Cardiff School of Social Sciences

Research Interests

My research interests are primarily in the fields of social work, childhoods and child welfare. I have conducted research into the assessment of families where there is a child protection concern, the effectiveness of family centres and family support and the use of Family Group Conferences, with a particular focus on the conferences' effectiveness in empowering children and young people.

I was principal investigator of a project called '(Extra)ordinary Lives: children's everyday relationship cultures in public care' in the Qualiti Research Centre - Qualitative Research Methods in the Social Sciences: Innovation, Integration and Impact (2005-2008).

I am currently conducting three research projects.

1. Safeguarding children and young people in local communities: a neighbourhood study. This is within the Welsh Institute of Social and Economic Data and Methods (WISERD). There is an ESRC CASE studentship attached to this project in partnership with the NSPCC. 

2. ‘Learning from experience: informing preventative policies and practice by analysing critical moments in care leavers’ life histories’. Funded by the Wales Office for Research and Development in Health and Social Care, this is being carried out in partnership with Voices from Care, Cymru 

3. ‘An Evaluation of the “Option 2” Intensive Family Preservation Service’ . Funded by the Alcohol Education Research Council this project is being led by Bedfordshire University in partnership with Cardiff and Birmingham Universities.

I am co-convenor of the Childhood Research Group.