Bonnie has always been interested in how government policy can help reduce recidivism rates for young people. This interest led to her undertaking an MRes in Restorative Justice at Edinburgh Napier University. Bonnie’s MRes sought to understand the views of key stakeholders on the current provision and future development of restorative justice in Scotland, in relation to policy announcements from the Scottish Government. Using the findings from her MRes, Bonnie co-authored a published paper titled ‘Institutionalising Restorative Justice for Adults in Scotland’. Upon completion of her research, Bonnie designed and delivered training content to inform certain stakeholder groups of the value of their role in the future development of RJ throughout Scotland. She also has two years experience volunteering within the justice sector, supporting those with family members in prison.

Prior to working at Cordis Bright, Bonnie spent 18 months working in a Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) school supporting 9-16 year old boys with their learning and emotional development. During this time, she delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-based interventions to small groups of students, as well as undertaking additional mental and emotional health training.

Her skills and experience include:

• Designing research tools including scales to measure behaviour, surveys, interview topic guides.
• Undertaking quantitative research analysis, including analysis of large sets of survey data.
• Conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus groups with a range of stakeholders.
• Undertaking thematic analysis of qualitative data and content analysis of existing case studies.
• Undertaking extensive literature and policy reviews on a range of topics.
• Working as part of a team of researchers to deliver co-produced research and evaluation.