant proposal has been submitted to investigate the extent and characteristics of juvenile sex offenses in six countries within Europe, with special emphases on the identification of legal and therapeutic interventions with teenagers who commit sexual assaults on other children and peers.