Helen Elfleet

Dr. Helen Elfleet is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Edge Hill University, affiliated with the School of History, Geography and Social Sciences. Her research focuses on gender-responsive governance, neoliberalism, governmentality, mental health, and post-release experiences of imprisoned individuals. She holds a PhD from Edge Hill University (2019), an MRes from the University of Central Lancashire (2014), and a PGCert in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education (Edge Hill University). Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to education and social justice.

Research interests include the role of post-Corston Report women’s centers, critical andragogy in prison education, and feminist abolitionist analyses of penal discourse. She is an active member of The European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control.

Her publications span prison-university partnerships, neoliberal policies in penal systems, and historical penal reforms. While no scientific awards are listed, her work emphasizes critical approaches to criminal justice and gender equity.