Rate My Professor Jessica Jacobson

Jacobson's research specializations encompass prisons and the use of imprisonment, sentencing, criminal investigations and prosecutions, lay participation in judicial proceedings, and coroners' investigations and inquests. Her empirical work employs qualitative methods such as interviews, focus groups, and observations, informing policy and practice. Key projects include the ESRC-funded Voicing Loss (2021-2024), examining bereaved people's participation in inquests, yielding reports, briefings, and a book chapter; the Nuffield Foundation-funded Participation in Courts and Tribunals, resulting in a 2020 edited volume, policy tools, and articles; an international study on imprisonment in ten countries funded by Open Society Foundations and Porticus; and projects on digital forensics, language barriers, youth courts, and online fraud. Major publications feature Inside Crown Court: Personal Experiences and Questions of Legitimacy (Policy Press, 2015, with Gillian Hunter and Amy Kirby); Imprisonment Worldwide: The Current Situation and an Alternative Future (Policy Press, 2016, with Andrew Coyle, Helen Fair, and Roy Walmsley); and Participation in Courts and Tribunals: Concepts, Realities and Aspirations (Bristol University Press, 2020, co-edited with Penny Cooper). She has authored or co-authored extensive book chapters and journal articles on sentencing, vulnerability in courts, anti-social behaviour, and procedural justice.