Staff profile

Tammi Walker is Principal of St Cuthbert’s Society and Professor of Forensic Psychology at Durham University. She is a Chartered Psychologist and Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Registered Senior Fellow with Advance HE and a mental health nurse by clinical background. Tammi has a visiting position at the Manchester University. She has spent extensive experience of researching and working in prison and secure care settings, including maximum security prisons for recidivistic sexual and violent offenders. She has completed work in this profession for over 17 years and has an advanced level of knowledge in forensic mental health, forensic psychiatry and forensic psychology. See grant information for more details. She is currently working as a series editor with Graham Towl (Durham University) on a new series entitied: New Frontiers in Forensic Psychology for Routledge. These short, co-authored books over the next two years will provide insight into new areas of investigation in forensic psychology, or new perspectives on existing topics of enquiry. Tammi currently collaborates with a number of prison and secure care services. She co-authored 'Tackling Sexual Violence at Universities: An International Perspective' (2019: Routledge Press) and was the lead author of 'Preventing Self-injury and Suicide in Women's Prisons' (2016: Waterside Press) with Professor Graham Towl, which won the national British Psychological Society Book Award 2017 for Best Practitioner Text.

Information for potential PhD and postdoc researchers

Tammi is interested in supporting applications for PhDs or postdoctoral fellowships from researchers who want to pursue interdisciplinary projects in the areas of forensic psychology and psychiatry. She is also interested in supporting projects on behavoural science interventions in these areas.

Potential funding streams applicants should consider include the ESRC Nine-DTP stream for PhDs and postdoctoral fellows and the University's doctoral studentships.

Selected Awarded Grants

2021:NIHR [RfPB]: Increasing Physcial Actitivty in a Medium Secure Service: The Development and Feasibility of a Physcial ACTivity Intervention [IMPACT]. Principal Investigator.

2021: NIHR [ARC NENC]: Heroin Assisted Treatment Intervention (HATI): A qualitative exploration. Principal Investigator.

2021: NIHR: WHOLE-SMI - Wellbeing And HOListic Health Promotion For People With Severe Mental Illness. With Newcastle University.

2018: HTA Programme: A risk assessment tool to help identify prisoners at further risk of self-harm. With Oxford University. 

2018: HTA Programme: Women Offenders Repeat Self-Harm Intervention Pragmatic Trial: WORSHIP III. With Manchester University.

Supervised Work (Selected)

Montgomery, M. (2022). Heroin Assisted Treatment Intervention: A Cost-Effective Analysis. MSc Behavioural Science Thesis. Department of Psychology, Durham University.

Vermaak, C. (2022). The Impact of Prison Design: Green Spaces on Women Prisoners' Mental Wellbeing. MSc Behavioural Science Thesis. Department of Psychology, Durham University.

• Mental health and physical health inequalities
• Addictions - Drugs and Alcohol Services in Education and NHS
• Women in contact with the criminal justice system
• Addressing sexual violence at universities
• Prisoner self-harm and suicide

• Quantitative Social Psychology

Authored book

• Towl, Graham J. & Walker, Tammi (2019). Tackling Sexual Violence at Universities.
• Walker, Tammi & Towl, Graham (2016). Preventing Self-injury and Suicide in Women’s Prisons. Waterside Press.

Chapter in book

• Taylor, J & Walker, T (2022). Intersectional Inequalities and Women in Secure Settings. In Diversity and Marginalisation in Forensic Mental Health Care. Routledge.
• Hughes, Elizabeth & Walker, T (2022). Gender-based violence and Higher Education partnerships with sexual assault services. In Stopping Gender-based Violence in Higher Education Policy, Practice, and Partnerships. Routledge.
• Walker, T (2021). Suicide, Self-harm and Imprisoned Women. In Forensic Psychology. Wiley.
• Walker, T (2021). Trauma Informed Care in the Criminal Justice System. In Forensic Psychology. Wiley.

Edited book

• Grace, Sharon, O’Neill, Maggie, Walker, Tammi, King, Hannah, Baldwin, Lucy, Jobe, Alison, Lynch, Orla, Measham, Fiona, O’Brien, Kate & Seaman, Vicky (2022). Criminal Women. Bristol University Press.

Journal Article

• Riley, F., Harris, M., Poulter, H., Ahmed, D., Moore, H., Towl, G. & Walker, T (2023). ‘This is hardcore’ – A qualitative study exploring service users’ experiences of Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) in Middlesbrough, England. Harm Reduction Journal
• Poulter, H., Walker, T., Ahmed, D., Moore, H., Riley, F., Towl, G. & Harris, M. (2023). More than just ‘free heroin’ caring whilst navigating constraint in the delivery of diamorphine assisted treatment. International Journal of Drug Policy
• Walker, T., Wainwright, V., Dunlop, B. J, Forrester, A., Senior, J. & Shaw, J. (2022). A qualitative exploration of the views of people with lived experience of suicide within the criminal justice system. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology 33(6): 868-882.
• Poulter, H., Moore, H., Crow, R., Ahmed, D. & Walker, T. (2022). Diamorphine assisted treatment in Middlesbrough: a UK drug treatment case study. Journal of Substance Use
• Turner, Mary, King, Nigel, Mojtahedi, Dara, Burr, Viv, Gall, Victoria, Gibbs, Graham R., Hudspith, Lara Flynn, Leadley, Chelsea Beatrice & Walker, Tammi (2022). Well-being programmes in prisons in England and Wales: a mixed-methods study. International Journal of Prisoner Health 18(3): 259.
• Walker, Tammi, Edmondson, Amanda, Riley, Fleur, Harper, Mark, Lucock, Mike & Wright, Nat (2021). Using mixed methods to explore diabetes care in a medium‐secure setting in England: A case study. Health Science Reports 4(4).
• Walker, T, Kallevik, J, Hard, J., Mastrocola, E & Chew-Graham, C (2021). The role of primary care in supporting imprisoned women with mental illness. British Journal of General Practice 71(710): 392-393.
• Tucker, Sue, Hargreaves, Claire, Cattermull, Mark, Roberts, Amy, Walker, Tammi, Shaw, Jennifer & Challis, David (2019). The nature and extent of prisoners’ social care needs: Do older prisoners require a different service response? Journal of Social Work 21(3): 310.
• Hargate, Rebecca, Howden, Sharon, Tarpey, Emma & Walker, Tammi (2017). The PARALLEL Study (imPAct of expeRiencing Another’s seLf harm and suicidaL bEhaviour in hospitaL). Journal of Forensic Practice 19(4): 258.