Leah Koumentaki

Biography

Leah is a Greek Cretan national who completed her undergraduate studies in Sociology at the University of Crete. After working in the private sector and offering her support to young victims, Leah pursued a Master in Research in Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at the University of Manchester. She successfully completed her doctoral studies in Criminology at the University of Essex in 2022. Prior to her doctoral studies, Leah co-ordinated research projects on Restorative Justice and other topics related to criminology, whereas during her doctoral research, she was involved in teaching as an Assistant Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology, both at the University of Essex and Royal Holloway the University of London.

Research and scholarship

Leah conducted the first comprehensive and systematic research on the Cretan Sasmos, which she concluded is a vernacular Restorative Justice process. Her research approach establishes her as a qualitative researcher with a focus on ethnography. Her areas of research interest are cultural and critical criminology, indigenous and customary traditions of justice and punishment, restorative justice, zemiology, southern and green criminology, postcolonial studies and post-colonial feminism.

Leah is willing to supervise student projects interested in subjects explored by critical criminology, penology and practice of the criminal justice system, as well as from those interested in qualitative methods.

Teaching

Leah leads or contributes to the teaching of the following undergraduate modules:

• Understanding crime
• Crime and Justice in a global context
• Research methods in Criminology
• Investigating Crime: Criminological Perspectives
• Criminal Justice: Process, Policy and Practice

She also contributes to a range of modules in the MA in Criminology and Criminal Justice.