156 J Maher et al the Handbook on Crime, for Willan Publishing She has also presented her research at key national and international conferences and has been by invited by academics and practitioners to give guest lectures She is a member of the Executive Committee of the British Society of Criminology (Chair, Regional Groups and Specialist Networks) and of the South Wales Police Independent Ethics Committee Claire Lawson is currently undertaking doctoral research at Cardiff University on the multi-agency responses to the ‘dangerous’ and ‘status’ dog phenomenon in England and Wales, following the publication of a joint research report on this issue in 2011 Her Master’s Degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice focussed on the RSPCA and the criminology of control, a subject on which she has also published Claire is an Assistant Director in External Relations for the RSPCA, where she has worked since 1999, and she has been Chair of the Animal Welfare Network for Wales since its inception in 2006