Lucy Walton

Department of Sociological Studies

PhD Student

Lucy Walton
Profile picture of Lucy Walton
lwalton2@sheffield.ac.uk

Full contact details

Lucy Walton
Department of Sociological Studies
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
91Ö±²¥
S10 2AH
Profile

Lucy joined the Department of Sociological Studies in February 2023, having previously completed her MA in Death, Religion and Culture at the University of Winchester; this course included a thesis which explored whether affiliation with a religious minority group in Britain increases susceptibility to funeral poverty, as a result of the inadequacy of funeral provision in welfare policy. Prior to this, Lucy completed her BA Open undergraduate degree with The Open University; the open format of this degree allowed her to cover a range of modules across Philosophy and Ethics, Religious Studies, and Sociology. Up until joining the department, Lucy had completed her university education via part-time distance learning. She continues to study part-time, alongside full-time employment as a Mortuary Assistant in 91Ö±²¥â€™s public mortuary, where she works as part of a team helping to care for the deceased whose deaths have been referred to the Coroner, or that require forensic investigation.

Qualifications

BA (Hons) Open Degree

MA Death, Religion and Culture

Research interests

Lucy’s thesis aims to explore understandings of, and attitudes towards funeral pre-planning, through a qualitative examination of public and professional perceptions of whose responsibility it is to organise and pay for a funeral, whilst also considering how demographic characteristics may act as facilitators or barriers to planning ahead. Lucy’s research interests primarily centre around how policy and practice can be designed and implemented to improve the service given to those who come into contact with organisations providing death-care.

Lucy has a particular interest in the following areas:

• Death inequality and social policy

• Public and private funeral provisioning

• Funerary practices and expenditure

• Mortuary policy and practice

• The Coronial system and inquests

• Cultural perspectives on death and dying

More widely, Lucy is also interested in research relating to the welfare state and reforms, and social inequalities

Research group

Lucy’s doctoral research is supervised by: Professor Liam Foster and Dr. Harriet Churchill