Adam Bates
Associate Lecturer

Profile

Biography

BA (Hons) Theology and Applied Social Science, UCRYSJ (Leeds University)
PGCE, Oxford Brookes (QTS)
MSc Developmental Psychology, York St John University
PhD candidate in Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University

Career

Following seventeen years as a secondary school teacher, I observed significant behavioural changes among students in relation to social media usage and evolving concepts of sexuality and gender identity. This prompted my transition into academic research to systematically investigate these phenomena, leading to a research career focused on amplifying the voices of marginalised and underrepresented populations.

Since 2018, I have contributed to several high-impact research projects that bridge academic theory with real-world policy applications. At York St John University, I worked on the Digital Bodies project, which developed evidence-based interventions for reducing negative body image among adolescents, and this work was used to advise government bodies on youth wellbeing strategies. At Sheffield Hallam University, I served as a researcher at CENTRIC (Centre of Excellence in Terrorism, Resilience, Intelligence and Organised Crime Research), developing practice tools to protect police officers and their families from online harms across six UK forces. I have also contributed to the Ministry of Justice's £50m Reducing Reoffending Package evaluation, assessing prison release support systems, and N8 Policing Partnership research on technology-assisted domestic abuse responses, all directly informing national and government policy development.

My own research expertise centres on LGBTQ+ identity development, gender identity formation, and popular protest movements, with particular emphasis on physical and digital expressions of identity and resistance. Through critical social psychological approaches, I employ thematic, narrative, and discursive research methodologies to examine how marginalised communities navigate contemporary social challenges. My overarching goal is to utilise academic research to amplify marginalised voices while contributing to evidence-based policy development.

Research

Projects

A discursive analysis of social movements within contemporary LGBTQ+ popular protest in digital contexts.

My doctoral research examines how contemporary LGBTQ+ social movements construct identity and negotiate political meaning during times of popular protest. The research focuses specifically on digital news media coverage of Pride events during the convergence of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and Black Lives Matter demonstrations. I employ an integrated discourse analytic approach to analyse how temporal framing, intersectional positioning, and embodied resistance function as key discursive strategies. I particularly draw on Johan Galtung's cultural violence framework, Michael Billig's concept of banal nationalism, and intersectionality theory to demonstrate how media discourse both perpetuates and challenges systematic oppression of communities.

Grants

Home Office 2025 Security and Policing Academic Innovation Award

Sheffield Hallam University Demonstrator Fellowship

York St John University Vice Chancellor's Scholarship

Collaborators

Prof Laura Kilby (UWS)
Dr Rachel Abbott (SHU)
Dr Kate Whitefield (SHU)
Dr Charlotte Coleman (SHU)
Dr Beth Bell (UoY)

Teaching

Undergraduate

Undergraduate module: Brain and Behaviour
Advanced module: Identity and Prejudice

Publications

Selected publications

Bates, A. & Whitfield, K. (2024). Police officers, Staff and Partners experience of online harms – Final report. Centre for Behavioural Science and Applied Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University. (Quick read version of full report: https://3po-project.co.uk/sites/default/files/2024-03/3PO_Staff%20and%20Partners_BriefingPaper.Feb2024.pdf)

Greevy, H., Johnson, C., Howell, S., Goldwyn Simpkins H., Mealings G., Whitfield, K., Coleman, C., Newman J., & Bates, A. (2023). £50m Reducing Reoffending Package Process Evaluation. Ministry of Justice Analytical Series. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/645e53636539660011bd3e9f/reducing-reoffending-process-evaluation.pdf

Whitfield, K., Coleman, C., Bates, A., Hemsley, S., Berry, L., & Almond, L. (2022). Victims' experience of SmartWater in domestic abuse cases. N8 Policing Research Partnership Policy Briefing. https://www.n8prp.org.uk/home/research/small-grants/victims-experience-of-smartwater

Bell, B. T., Taylor, C., Paddock, D., & Bates, A. (2022). Digital Bodies: A controlled evaluation of a brief classroom-based intervention for reducing negative body image among adolescents in the digital age. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(1), 280-298. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12449

Bates, A., Hobman, T., & Bell, B. T. (2020). "Let Me Do What I Please With It... Don't Decide My Identity For Me": LGBTQ+ Youth Experiences of Social Media in Narrative Identity Development. Journal of Adolescent Research, 35(1), 51-83. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558419884700

External activities

Invited talks and conferences

Conference Speaker:

3PO Oxford, Edinburgh, UCL and Cambridge Consortia (2022 - 2024)

BPS Cyberpsychology Section Annual Conference (2023)

BPS Social Section Annual Conference (2019)

PsyPAG Annual Conference (2019)

Adam Bates Associate Lecturer