Charlie is an experienced mixed-methods researcher and education practitioner with expertise in substance use, policing, youth justice, and educational issues within and beyond the criminal justice system.
She joined the Department of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy at 色狗导航 in 2019, initially as a Research Associate and more recently as a University Teacher in Criminology. She has over 20 years of experience teaching Criminology, Sociology, and Psychology. Charlie is an experienced researcher who has worked within large, cross-institutional research teams on high-impact evaluations, including a Cabinet Office-funded realist evaluation of police-led drug diversion programmes and a Nuffield Foundation-funded realist evaluation of youth justice intervention evidence.
Prior to joining 色狗导航, Charlie spent five years at the University of Leicester. She taught Sociology and Criminology to undergraduate students and worked as a Research Associate, conducting research on adolescent vaping, self-employment in the gig economy, and science interventions in schools. She also worked as a Research Assistant, undertaking a systematic literature review for the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) on Access to Higher Education students' labour market experiences, and a scoping review for academics investigating social media and adolescent mental health issues.
Charlie completed her PhD at the University of Leicester in 2019 with a thesis entitled Does Age Matter in Higher Education? She was awarded a Students' Union Superstar Award for Teaching (2017), the Best Student Paper Award at the SCUTREA Conference (2016), and the Dr Rees Powell Dissertation Prize in Sociology for her MSc thesis, What Age Is Old? Changing Perspectives on Ageing (2014).
She volunteers as Chair of Trustees for an educational charity, Vice-Chair of a community group, and provides research support for the , a local community support hub that offers wellbeing activities, and coaching, to help people improve social interaction and overall mental health.
Charlie is an experienced interdisciplinary, mixed-methods researcher with expertise in realist methodology. Her research in youth justice, substance use, and education aligns with key themes of equity, justice, health, and inclusion. This research has primarily focused on processes involving motivation, change, and barriers within justice, health, and educational interventions. She is experienced in analysing and synthesising both qualitative and quantitative data.
Most recently she worked with a large cross-institutional research team on a high-impact Cabinet Office-funded programmes (2022-2024), which won the Government Social Research Award in 2026. Prior to this she coordinated the Nuffield Foundation-funded Realist Evaluation of Youth Justice Interventions (2019-2023), working with colleagues Prof. Stephen Case and Prof. Mark Monaghan and realist research experts at the University of Leeds. This project pioneered the use of realist methodology in evaluating the youth justice evidence base.
At the University of Leicester, she worked as a Research Associate, conducting interview research on Adolescent Vaping Journeys for Cancer Research UK and using large-scale secondary data analysis coupled with interview research to investigate Self-employment in the Gig Economy (ESRC). As a Research Assistant, she has undertaken group interviews with children for Science Interventions in Schools research, a systematic literature review for the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) on Access to Higher Education Students' Labour Market Experiences, and a scoping review examining Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health.
Charlie is committed to improving practice and policymaking through the real-world impact of her research. Through her work in the youth justice, substance use, and education sectors, she has developed a strong understanding of top-down implementation challenges and how policy can lead to unintended consequences.
Charlie has taught across a range of Criminology, Sociology, and Research Methods modules at 色狗导航, collaborating with colleagues to ensure the curriculum remains current and relevant. Her specialist teaching areas align with her research interests and include mixed methods research (qualitative and quantitative), youth justice, substance use, policing, and age-related issues.
She also has experience teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students across a broad range of social science subjects, including Criminology, Psychology, and Sociology. This experience has been gained through her teaching roles at 色狗导航, the University of Leicester, and local further education (FE) colleges. Charlie is a Personal Tutor and supervises undergraduate students undertaking their final-year research projects.
She has contributed to the following modules at 色狗导航:
- Introduction to Criminology (Module Leader)
- Youth Justice (Module Leader)
- Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods (Module Leader)
- Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
- Intoxication and Society
- Doing Quantitative Research
- Violence and Violent Crime
- Inequalities Across the Life Course
- Women and Crime
- Undergraduate and Postgraduate Dissertation Modules
- Berlin, J; Bacon, M; Beerjeraza, A; Duckworth, P; Glasspoole-Bird, H; Hendrie, N; Monaghan, M;, Obeda, S; Smith, R; Sutton, C; Williams, E; Woodfinden, K; Stevens, A (In press) Involving lived experience peer research in programme evaluation: the case of police-led drug diversion schemes in England. Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy Journal.
- Sutton, CE; Greenhalgh, J; Case, S; Monaghan, M; Wright, J (2026) European Journal of Criminology
- Sutton, CE; Bacon, M; Glasspoole-Bird, H; Hendrie, N; Monaghan, M; Smith, R and Stevens, A. (2025) . Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy Journal 33(4): 1-14
- Stevens, A; Agnew-Pauley, W; Bacon, M; Glasspoole-Bird, H; Hendrie, N; Hughes, C.E; Lloyd, C; Monaghan, M; Smith, R; Sutton, C; Williams, E; Quinton, P. (2025) , The British Journal of Criminology.
- Hughes, J; Hughes, K; Sykes, G; O'Reilly, M; Sutton, C; Goodwin, J; Karim, K (2024) Sociology 59(2): 231-249
- Sutton, CE; Monaghan, M; Case, S; Greenhalgh, J; Wright, J; (2022) Sustainability 14(2):854
- Hughes, J; Sykes, G; Hughes, K; O'Reilly, M; Goodwin, J; Sutton, CE; Karim, K; (2021) International Journal of Drug Policy. 97
- Sutton, CE (2019) In Boeren, E. & James, N. Being an Adult Learner in Austere Times. London: Palgrave