Mark's principal research interests and expertise lie in the fields of criminal law, criminology and criminal justice. More specifically, Mark researches the causes and effects of hate crime, the philosophy underpinning hate crime legislation and the use of alternative criminal justice interventions for hate-motivated offences. Mark's research has a particular focus on anti-LGBTQ+ hate and LGBTQ+ rights more broadly. 

Main Research Areas and Outputs

1. RESEARCH ON ANTI-LGBTQ+ HATE AND THE LAW

•    Walters, M.A. (forthcoming, 2025) ‘Hate Crime Laws and Gender Bias’ in Stamatel, J. The Sage Encyclopedia of Crime and Gender, Sage. 
•    Paterson, J., Walters, M.A., Brown, R., & Carrasco, D. (2024) ‘Angry and Afraid: Exploring the Impact of Mixed Emotional Reactions to Hate Crimes with LGBT+ and Muslim Communities’ submitted to Journal of Interpersonal Violence https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241286455 
•    Walters, M.A. (2024). ‘Legalizing transphobia: from courtroom to legislature, how gender-critical activism is hurting us all’, Journal of Law and Society.  https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12491 
•    Paterson, J. L., Walters, M. (30%) A., & Hall, L. (2023). “Ingroup Empathy, Help, and Blame After Anti-LGBT+ Hate Crime.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231200212
•    Walters, MA (lead), Paterson, JL and Brown, R. (2021) ‘Enhancing punishment or repairing harms? Perceptions of sentencing hate crimes amongst members of a commonly targeted victim group’. British Journal of Criminology, 61(1): 61–84.
•    Schweppe, J., and Walters, M.A. (50%) (2021) Establishing a framework for implementation of anti-LGBT hate crime legislation, Human Dignity Trust. pp. 1-44. 
•    Walters, M.A (lead), Paterson, J.L, McDonnell, L., and Brown, R. (2020) ‘Group identity, empathy and shared suffering: understanding the “community” impacts of anti-LGBT and Islamophobic hate crimes.’ International Review of Victimology, 26(2) pp. 143–162.
•    Walters, MA (lead), Paterson, J L, Brown, R., and McDonnell, L. (2020) ‘Hate crimes against trans people: assessing emotions, behaviors and attitudes towards criminal justice agencies’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(21-22):4583-4613.
•    Kayali, L., and Walters, MA. (2020) ‘Restoring Respect: Addressing anti-LGBTQ hate incidents on university campuses through restorative justice’ in De Greef, A., and Grosstha, K. (eds) Restorative Justice Handbook Safe To Be, SAFE.TO.BE (invited contribution).
•    Paterson, J.L, Brown, R., and Walters, M.A. (15%) (2019) ‘The short and longer term impacts of hate crimes experienced directly, indirectly and through the media’. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45 (7). pp. 994-1010. 
•    Paterson, J., Brown, R., and Walters, M.A. (15%) (2019) ‘Feeling for and as a group member: understanding LGBT victimisation via group-based empathy and intergroup emotions.’ British Journal of Social Psychology, 58 (1). pp. 211-224. 
•    Gitari, E and Walters, M.A. (50%) (2020) Hate Crimes against the LGBT Community in the Commonwealth: A Situational Analysis, Human Dignity Trust. pp. 1-64. 
•    Goodall, K., and Walters, M.A. (50%) (2019) Legislating to Address Hate Crimes Against the LGBT Community in the Commonwealth: Final Report, Human Dignity Trust. pp. 1-97. 
•    Walters, M. (2007) ‘Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the European Union: The Framework Directive and the Continuing Influence of the European Parliament’, International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 8, pp. 263-293.


2. RESEARCH ON HATE CRIME AND THE LAW

• Walters, M.A. (2022) Criminalising Hate: Law as Social Justice Liberalism. Palgrave.
• Goodall, K., and Walters, M.A. (2019) Legislating to Address Hate Crimes Against the LGBT Community in the Commonwealth: Final Report, Human Dignity Trust. pp. 1-97.
• Schweppe, J., Haynes, A. and Waters, M.A (2018) The Lifecycle of a Hate Crime: Comparative Report. Dublin: ICCL. pp. 1-160.
• Owusu-Bempah, A., Walters, M.A., and Wiedlitzka, S. [2019] ‘Racially and religiously aggravated offences: “God’s gift to defence”?’ Criminal Law Review, 16. pp. 461-482.
• Walters, M.A, Owusu-Bempah, A., and Wiedlitzka, S. [2018] ‘Hate crime and the “justice gap”: the case for law reform’. Criminal Law Review, 12. pp. 961-986.
• Owusu-Bempah, A and Walters, M.A. [2016] ‘Racially aggravated offences: when does section 145 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 apply?’ Criminal Law Review pp. 116-123.
• Schweppe, J. and Walters, M.A. (2015) ‘Hate crimes: legislating to enhance punishment’ in Tonry, M. (ed) Oxford Online Handbook of Crime and Criminal Justice, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Walters, M.A. (and Tumath, J.C. (2014) ‘Gender ‘hostility’, rape, and the hate crime paradigm’ 77(4) Modern Law Review, pp. 533–674.
• Walters, M.A. (2014) ‘Conceptualizing 'hostility' for hate crime law: minding 'the minutiae' when interpreting section 28 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998’ 34 (1) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, pp. 47-74.
• Walters, M.A. [2013] ‘Why the Rochdale Gang should have been sentenced as “hate crime” offenders’, Criminal Law Review pp. 131-144.
• Walters, M. (2006) ‘Changing the Criminal Law to Combat Racially Motivated Violence’, UTS Law Review, special issue, 8, pp. 66-86.
• Walters, M. (2005) ‘Hate crimes in Australia: Introducing punishment enhancers’, Criminal Law Journal, 29 (4), pp. 201-216.


