Dr Chelsea Mainwaring is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at London Met within the School of Social Sciences and Professions.
Chelsea Mainwaring
Chelsea holds a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Forensic Psychology from Royal Holloway, University of London, and a PhD in Psychology from Goldsmiths, University of London.
Chelsea’s research interests lie within forensic psychology and criminal justice, with a particular focus on sexual violence and image-based sexual abuse. Her work explores victimisation, perpetration, prevention, and public perceptions of these behaviours, examining how individual, situational, and contextual factors shape responses and outcomes. Her doctoral research focused on bystander intervention in image-based sexual abuse, investigating the factors that facilitate or inhibit intervention in these contexts. She enjoys working collaboratively with external organisations to ensure that research findings can help inform and improve real-world responses to image-based sexual abuse. Chelsea welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students interested in these research areas and is happy to discuss potential supervision opportunities.
Chelsea is the Course Leader for the distance learning BSc Applied Psychology (Top-Up) programme, where she supports students in developing their academic knowledge, research skills, and professional aspirations. Alongside this role, she teaches research methods and statistics across all levels of the psychology curriculum, as well as cultural and historical perspectives in psychology, and contributes to teaching in forensic psychology, bringing her research expertise into discussions of offending behaviour, victimisation, and contemporary issues in criminal justice. In addition, she supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research projects, supporting students in the development of research skills, critical thinking, data interpretation, and academic writing.
Chelsea currently contributes to teaching research methods and statistics across levels 3, 4, and 5 on our Psychology BSc course. She is the module leader for the Foundations of Research in Psychology module at Level 3. Chelsea also contributes to the Forensic Psychology module on the Psychology BSc course and the Psychology and Criminal Behaviour module on our Criminology MSc. She also supervises a number of BSc and MSc research project students.
Chelsea has a broad interest in forensic psychology and criminal justice research. She is particularly interested in victimisation, perpetration, and prevention in contexts of sexual violence and image-based sexual abuse, as well as perceptions of these behaviours, with a focus on how individual differences, and situational and contextual factors impact these behaviours and perceptions. In particular, Chelsea's PhD research focused on bystander intervention in image-based sexual abuse contexts, and more specifically, facilitators and barriers of intervention in these contexts.
Mainwaring, C., Scott, A. J., & Gabbert, F. (2026). Individual and Contextual Facilitators and Barriers of Bystander Intervention Intent in Image-Based Sexual Abuse Contexts. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605261473561
Mainwaring, C., Scott, A. J., & Gabbert, F. (2025). Situational Facilitators and Barriers of Bystander Intervention Intent in Image-Based Sexual Abuse Contexts. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605251336347
Mainwaring, C., Scott, A. J., & Gabbert, F. (2024). Facilitators and Barriers of Bystander Intervention Intent in Image-Based Sexual Abuse Contexts: A Focus Group Study with a University Sample. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 39(11-12), 2655-2686. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231222452
Mainwaring, C., Scott, A. J., & Gabbert, F. (2023). Behavioral intentions of bystanders to image-based sexual abuse: A preliminary focus group study with a university student sample. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.
Mainwaring, C., Gabbert, F., & Scott, A. J. (2022). A systematic review exploring variables related to bystander intervention in sexual violence contexts. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
Scott, A. J., Mainwaring, C., Flynn, A., Powell, A., & Henry, N. (2022). The extent and nature of image-based sexual abuse among young people: Perspectives from victims, perpetrators and bystanders. In H. Lim & B. McCleskey (Eds.), Interpersonal violence against children and youth (pp. 85-108). Lexington Books.
Fielding, N., Braun, S., Hieke, G., & Mainwaring, C. (2020). Video enabled justice evaluation. Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner.
Mainwaring, C. J., Bardi, A., & Meek, R. (2019). A glimpse into the role of personal values within the restorative justice process: a qualitative study with restorative justice facilitators. Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal, Social, and Restorative Justice, 22(1), 60-85.
Mainwaring, C., Scott, A. J., Flynn, A., Powell, A., & Henry, N. (2021, July 7). The extent and nature of image-based sexual abuse among young people: Perspectives from victims, perpetrators and bystanders [paper presentation]. Conceptualising and Responding to Online Harms in Youth Digital Culture Workshop, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.