Dr Linda Cooper
Associate Professor and Deputy Director
- L.Cooper7@uos.ac.uk
- School/Directorate
- Research and Knowledge Exchange
- Linda Cooper ORCID
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Dr Linda Cooper is an Associate Professor and the Deputy Director of the Institute for Social Justice and Crime (ISJC). She has helped influence national policy on police investigations of rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO). Dr Cooper is an established researcher with a portfolio of work in policing, education and veterans in the criminal justice system. Prior to her appointment at the University of Suffolk, Dr Cooper was working on a nationally significant project called Operation Soteria, which helped develop a new National Operating Model for the 43 police forces across England and Wales, to use in investigating RASSO.
Dr Cooper had been a part of the team working on the role of officer learning, development and wellbeing, as well as the implementation of the change programme of work and a review of the public protection curriculum. That project included work with police practitioners, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in London, and as academic liaison with the National Police Chiefs’ Council Joint Unit Team. Her research has already aligned closely with the work of the ISJC, which has already carried out important work for Operation Soteria – suspect-focused investigations and disrupting repeat suspects.
Dr Cooper is continuing her association with the Operation Soteria team with secondary data analysis. Further projects include the police approach and processes to deal with officer wellbeing in the context of domestic abuse investigations. Dr Cooper is additionally project lead on a review of sexual violence provision in Suffolk.
Dr Cooper secured funding from UKRI Innovate, for an Accelerated Knowledge Partnership with Iceni, a charity who support individuals and families affected by substance misuse and who cause harm in relationships. The project ‘EmpowerHER’ was a unique pilot project to support women experiencing alcohol or substance misuse, to help them gain the support they need without fear of stigma or reprisals.
For women who have experienced substance or alcohol misuse, there can be a number of hurdles that prevent them from seeking support. Ensuring that we address these barriers is an important first step, and the initial feedback from the EmpowerHER pilot is that these women are making a positive direction of travel. The research team are applying for additional long-term funding to further the programme, including creating a bigger dataset that will inform future work.
Dr Cooper provides regular PGR guest lectures. In addition, she works closely with the school of BASST on education research, including two PhD students (forthcoming 2026) and two external PhD students.
Previous learning and teaching responsibilities include: Postgraduate and Doctoral studies: PhD completions and viva voce examination chair. Academic mentor to early career colleagues. Lead for Post Graduate Researcher (PGR) teaching of synchronous and asynchronous workshops, PGR Induction week, skills development workshops and online learning. Creator of postdoctoral alumni network and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) series. Identification of all PGR development opportunities. Chair for numerous online and face-to-face viva voce examinations. Doctoral School support, designing and delivering workshops and compulsory training to MA, PhD and EdD practitioners and researchers.
Undergraduate study: Supervising Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) undergraduate students. BA Education & Childhood Studies, MA (Education) and doctoral training pathways. Lectures and seminar groups and tutorials. Overseeing levels 4-6 (320 students), providing solutions to improve the content, teaching, learning and assessment phases of taught modules, quality assurance and on-going appraisal of NSS surveys; involvement in publicity and events for recruitment, UCAS application referrals and overall enhancement of the student experience.
Dr Cooper is media experienced, with interviews with local and national radio and television stations. She regularly engages in UoS knowledge exchange events, including the Unlocked series, both face-to-face and featured on YouTube.
Selected academic articles are as follows (note Cooper and Maguire) (please also see ARRO outputs):
Cooper, L., Sondhi, A., Harding, R., and Williams, E., 2026 [online]. Reflections on organisational justice amongst officers investigating rape and other serious sexual offences in England and Wales. Criminology and Criminal Justice. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/174889582514061.
Cooper, L., Rawdin, C., and Burnes, B., 2025. Preparing to prepare: the process of transformational change in rape and serious sexual offences investigations in England and Wales. Journal of Change Management. 25:3, 179-199.
Maguire L., Sondhi, A., Abinashi, D., and Norman, J., 2024. Care of both victim-survivors and police investigators of rape and serious sexual offences in England and Wales. Criminology and Criminal Justice. 26:2, 426-445.
Harding, R., Maguire, L., and Williams, E., 2024 [online]. Competing concepts of public value and legitimacy in the police: organisational challenges in the investigation of rape and serious sexual offences. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2023.100646.
Sondhi, A., Maguire, L., Leidi, A., and Weston, C., 2024 [online]. A peer-led diversionary intervention for veterans in police custody: exploring reasons for non-engagement. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X231219992.
Fenton-O’Creevy, M., Bowles, B., Maguire L., and Williams E., 2024. Uncomfortable knowledge: the production of ignorance and trustworthiness in UK policing. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice. 18: paae117.
Sondhi, A., Harding, R., Maguire, L., and Williams, E., 2023 [online]. Understanding factors associated with burnout symptoms amongst investigators working on rape and serious sexual offence investigations in England and Wales. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad020.
