Neema Trivedi-Bateman

Dr Neema Trivedi-Bateman is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Loughborough University, following her role as Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University. She earned her PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2015 under the supervision of Professor Per-Olof Wikstrom, exploring the roles of morality, empathy, shame, and guilt in violent crime decision-making. Neema is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), winner of the 2015 Nigel Walker Prize for an outstanding written contribution to the field of Criminology, member of the British and European Societies of Criminology, and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Criminal Psychology. Neema is the Chair of the Cambridgeshire Youth Out of Court Resolutions Panel.

Dr Neema Trivedi-Bateman research Neema is the Founder and Principal Investigator of SATNAV:Compass (The Compass Project), through which she has designed an innovative moral development programme aimed at fostering prosocial behaviour. The programme has been successfully delivered and evaluated in youth work centres and schools across England and internationally, and is adaptable for use in a wide range of organisations working with young people. Neema’s research expertise lies in developmental psychology, with a particular focus on the causes and influencing factors behind rule-breaking and rule-following behaviours. Her work examines the development of moral rules and emotions, and how these shape delinquency and crime. Neema’s research outputs explore the role of morality in shaping behaviour in ways that are both applied and impactful. By sharing her findings with academic communities and third sector organisations, she has built an international reputation as a leading expert on morality and crime. Looking ahead, Neema’s ambition is to conduct rigorous intervention trials to scale up the Compass programme, extending its reach to support hundreds of young people across the UK and internationally. Publications page here.

SATNAV: Compass (also known as The Compass project) The Compass Project is a pioneering, research-led school intervention that directly responds to evidence showing punitive responses can harm children’s moral development and behaviour. Developed from over two decades of criminological research and the framework of Situational Action Theory (SAT), Compass was first piloted in a Cambridge youth centre before being adapted for schools as part of the SATNAV initiative. Since 2023, it has been delivered to around 300 students aged 11–14 across 14 trials in nine schools, with matched control groups to ensure robust testing. The programme consists of weekly small-group sessions where students engage in over 70 interactive, evidence-informed activities—from moral dilemmas and VR-based decision-making to empathy-building discussions and emotion regulation exercises—deliberately designed to avoid traditional classroom formats and instead provide new skills for navigating real-life situations. Rigour underpins every stage: Compass is evaluated using randomised controlled trials, extensive process evaluations, and systematic feedback from both students and facilitators, with school data (such as exclusions, behaviour records, and attendance) also being explored to triangulate impact. Early findings are highly encouraging: young people consistently report increased empathy, stronger moral awareness, and improved ability to resist peer pressure, while facilitators note dramatic shifts in how students engage and present themselves. This combination of scientific design, practitioner collaboration, and student-centred delivery sets Compass apart from other school interventions, establishing it as a unique and scalable programme with growing evidence of effectiveness in improving both behaviour and wellbeing.

The Compass Project website: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/compass-project/