Dr Brandon Sparks

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Brandon Sparks
About
Teaching and learning
Research

About

Hello and welcome to my page! I joined Kingston University in 2021 as a Lecturer in Forensic Psychology, and as such, my teaching and research fall under that domain. My main area of interest revolves around sexual offending, with recent works exploring image-based sexual abuse and the use of technology to perpetrate sexual violence. Other interests include attitudes toward offenders, what drives punishment motives, the role of the media in influencing our perceptions of law enforcement, and healthy relationships. My dissertation work focuses on the roles that dating applications (such as Tinder) and social isolation play in the lives of incels and how they may impact their well-being. I hope to continue branching out into new avenues of forensic psychology and look forward to the opportunities to work on these with the wonderful staff and students at Kingston University!

For more information about me, please visit www.brandontsparks.com

Academic responsibilities

Lecturer in Forensic Psychology

Qualifications

  • MA in Applied Social Psychology, University of Saskatchewan
  • BA (Hons) in Psychology, St. Thomas University

Teaching and learning

My four core principles to effective teaching:

  • Effective teaching begins by building rapport and community with the students and university
  • Effective teaching incorporates active learning strategies and encourages student growth
  • Effective teaching uses diverse assessments to measure learning and student progress
  • Effective teaching hinges on the continuous growth and reflection of the teacher

Undergraduate courses taught

Postgraduate courses taught

Research

Publications:

  • Sparks, B. (2021). A snapshot of image based sexual abuse (IBSA): Narrating a way forward. Sexuality Research & Social Policy
  • Zidenberg, A. M., Wielinga, F., Sparks, B., Margeotes, K., & Harkins, L. (2021). Lost in translation: A quantitative and qualitative comparison of rape myth acceptance. Psychology, Crime, & Law.
  • Sparks, B. (2021). Attitudes toward the punishment of juvenile and adult sexual offenders in Canada: The roles of sentencing goals and criminal justice motivations. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 30(2), 125-145.
  • Kiss, M. J., McDonagh, L. K., Sparks, B., Morrison, T. G., & Hamp, T. (2020). Validating the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) with gay men. Journal of Sex Research, 58(5), 589-598.
  • Sparks, B., Wielinga, F., Jung, S., & Olver, M. (2020). Recidivism risk and criminogenic needs of individuals who perpetrated intimate partner sexual violence offenses. Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, and Prevention, 15(1), e3713.
  • Sparks, B., & Wormith, S. (2020). Assessing attitudes toward juveniles and adults adjudicated for sexual offenses in Canada: Does offender age matter? Journal of Sexual Aggression, 27(1), 81-94.
  • Zidenberg, A. M., Sparks, B., Harkins, L., & Lidstone, S. K. (2019). Tipping the scales: The effect of gender, rape-myth acceptance and anti-fat attitudes on judgments of sexual coercion scenarios. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.