Marjam Smeekens has been working as a researcher within the research group Living and Wellbeing since January 2025. Her research mainly focuses on improving the identification of homeless individuals in various municipalities in the Netherlands.
After completing her psychology degree and a research master’s at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, Marjam started as a junior researcher in a forensic psychiatric clinic called the Pompekliniek. In this forensic setting, she worked on various research projects, including studies on the ForFACT patient population, delictanalyse, and the quality of life of forensic psychiatric patients.
Marjam later worked at the Netherlands Institute for Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (NIFP). During her time at the NIFP, she conducted PhD research on the Risk Screener Violence (RS-V), a risk screening tool used within prisons in the Netherlands to assess concerns regarding violent behavior of detained individuals.
Marjam finds the greatest fulfillment in research that makes a societal impact, especially in relation to social welfare and supporting vulnerable individuals.
Fields of expertise
- Homelessness
- Forensic psychiatric care
- Quantitative and qualitative research