Professor Kay Peggs
- Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
- Department of Criminology
- School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences
- Penrhyn Road
- Behaviour, Business and Policy
Professor of Criminology and Sociology
About
I joined Kingston University in 2016, having previously held academic positions at the University of Warwick (Research Fellow in Sociology), the University of Portsmouth (Reader in Sociology), and the University of Winchester (Professor of Sociology and Animal Studies). Following completion of my PhD at the University of Surrey, which examined women and pensions, I worked on an ESRC-funded research project exploring couple relationships, which resulted in my first co-authored book, Identity and Repartnering After Separation (Palgrave, 2007).
I am a social scientist and a qualified psychotherapeutic counsellor whose research spans sociology, green criminology, human-animal relations, and therapeutic practice. My social scientific research examines the persistence of complex inequalities associated with species and explores how relationships between humans and other animals shape social life, environmental harm, ethical decision-making, and justice. My work in the fields of green criminology and the sociology of human-animal relations argues that understanding species relations and the human exploitation of other animals are central to understanding contemporary society. I have published widely in the field, including Animals and Sociology (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and my co-edited book Gendering Green Criminology (2025, Bristol University Press). At present I am working on Experiments, Animal Bodies and Human Values (Routledge).
Alongside this work, I am a qualified and practicing psychotherapeutic counsellor and am a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. I am conducting research in the field of therapy, particularly in relation to the experiences of individuals affected by crime, harm, and social injustice. My therapeutic work is informed by an interdisciplinary perspective that brings together insights from counselling, criminology, and sociology to understand wellbeing, vulnerability, resilience, and social relationships.
I am also a specialist in social research methods and methodology. I hold an MSc in Social Research Methods and have extensive expertise in qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods research design, research ethics, and observational approaches. I am co-editor of two major four-volume reference works: Observation Methods (SAGE, 2013) and Critical Social Research Ethics (SAGE, 2018). My methodological work reflects my longstanding commitment to innovative and ethically informed research across the social sciences.
Qualifications
- 1995: PhD Sociology. Thesis ‘Women and Pensions', University of Surrey
- 1991: MSc Social Research Methods, University of Surrey
- 1986: BSc (Hons) Sociology, CNAA.
- 1997: P.G.C.E.A in Higher Education, University of Surrey.
- 2026: Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, CPCAB
- 2025: Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, CPCAB
- 2023: Counselling Skills and Therapy, NCFE CACHE
- 2022: Introduction to Counselling, CPCAB