Prof Lara Frumkin

I joined The Open University in January 2018 as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology & Counselling.  I am a chartered psychologist, senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy, associate fellow of the British Psychological Society and international affiliate of the American Psychological Association. Before coming to the OU, I worked in government, non-profit and academia.  After receiving my qualifications in the USA (BS, MA, PhD in psychology), I worked at the American Psychological Association informing policymakers and the public about psychological research and practice.  I then worked at the US Department of Justice linking psychology to relevant aspects of justice, national security and crime. I am a community and social psychologist investigating potential constraints and enablers affecting the engagement of marginalised, under-served populations within the criminal justice.

My research is centred around applying psychological principles to criminal justice and security.  Within that there are a number of different strands to my work.  One programme of research looks at the influence of accent, race, and other seemingly irrelevant (extralegal) factors that impact case outcome and perceptions of witnesses. I also study ways to detect deception, assessing non-verbal behaviours as potential indicators of those who are engaging in nefarious activities.  A third aspect of my research is looking at community responses to terrorism and extremism, investigating how people catastrophise about and behave during threat situations.  Most recently, I have been studying and promoting openness in a socio-technological world, emphasising the importance of police and citizens interactions.