Dr Lara Christensen, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Justice, holds extensive expertise in the prevention of, and response to, sexual violence and abuse. With a PhD in Psychology (field of research: forensic psychology), she is co-leader of the first University-led Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit (SVRPU) in Australia. Lara displays international research leadership on the topic of female-perpetrated child sexual offending. She is also conducting cutting-edge research on technology-facilitated sexual violence. You will find her research published in top-tier international journals, including Sexual Abuse, Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Child Abuse and Neglect, and Sexuality and Culture.
Regarding teaching, Lara’s student satisfaction ratings often reveal her courses are in the top 20 courses of 200+ courses at UniSC, having received 100% in student satisfaction ratings. Lara aims to motivate and inspire her students, through her passionate, very energetic, personable, and respectful nature. Prior to being appointed at the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2018, Lara was a Lecturer in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University, Gold Coast. During this time, she taught first-year students right through to Master of Criminology and Justice students. Lara was the recipient of multiple Teaching awards on an annual basis, which recognise excellence in the provision of engaging learning for students. Prior to leaving Griffith University, she was awarded a 2017 Vice Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Award (individual award), which recognises 'approaches to teaching and the support of learning that influence, motivate, and inspire students to learn'. Her success was continued in 2018, when Lara was awarded a USC Advance Award in recognition of an 'outstanding practice in learning and teaching, and student support and engagement'. Her teaching team was awarded the 2019 Vice-Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (one UniSC award per year). Most recently, she and four colleagues received the 2020 Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, Award for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching (one award in Australia per year). She is also a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Lara is Associate Editor of the Journal of Sexual Aggression, is a Committee Member of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, and was the Treasurer of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (July 2018 – December 2020). Lara was also the Program Coordinator of the Bachelor of Criminology and Justice (January 2019 – December 2021) at UniSC, which included her role in restructuring the program to include elements of forensic science, intelligence, and cybercrime. Lara is currently working on a number of joint innovative projects with colleagues and other key stakeholders, including Queensland Corrective Services. Lara also supervises Honours (Criminology and Psychology) and PhD (Criminology and Psychology) students.
Awards
- Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, Award for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching, 2020 (one award in Australia per year, Criminology team award)
- Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, David Biles Correctional Research Award (one award in Australia biannually, Criminology team award)
- Fellow, Advance HE (Higher Education Academy), 2019
- Vice-Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, University of the Sunshine Coast, 2019 (one award at USC per year, Criminology team award)
- Advanced Award for Quality Teaching, University of the Sunshine Coast, 2018
- Vice Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Award, Griffith University, 2017
- Dean's Teaching Commendation, Griffith University, 2017 (Masters course)
- Dean's Teaching Commendation, Griffith University, 2017 (First-year course)
- Dean's Teaching Commendation, Griffith University, 2016
- Sessional Staff Award, High Commendation, Griffith University, 2013
- Dean's Commendation Award: Research Methods, University of Queensland, 2011
- Dean's Commendation Award: Evidence-Based Practice, University of Queensland, 2011
Board and Committee Appointments
- 2021 - present
Associate Editor, Journal of Sexual Aggression
- 2019-present
Daniel Morcombe Foundation Committee Member
- 2018 - 2020
Treasurer, Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology
- 2018 - present
Editorial Board Member of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
- 2018 - present
Australian Research Council (ARC) Peer Review Assessor, Australia
- 2017 - present
Bravehearts research panel, Australia
Research Grants
|
Grant/Project name |
Investigators |
Funding body and A$ value |
Year(s)
|
Focus (of research grant) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women |
McKillop, Rayment-McHugh, Christensen, & Adams |
$142,764 |
2020-2022 |
Cairns Youth Sexual Violence Support Services - Evaluation |
| Save the Children |
McKillop, Rayment-McHugh, Christensen |
$50,000 |
2020-2021 |
Informing Child - Safe Practice from a Contextual Lens |
| Daniel Morcombe Foundation |
Christensen, Rayment-McHugh, McKillop |
$56,008 |
2020-2023 |
Evaluation of Changing Futures project |
|
USC Australia |
Rayment-McHugh, McKillop, Bennett, Christensen, & Campbell |
$270,000 |
2020-2021 |
Re-write the Sexual Offending Program Indigenous Males (SOPIM) including Practice Guidelines and a training package for staff delivering the program |
|
Queensland Police Service |
Christensen, Rayment-McHugh, McKillop |
$17,625.07 |
2019 |
'What Works' in Policing: Managing Child Sex Offenders in the Community |
|
Australian Institute of Criminology |
Rayment-McHugh, Christensen (co-leaders), McKillop, Moritz, Burton, Munro, Jones, Prenzler & Lacey, in partnership with Queensland Police Service |
$68,860 |