3. RESEARCH ON HATE CRIME AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

• Walters, M.A, Paterson, JL and Brown, R. (2021) ‘Enhancing punishment or repairing harms? Perceptions of sentencing hate crimes amongst members of a commonly targeted victim group’. British Journal of Criminology, 61(1): 61–84.
• Walters M.A, (2020) ‘Developments in Restorative Justice for Hate Crime’ International Journal of Restorative Justice, 3(3) pp. 446-457.
• Kayali, L., and Walters, M.A. (2020) ‘Restoring Respect: Addressing anti-LGBTQ hate incidents on university campuses through restorative justice’ in De Greef, A., and Grosstha, K. (eds) Restorative Justice Handbook Safe To Be, SAFE.TO.BE
• Liyana, K., and Walters, M.A (2020) ‘Responding to hate incidents on university campuses: benefits and barriers to establishing a restorative justice programme’. Contemporary Justice Review. pp. 1-21.
• Walters, M.A. (2018) ‘Readdressing hate crime: synthesizing law, punishment and restorative justice’. in Brudholm, T and Johansen, B (eds.) Hate, politics, law. Oxford: Oxford University Press (invited contribution).
• Walters, M.A. (2016) ‘Challenging Orthodoxy: Towards a Restorative Approach to Combating the Globalization of Hate’, in Schweppe, J. and Walters, M (eds) The Globalization of Hate: Internationalizing Hate Crime? Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 294-313.
• Walters, M.A., and Brown, R. (2016) Preventing Hate Crime: Emerging practices and recommendations for the improved Management of criminal justice interventions, Sussex Crime Research Centre and International Network for Hate Studies. pp. 1-59.
• Walters, M.A. (2015) ‘“I thought ‘he’s a monster’… [but] he was just… normal”: Examining the therapeutic benefits of restorative justice for homicide’ 55 (6) British Journal of Criminology, pp. 1207-1225
• Walters, M.A. (2014) Hate Crime and Restorative Justice: Exploring Causes, Repairing Harms, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Walters, M.A. (2014) ‘Repairing the harms of hate crime: a restorative justice approach’ in Hall et al, The International Handbook of Hate Crime, Routledge (invited contribution), pp. 400-411.
• Walters, M.A. (2014) “Restorative approaches to working with hate crime offenders” in Chakraborti N and Garland J (eds) Responding to Hate Crime: The Case for Connecting Policy and Research, The Policy Press, Bristol (invited contribution), pp. 247-261.
• Walters, M.A. (2012) “Hate Crime in the UK: Promoting the Values of Dignity and Respect through Restorative Justice” in Gavrielides T, (ed) Rights And Restoration Within Youth Justice, de Sitter Publications: Canada (invited contribution), pp. 335-366.
• Walters, M.A. and Hoyle, C. (2012) ‘Exploring the Everyday World of Hate Victimization through Community Mediation’, International Review of Victimology, special edition, 18(1), pp. 7-24.
• Walters, M.A. and Hoyle, C. (2010) ‘Healing harms and engendering tolerance: the promise of restorative justice for hate crime’ in Chakraborti N, (ed) Hate Crime: Concepts, policy, future directions, Willan Publishing: Devon (invited contribution), pp. 228-248.


4. RESEARCH ON IMPACTS OF HATE CRIME

• Walters, M.A, Paterson, J.L, McDonnell, L., and Brown, R. (2020) ‘Group identity, empathy and shared suffering: understanding the “community” impacts of anti-LGBT and Islamophobic hate crimes.’ International Review of Victimology, 26(2) pp. 143–162.
• Walters, M.A, Paterson, J L, Brown, R., and McDonnell, L. (2020) ‘Hate crimes against trans people: assessing emotions, behaviors and attitudes towards criminal justice agencies’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(21-22):4583-4613.
• Gitari, E and Walters, M.A. (2020) Hate Crimes against the LGBT Community in the Commonwealth: A Situational Analysis, Human Dignity Trust. pp. 1-64.
• Paterson, J.L, Brown, R., and Walters, M.A. (2019) ‘The short and longer term impacts of hate crimes experienced directly, indirectly and through the media’. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45 (7). pp. 994-1010.
• Paterson, J., Brown, R., and Walters, M.A. (2019) ‘Feeling for and as a group member: understanding LGBT victimisation via group-based empathy and intergroup emotions.’ British Journal of Social Psychology, 58 (1). pp. 211-224.
• Paterson, J L, Walters, M.A., and Brown, R. (2019) 'Your pain is my pain': examining the community impacts of Islamophobic hate crime, in: Awan, Imran and Zempi, Irene (eds.) The Routledge international handbook of Islamophobia. Routledge International Handbooks. Routledge, London; New York
• Paterson, J. Walters, M.A, Brown, R., and Fearn, H. (2018) The Sussex Hate Crime Project: final report. Project Report. University of Sussex. pp. 1- 48.
• Paterson, J, Brown, R and Walters, M.A (2018) ‘Understanding victim group responses to hate crime: shared identities, perceived similarity and intergroup emotions’, Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 25 (2): 163-177.

5. RESEARCH ON CAUSES AND MOTIVATIONS OF HATE CRIME

• Wiedlitzka, S, Prati, G, Brown, R, Smith, J and Walters, M. (2023) ‘Hate in word and deed: the temporal association between online and offline Islamophobia’. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 39: 75–96.
• Walters, M.A., and Brown, R. (2016) Causes and Motivations of Hate Crime, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Report No. 102. pp. 1-61.
• Walters, M.A. (2011) ‘A General Theories of Hate Crime? Strain, Doing Difference and Self Control’, Critical Criminology, 19, pp. 313-330.

NB full text of publications can be found under Publications Tab.