Dr Megan Coghlan is a new Assistant Professor in Criminology at the School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University.
Previously, Megan tutored in undergraduate sociology modules at University College Dublin and lectured and tutored in undergraduate and postgraduate criminology courses at the University of Portsmouth. She was also a Course Leader at Portsmouth where she organised and managed the Criminology and Criminal Justice undergraduate degree.
Megan obtained her undergraduate (BA Hons in Psychology) and Masters (MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice) at University College Dublin. She was awarded her PhD in 2022 at the University of Portsmouth and that research examined people’s reasons for returning to or persisting with crime. The research applied a qualitative approach to explore men and women’s offending experiences in Ireland and utilised a desistance theoretical framework to make sense reoffending.
Whilst at Portsmouth Megan conducted a Rapid Evidence Review of reoffending, desistance and multi-agency working with Dr Dennis Gough (University of Portsmouth) for the Department of Justice in Ireland.
Megan will be teaching on desistance, alternatives to sentencing and first year criminology and criminal justice modules at Maynooth.