Maguire, L. and Sondhi, A., 2022. Stress-related psychosocial factors among police officers working on Rape and Serious Sexual cases in one Police Force in England: a mixed methods study. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. 97:1, 56-72.
Black-Hawkins, K., Maguire, L., and Kershner, R., 2021. Developing inclusive classroom communities: what matters to children? Education 3-13: International Journal of Early Years, Elementary and Primary Education. 50:5, 577-591.
Caddick, N., Godier-McBard, L., Cooper, L., and Fossey, M., 2020. Hierarchies of wounding: media framing of ‘combat’ and ‘non-combat’ injury. Media, War and Conflict.14:4, 503-521.
Cooper, L., Caddick, N., Godier, L., Cooper, A., and Fossey, M., 2018. Transition from the military into civilian life: an exploration of cultural competence. Armed Forces & Society. 44:1, 156-177.
Laanapere, T., Truussa, T-T., and Cooper, L., 2018. Military legacy: use it or lose it? Sõjateadlane, Estonian Journal of Military Studies. 6: 22-51.
Cooper, L., Caddick, N., Godier, L., Cooper, A., Fossey, M., and Engward, H., 2017. A model of military-to-civilian transition: Bourdieu in Action. Journal of Military, Veteran & Family Health. 3:2, 53-60.
Cooper, L., 2017. The maternal gift: mothers’ investment in their daughters’ higher education. The Journal of Further and Higher Education. 41:3, 328-339.
Wright, H., Cooper, L., and Luff, P., 2017. Women’s ways of working: circumventing the masculine structures that operate within the university. Women’s Studies International Forum. 61:123-131.
Cooper, L., Andrews, S., and Fossey, M., 2016. Educating nurses to care for military veterans in civilian hospitals: an integrated literature review. Special issue: Nurse Education Today. 47: 68-73.
Rogers, C., and Cooper, L., 2015. Mothering and insider dilemmas: feminist sociologists in the research process. Sociological Research Online. 20:2, 5-18.
Cooper, L., 2013. Women and higher education: narratives of middle class, mother-daughter dyads. Gender and Education. 25:5, 624-639.
Kanyal, M., and Cooper, L., 2010. Young children’s perceptions of their school experience: a comparative study between England and India. Procedia Social and Behavioural Sciences. 2:2, 3605-3613.
Consultancy: the SkillForce Veterans’ Programme, a peer mentor scheme for veterans in the CJS and Barnardo’s Families of Veterans Support Service (CJS).
An invited member on the Expert Steering Group for a further Barnardo’s project, ‘Veterans in Custody Scheme’.
Lead researcher with the Service Children’s Progression Alliance (SCiP), supporting young people from military families.
Project Lead for a UK wide audit of veteran-specific support for veterans in the CJS, in collaboration with His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). A Veteran Support Map (https://mod.co-financing.org/veteran-support-map/) was produced for veterans in the CJS and their families to signpost to guidance, in association with HMPPS.
Current: Advisory Board member – Subject Matter Expert and PhD supervisor, Aarhus University, Denmark. The VET>EDU programme: Transformation learning of student veterans in transition
Book chapter with NATO members
Cooper, L., Caddick, N., Godier-McBard, L., Lewis, N., Harrison, K., and Fossey, M., 2019. The transition of military veterans from active service to military life. Chapter 6, Country Report: United Kingdom. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) STO Technical Report – HFM-RTG-263.
Collaboration with the University of Tartu, Estonia
Laanapere, T., Truussa, T-T., and Cooper, L., 2018. Military legacy: use it or lose it? Sõjateadlane, Estonian Journal of Military Studies. No 6: p22-51.
Fellow of Advanced HE
An active UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) Expert Community Member, shaping research policy in the UK.
Honorary Visiting Senior Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).
European Society of Criminology (ESC)
Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA)
Violence Against Women Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) Research Network, Wales
All-Wales Policing and Academic Collaboration (AWPAC)
Society of Evidence Based Policing (SEBP)
Advisory Board member – Subject Matter Expert, Aarhus University, Denmark (current)
Expert Steering Group – Barnardo’s Veterans in Custody Scheme (ViCS)
Cobseo CJS Research Cluster
The Essex Civilian and Military Partnership Board (CMPB)
British Educational Research Association (BERA)
British Sociological Association (BSA)
East Midlands Doctoral Researcher Network (EMDR)
Reviewer for the following journals and publishers: Military Psychology, Perspectives in Public Health, Armed Forces & Society, Families, Relationships and Societies, Critical Education Policy Studies, Bloomsbury Press and Palgrave.
Member of BERA’s Members and Engagement and Post Graduate Steering Committees Reviewer of abstracts for BERA international conferences, Awards Committee and conference abstracts