Doctoral Researcher
Tania Goddard is a PhD student in the School of Health and Society at Salford University. She is a UK qualified solicitor with a master’s degree in psychology. Tania has experience of working as a Court Clerk in a Magistrates Court and prosecuting for a Local Authority. Having emigrated to New Zealand, she gained extensive experience of working in legal publishing, editing the New Zealand Criminal Law Review, New Zealand Lawyer, and contributing to the New Zealand Family Law Reports and Business Law Review. On having her own family Tania studied child development through the New Zealand Playcentre Association, learning the value of early child education and the value of child-initiated play. On her return to the UK, she worked in education supporting students 1:1 of all ages with Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). In order to better understand the vulnerabilities individuals with FASD face, Tania completed a master’s in psychology. Following this period of study, and on further investigation, it became clear that there is currently no agreement on how FASD should be considered in the Courtroom around the world and in England and Wales. It also became clear that there is a lack of knowledge and inadequate training for those involved in the legal process including the police, prosecutors, defence solicitors and barristers, judges, expert witnesses and juries. Using her experience of working within the Criminal Justice System Tania is pursuing a PhD exploring the common law doctrine of fitness to plead and investigating whether FASD is a barrier to receiving justice within the criminal court in England and Wales. Tania is a member of The Law Society, British Psychological Society, JUSTICE and the Criminal Justice Alliance. With her research she is hoping to increase the knowledge and understanding of FASD within the field of Forensic Psychology and the legal profession.
Tania’s PhD research is formed of three studies:
- An investigation through interviews with solicitors and barristers on their experience of making fitness to plead applications, their knowledge of FASD, and what they feel any training should look like.
- An investigation through interviews with forensic and clinical psychologists exploring their experience of writing fitness to plead reports for the courts, the abilities they consider are needed to be fit to plead, the instruments used to test those abilities, and their knowledge of FASD.
- Investigating the abilities individuals with FASD have in relation to the fitness to plead criteria and exploring whether those abilities are different when compared to a group of individuals who do not have FASD.
Participant Recruitment
The first two studies have been completed but Tania is currently recruiting individuals (18 – 70 years old) with FASD/Prenatal alcohol exposure. The study will involve individuals completing IQ and memory tests online. It will also involve watching a video about a court case and answering questions about the video. Parents and carers are also asked to participate by answering questionnaires.
Please contact Tania if you are interested to take part in this study: