Wellbeing of children, youth and families

The Children and Young People Research Group in the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care brings together academics and research students conducting social, sociological and critical psychological research into children's and young people's lives and policy/practice applications.

The group has strengths in a range of methodologies, including psycho-social methods, critical discourse analysis, biographical and life-history research, historical methods, and secondary analysis of archived data sets. Areas of expertise include gender identities, exploring mothering and fathering as social identities; child language brokers; LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and young people questioning their sexuality or gender identity), mental health; children and pain, ME in childhood; parenting at a distance; professional identities; youth justice; young masculinities; special educational needs; and ‘different childhoods’.

Entry requirements

Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) and an MA or research methods training at MA level (or equivalent). If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.

Potential research projects

• Parenting at a distance
• Parenting a disabled child
• Men working with / caring for children
• ‘Normative’ and ‘different’ childhoods
• Young people and cultural identity
• Child language brokering
• Young parenthood
• Youth justice and youth crime
• Prison identities and young people
• Research in prison settings (e.g. ageing/mental health)
• International childhoods
• Young people and death/bereavement
• Young people, gender identities and relationships
• Transitions to parenthood
• Children with disabilities, including autism
• Young carers
• LGBTQ youth mental wellbeing

Current/recent research projects

• Perspectives of Nigerian lay counsellors on identifying and intervening in child abuse
• The Needs of Children with Food Allergies in Northern Ireland
• Working therapeutically with complex trauma
• South Asian people and the impact of processing spiritual and neurobiological information during therapy
• Healing in relationship with wild animals
• Social interaction in blindness
• Sexuality education resources with young people in Aruba
• Sexual and reproductive health and rights during adolescence
• Females who have ceased self-harm without treatment from mental health services
• Neurodivergent adults to explore experiences of natural settings on interoceptive wellbeing
• Patient and family stories in fitness to practise
• Relational networks of adolescents who have made a suicide attempt
• Mental health of older women of African Caribbean heritage and older women of South Asian East African heritage

Potential supervisors

• Dr Rod Earle
• Dr Stephen Leverett
• Dr Sara MacKian
• Dr Sam Murphy
• Dr Martin Robb
• Professor Joan Simons
• Dr Philippa Waterhouse

Fees and funding

PhD fees

Professional doctorate fees

Some of our research students are funded via the Faculty or The Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.

For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.

To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, visit Current studentships.

Links

• School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
• School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport
• Centre for Children & Young People’s Health and Wellbeing