Dr Avril Brandon
Biography
Dr Avril Brandon joined the Department of Law as an Assistant Professor/Lecturer in Criminology in September 2019. Her research explores ethnic prejudice in the criminal justice system and the experience of minority ethnic and foreign national groups within the system.
She received her PhD from UCD School of Psychology, completing research entitled: ‘Investigating the role of ethnic prejudice in the Irish criminal justice system.’. Within this interdisciplinary project, she carried out quantitative analysis on sentencing data provided by the Irish Prison Service to ascertain whether sentencing differences were visible between Irish and non-Irish nationals (Brandon & O’Connell, 2018); she examined whether punitive attitudes differed based on offender and victim ethnicity; and she conducted qualitative research, interviewing members of the Irish Travelling Community and An Garda Síochána to explore the nature of their relationship. Throughout this project, she engaged with a number of key stakeholders, including Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service and the Irish Probation Service. She was awarded a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship from the Irish Research Council for this research.
Following completion of her doctoral research, Dr Brandon has begun to examine the prison-release experience of members of the Irish Travelling community. This project has been designed in collaboration with Professor Denis Bracken (University of Manitoba).
She welcomes research proposals in these areas from prospective PhD candidates.
She received her PhD from UCD School of Psychology, completing research entitled: ‘Investigating the role of ethnic prejudice in the Irish criminal justice system.’. Within this interdisciplinary project, she carried out quantitative analysis on sentencing data provided by the Irish Prison Service to ascertain whether sentencing differences were visible between Irish and non-Irish nationals (Brandon & O’Connell, 2018); she examined whether punitive attitudes differed based on offender and victim ethnicity; and she conducted qualitative research, interviewing members of the Irish Travelling Community and An Garda Síochána to explore the nature of their relationship. Throughout this project, she engaged with a number of key stakeholders, including Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service and the Irish Probation Service. She was awarded a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship from the Irish Research Council for this research.
Following completion of her doctoral research, Dr Brandon has begun to examine the prison-release experience of members of the Irish Travelling community. This project has been designed in collaboration with Professor Denis Bracken (University of Manitoba).
She welcomes research proposals in these areas from prospective PhD candidates.
Research Interests
Her research focuses on ethnic prejudice within the criminal justice system, and the experiences of minority ethnic and foreign national groups engaged with the system.
Research Projects
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Brandon, Avril Margaret; Emandache, Erika; Iwaniec, Aleksandra (2024) 'Social Media, Newsworthiness, and Missing White Woman Syndrome: A Criminological Analysis'. Social Sciences, 13 (1). [Link] https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13010044 [Full-Text] | |
| 2018 | Brandon A.; O'Connell M. (2018) 'Same crime: Different punishment? investigating sentencing disparities between irish and non-irish nationals in the irish criminal justice system'. British Journal of Criminology, 58 (5):1127-1146. [DOI] [Full-Text] |
Book Chapter
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Brandon, A., Hetherington, C. & Redmond, B. (2021) 'Exploring the Impact of Student Mobility and Extracurricular Engagement on Academic Performance and Graduate Outcomes' In: Sustaining the Future of Higher Education. The Netherlands : Brill. [Link] https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004467804_010 | |
| 2023 | Brandon, A.; Dingwall, G. (2023) 'Contextualising the Impact of the Covid-19 Lockdown on Ethnic Minority Prisoners' In: Covid-19 and Criminal Justice: Impact and Legacy in England and Wales. London : Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003281481 |
Conference Contribution
Published Report
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Doyle, David; Brandon, Avril; Garrihy, Joe; Adanan, Amina; Bracken, Denis (2022) Sometimes I'm missing the words: The rights, needs and experiences of foreign national and minority ethnic groups in the Irish penal system. Irish Penal Reform Trust, . [Link] [Full-Text] | |
| 2021 | Adanan, Amina, Brandon, Avril Margaret. & Bracken, Denis (2021) Training Brief for the Irish Prison Service and Irish Probation Service. Irish Penal Reform Trust, . | |
| 2020 | Brandon, Avril Margaret, Redmond, Bairbre & Hetherington, Caroline (2020) Exploring the Impact of Student Mobility and Extracurricular Engagement on Academic Performance and Graduate Outcomes. Universitas 21, . [Link] | |
| 2025 | Brandon, Avril; Pillay, Ashleigh; Bracken, Denis (2025) An Evidence Review on Ethnic Monitoring in the Criminal Justice System. Department of Justice, . [Link] |
Report
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Brandon, Avril Margaret & Kennefick, Louise (2021) Non-custodial sanctions and measures in the Member States of the European Union: Republic of Ireland. [Report] [Link] |
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2025) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.
Honors and Awards
Committees
Teaching Interests
Dr Brandon has designed and delivers the modules, LW297: Ethnicity, Crime & Punishment (undergraduate) and LW696: Research Methods in Criminology (postgraduate). Full details available through Course Finder.
She also co-delivers the modules, LW166 Exploring Criminology and LW165 Introduction to Criminal Justice.
She also co-delivers the modules, LW166 Exploring Criminology and LW165 Introduction to Criminal Justice.