Dr Sean Creaney is a Criminologist and Senior Lecturer in the School of Law and Criminal Justice at Edge Hill University. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE). Dr Creaney is a former Associate of the ‘Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice’ (CYCJ), and a current member of the ‘Transdisciplinary Research for Youth Justice' (TRYJustice) network.

His areas of knowledge and expertise include Child First Justice, typologies, theories and models of participation and co-production and experiential peer support and mentorship. Sean was previously a Trustee of the National Association for Youth Justice. Sean is a founding Advisory Board member of social justice charity Peer Power, an empathy-led charity focussed on healing trauma and creating individual and system change.

In 2021, Sean was a research consultant on a Youth Justice Board commissioned project that audited and explored the practice of participatory approaches and co-creation across Youth Justice Services. He co-authored the report on how involving children and young people can positively transform youth justice services, which provides guidance on how to utilise creative approaches to facilitate children’s involvement in the design, delivery and evaluation of services. He guest edited (with colleagues Dr Samantha Burns and Dr Anne-Marie Day) a special issue of the Safer Communities journal on the theory and practice of co-production and co-creation in Youth Justice. He is currently guest editing a special issue of the British Journal of Community Justice (with colleagues Professor Hannah Smithson and Dr Ruth Parkes) on ‘children’s participation in youth justice: Actions speak louder than words’. 

Dr Creaney is also guest editing a special issue of Societies (MDPI) (with colleagues Prof. Dr. Stephen Case and Dr. Kathy Hampson) on Youth Justice: Social Policy, Social Work and Practice.

Sean is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Safer Communities journal and was awarded Outstanding Paper in both the 2015 and 2021 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence.

Watch: Sean Creaney and Samantha Burns present ‘Child First participation and co-production in youth justice’