Karyn McCluskey

Scottish forensic psychologist

Karyn McCluskey is a Scottish forensic psychologist who is the chief executive of Community Justice Scotland. She was formerly the director of the Violence Reduction Unit.

## Early life

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She was born in Falkirk and grew up in the village of Redding near Polmont.[1][2] She trained as a nurse and by her late teens worked in Accident and Emergency.[1] She continued to work in nursing while she studied for a BSc in psychology and then a master's in offender profiling.[1]

## Career

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McCluskey worked for the West Mercia Police, before she joined Strathclyde Police as head of intelligence analysis in 2002.[2]

In 2004, the McCluskey was asked to put together a report on how to reduce rates of violence in Glasgow.[3] The contents of report were accepted and this led directly to the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) being created.[1]

In February 2016 she was appointed to the board of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) as a non-executive director. [4][5]

In September 2016, she was named chief executive of Community Justice Scotland, a new national organisation that would come into existence in April 2017.[6]

## Awards and honours

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In October 2015, McCluskey was bestowed with an honorary degree from the Open University.[7]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d Ross, Peter (24 November 2014). "No mean citizens: The success behind Glasgow's VRU". The Scotsman. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
2. ^ a b Henley, Jon (19 December 2011). "Karyn McCluskey: the woman who took on Glasgow's gangs". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
3. ^ Geoghegan, Peter (6 April 2015). "Glasgow smiles: how the city halved its murders by 'caring people into change'". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
4. ^ Paterson, Stewart (1 February 2016). "Violence Reduction Unit director Karyn McCluskey joins SPFL board". The Herald. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
5. ^ Cameron, Neil (9 February 2016). "Meet Karyn McCluskey, the impressive woman who wants to change the behaviour in Scottish football grounds". The Herald. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
6. ^ "Leaders named for new body to combat reoffending". The Journal. Law Society of Scotland. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
7. ^ Cardwell, Paul (27 October 2015). "Honorary Open University degree for third sector stalwart". Third Force News. Retrieved 8 January 2017.

## External links

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* Karyn McCluskey on X