2019-2020 |
'LEADing evidence-informed Child Exploitation Material (CEM) Reduction' |
|
USC Australia |
Rayment-McHugh, McKillop, Christensen |
$10,451 |
2019-2020 |
Enhancing risk assessment for preventing child sexual abuse: An evaluation of Life Without Barriers 'train the trainer' program |
|
Queensland Corrective Services Research Grant Scheme |
Nadine McKillop; Susan Rayment-McHugh, Lara Christensen; Tim Prenzler |
A$22,271 |
2018 - 2019 |
The effectiveness of sexual and violent offender rehabilitation and reintegration programs: Integrating global and local perspectives to enhance correctional outcomes |
|
Exploring Synchronous Online Tutorials Using Zoom Technology to Engage Students Unable to Attend Face-to-Face Tutorials |
Cindy Davis (PI) |
University of the Sunshine Coast |
2018 -2019 |
Research areas
- Child sexual offenders, including female child sexual offenders
- Attrition of child sexual abuse cases from the criminal justice process
- Online child sexual offenders
- Victimology of sexual abuse
- Sentencing of child sexual offenders
Teaching areas
- Introduction to Criminology
- Homicide
- Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice
- Christensen, L.S. & Pollard, K. (2022). Room for improvement: How does the media portray child sexual abuse material offenders? Sexuality & Culture. doi; 10.1007/s12119-022-09945-x
- Rayment-McHugh, S., Belton, E., McKillop, N., Christensen, L.S., Prenzler, T., & Hine, L. (2022). Beyond 'what works': implementing sex offender treatment programs in the 'real world’. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation. doi: 10.1177/26338076221079046
- McKillop, N., Hine, L., Rayment-McHugh, S., Prenzler, T., Christensen, L.S., Hine, L., & Belton, E. (2022) Effectiveness of sexual offender treatment and reintegration programs: Does composition and sequencing matter? Journal of Criminology. doi: 10.1177/26338076221079046
- Christensen, L.S., Rayment-McHugh, S., Prenzler, T., Chiu, Y-N., & Webster, J. (2021). The theory and evidence behind law enforcement strategies that combat child sexual abuse material, International Journal of Police Science & Management. doi: 10.1177/14613557211026935
- Edwards, G., Christensen, L.S., Rayment-McHugh, S., & Jones, C. (2021). Cyber strategies used to combat child sexual abuse material. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice. doi: 10.52922/ti78313
- Christensen, L.S., Rayment-McHugh, S., McKillop, N., Cairns, N., & Webster, J. (2021). Understanding what works in the police management of child sex offenders in the community. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. doi: 10.1177/0032258X211018791
- Christensen, L.S & Nilsen, N. (2021). Deconstructing quality at multi campus universities: What moderates staff and student satisfaction? Quality Assurance in Education. doi: 10.1108/QAE-03-2021-0034
- Christensen, L.S., Sánchez de Ribera, O., Trajtenberg, N. (2021). A systematic review of professionals’ views about community management policies for individuals convicted of sexual offenses. Sexual Abuse. doi: 10.1177/10790632211000369
- Christensen, L.S., Moritz, D., & Pearson, A. (2021). Psychological perspectives of virtual child sexual abuse material. Sexuality & Culture. doi: 10.1007/s12119-021-09820-1
- Moritz, D., Pearce, S., Christensen, L.S., & Stamboulakis, D. (2021). Designing a peer-led approach to teaching review and enhancement in academia. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 18(1)
- Damiris, I., McKillop, N., Christensen, L.S., Rayment-McHugh, S., Burton, K., & Patterson, T. (2020). Judges’ gendered perceptions of sexual offenders: A new explanatory model. Current Issues in Criminal Justice. http://10.1080/10345329.2020.1837716
- Sánchez de Ribera, O., Trajtenberg, N., & Christensen, L.S. (2020). Evaluating the quality of meta-analytical reviews using the AMSTAR-2: A systematic review of meta-analytical reviews regarding child sexual abuse interventions. Child Abuse & Neglect. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104463
- Christensen, L.S., & Tsagaris, G. (2020). Offenders convicted of child sexual exploitation material offences: characteristics of offenders and an exploration of judicial censure. Psychiatry, Psychology & Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2020.1742240
- Moritz, D., & Christensen, L.S. (2020). When sexting conflicts with child sexual abuse material: The legal and social consequences for children. Psychiatry, Psychology & Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2020.1742242
- Christensen, L.S., & Darling, A. (2020). Sexual abuse by educators: A comparison between male and female teachers who sexually abuse students. Journal of Sexual Aggression. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2019.1616119
- Osbourne, M.G., & Christensen, L.S. (2020). Pathways to child sexual offending: Appling Ward and Siegert’s Pathways Model on offenders convicted of penetrative offences on children. Sexuality & Culture. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-020-09718-4
- Darling, A., & Christensen, L.S. (2020). Female Child Sexual Offenders. In Bryce, I., & Petherick, W., Child Sexual Abuse: Forensic Issues in Evidence, Impact and Management. US: Academic Press/Elsevier (peer reviewed)
- Prenzler, T., Sarre, R., & Christensen, L.S. (2020). The Police. In H. Hayes & T. Prenzler (Ed.), An Introduction to Crime and Criminology. Pearson: NSW (peer reviewed)
- McKillop, N., Smallbone, S., & Christensen, L.S. (2020). Psychological Explanations of Crime. In H. Hayes & T. Prenzler (Ed.), An Introduction to Crime and Criminology. Pearson: NSW (peer reviewed)
Dr Lara Christensen’s specialist areas of knowledge include understanding and preventing sexual violence and child sexual abuse, with a particular interest in female sex offenders and child sexual abuse material offenders. Her knowledge also encompasses the policing, courts, and corrections of child sexual offenders.