Dr Tania Loureiro

Biography

Tania is a Lecturer in Criminal Law & Criminal Justice at the University of Aberdeen, where she coordinates and teaches upon various courses relating to criminal law, criminal justice, gender and law, and criminology at undergraduate level for LLB, MA Legal Studies and MA Criminology and Sociology students. She is also a Personal Tutor, a member of the Research Committee, and the Ethics and Research Integrity Lead for the Law School.

Tania holds a BSc in Psychology, a Master's in Forensic Psychology, and a PhD in Law from the University of Aberdeen. Her doctoral research focused on the impact on families and individuals who have received a community sentence as an alternative to imprisonment in Scotland.

Tania's research interests are interdisciplinary, spanning criminal law, criminal justice, criminology, psychology, and sociology. Her work focuses on imprisonment, alternatives to custody, children's rights, and the impact of the criminal justice system on families and children. She has conducted research into the use of child and family impact assessments in court and on the support available for families of people who have committed a sexual offence in Scotland.

Research Overview

Research interests:

• Impact of imprisonment on families
• Criminology
• Alternatives to imprisonment, more specifically Community Payback Orders (CPOs)
• Criminal Law
• Sexual offences

Funding and Grants

Research Grants

• The Robertson Trust (2026) - Co-investigator for the evaluation of the two-year Fair Justice Collective project, aiming to challenge the overuse of imprisonment and support families in justice decisions.
• National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), UK (2011) - Collaborated on a successful £2,683,666 grant application for the Trial of Healthy Relationship Initiatives for the Very Early-years (THRIVE): a three-arm randomised control trial for vulnerable mothers and high-risk infants (Glasgow Caledonian University).
• Scottish Government (2011) - Co-prepared a successful £150,000 grant application to evaluate a parenting programme for perpetrators of intimate partner violence (Glasgow Caledonian University).

Awards & Scholarships

• CB Davidson Grant - University of Aberdeen (2017 & 2018)
• AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) Scholarship Nomination, University of Aberdeen (2017) -Nominated by the university scholarship committee for the Scottish Graduate School for the Arts & Humanities (SGSAH).
• PhD Elphinstone Scholarship, University of Aberdeen
• Leonardo da Vinci Program Fellowship (2009) - Awarded a six-month international Fellowship in Forensic Psychology (March - August 2009).

Teaching Responsibilities

• Criminal Law LS1020
• Crime Theories and Concepts (Law) LS2541 (Course Coordinator)
• Introduction to Criminology SO2007 (Course Coordinator 2024-2025)
• Criminology LS403R,LX403R (Course Coordinator)
• Children, Young People & Crime LS452K, LX452K
• Gender, Law & Society LS401E, LX401E 
• MA Legal Studies & Criminology Co-ordinator