Dr Caoilte Ó Ciardha obtained his PhD from Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) in 2010. His doctoral research examined the use of indirect/implicit cognitive measures in the assessment of individuals how have sexually offended.
Caoilte joined the School of Psychology at the University of Kent in 2011 as a postdoctoral research associate working on an ESRC funded project to develop a psychological treatment programme for adults who had engaged in deliberate firesetting (see project blog).
Following this period as a postdoctoral research associate, Caoilte obtained a lecturing position in the School of Psychology. He is part of the forensic psychology research group within the school - the Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychology (CORE-FP). He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology and Head of Undergraduate Recruitment and Student Experience.
Caoilte publishes and presents internationally on the topics of sexual offending, sexual interest, and firesetting. He is associate editor of the journals Sexual Abuse and Psychology, Crime & Law and reviews for over 20 other journals. He also sits on the research committee of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA).
Dr Caoilte Ó Ciardha's research focuses on the aetiology of offending behaviour, as well as on the assessment and treatment of factors that are causally related to offending. His research to date has been primarily concerned with sexual offending against children and adults and with firesetting.
Caoilte's research draws on theory and methods across forensic psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology and social cognition. As a result, his research, and the research conducted in his lab, draws on a range of approaches to attempt to understand potentially criminogenic psychological factors such as problematic sexual interest, cognitive distortions, maladaptive coping, and the psychological consequences of childhood adversity. These approaches include reaction time measures, eye-movements and brain stimulation, as well as questionnaire and qualitative methods.
Caoilte is interested in supervising projects that improve our understanding of the psychological causes or factors that help prevent:
Individuals considering applying to complete a PhD under the supervision of Dr Ó Ciardha should make contact with him in the first instance with a brief summary of their proposed topic and methodology.
Current research students
As primary supervisor
As secondary supervisor
Editorial Board Member: Sexual Abuse; Psychology Crime & Law; Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, and Prevention
Reviewer (selected): Aggression and Violent Behaviour; Aggressive Behavior; Archives of Sexual Behaviour; Child Abuse and Neglect; Child Abuse Review; Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health; European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience; European Review of Applied Psychology; International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology; Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; Journal of Interpersonal Violence; Journal of Sexual Aggression; Journal of Sexual Medicine; Justice Quarterly; Legal and Criminological Psychology; Psychology, Crime & Law; SAGE Open; Sexual Abuse; Sexual Offender Treatment; Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, and Prevention; Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
ForenPsyD examiner: University of Birmingham
Grants and Awards
| 2017 | J Wood (PI), T Gannon (Co-I), C Ó Ciardha (Co-I) & E Alleyne (Co-I) The Police and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria "Evaluating polygraph use for managing sexual offenders and suspects in five police areas" 1.7.17 to 30.6.19 | £331,260 |
| 2012 | With Dr Markus Bindemann National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers Comparing multiple indirect measures of sexual interest with an implicit but direct eye-tracking and pupil dilation paradigm | £4,999 |
| 2012 | Faculty Research Committee Indirect Measurement of problematic sexual interest | £994 |
Loading publications...
Showing of total publications in the Kent Academic Repository. View all publications
