The children and young people research group brings together academics and research students conducting social and sociological research into the lives of children and young people and policy/practice applications. Particular areas of expertise include: teenage pregnancy and young motherhood; youth justice; special educational needs; gender identities; youth and childhood transitions; domestic and international policy frameworks; children and the law and professional identities. The group's applied policy research is central to the evidence base for the development of policy and practice aimed at supporting vulnerable children and their families.
The group holds a regular seminar series and works collaboratively with academics and students across the university interested in children and young people, including the International Development Centre, the Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology (CREET) and the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance (CCIG).
Projects that focus on the experience and lives of children and young people have included a groundbreaking psycho-social study of sibling relationships, and the Inventing Adulthoods study, a unique 10-year qualitative longitudinal study of young people's transitions to adulthood.
Policy/practice-related research has included an evaluation of the three 'Dimensions' projects by Children 1st in Glasgow, North and South Ayreshire, funded by Children 1st.
Jane Aldgate
Lesley Anne Long
Monica Dowling
Rod Earle
Pam Foley
Lucy Hadfield
Richard Hester
Steve Leverett
Lindsay O'Dell
Andy Rixon
Martin Robb
Jeremy Roche
Janet Seden
Wendy Stainton Rogers
Wayne Taylor
Rachel Thomson
Wendy Rose
Majda Becirevic (Families with children with disabilities in Eastern Europe)
Olivia Galea-Seychell (Restoring foster children to their family of origin – its implications)
Kgauhelo Lekalakala (Child Sexual Abuse in Preschool Children in South Africa)
Judith Orr
Ian Ndlovu (Life experiences of street children in Bulawayo: Developing a child-centred approach)
Emily Taylor (Globalisation and international adoption)
Prospera Tedam (Children’s rights among West African families living in the UK)
Ester McGeeney
('Good Sex', young people, health outcomes and self-esteem, a critique of contemporary negative attitudes to adolescent sexuality)
Work in this area ranges from critical examinations of policy and practice in relation to parenting, to projects exploring social identities of mothering, fathering and singleness. It includes a cluster of studies around the theme of modern motherhoods, focusing on issues such as intergenerational transmission, young motherhood, disability and consumption. Research on fathering has explored the young fathers, fathers in prison, and men’s experience of family services. Other studies have analysed policy around teenage parents, evaluated parenting programmes and assessed the training needs of parenting workers.
There is a strong but not exclusive emphasis on qualitative methods and longitudinal perspectives.
Making of Modern Motherhoods; Dynamics of Motherhood
Jan Draper
Rod Earle
Sue Higham
Stephen Handsley
Steve Leverett
Lindsay O'Dell
Jill Reynolds
Martin Robb
Rachel Thomson
Lucy Hadfield (Disabled motherhood: changing times?)
Ruth Ponsford (FELS)
Naomi Rudoe (FELS)
Sharon Tourish (Evaluating the impact of Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities)