Megan Coghlan

Dr. Megan Coghlan is an Assistant Professor in Criminology at the School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University. Her research focuses on understanding reoffending behaviors, desistance frameworks, and marginalized groups' experiences within criminal justice systems. She holds a PhD from the University of Portsmouth (2022), where her thesis explored qualitative perspectives on men and women’s offending in Ireland.

Education: PhD in Criminology (University of Portsmouth, 2022).

Research interests include desistance theory, substance misuse impacts on reoffending, structural barriers for Irish Traveller men, and policy-driven interventions. Her work bridges qualitative methodologies with policy analysis, emphasizing marginalized voices.

Publications highlight trends in reoffending prevention, interdisciplinary research collaboration, and critiques of penal populism. Recent work appears in Criminology and Criminal Justice, the Irish Probation Journal, and media outlets like the Irish Examiner.

Teaching includes coordinating modules on Sentencing, Desistance from Crime, and Criminal Justice fundamentals.