Monday 28th April 2025, 1pm-2pm

This event will be held online only. Register here 

Trinity Research in Childhood Centre invites you to join our 2024/205 seminar series. Chaired by Dr Yekaterina Chzhen, the April seminar will be held via Zoom on Monday 28th April 2025 at 1pm. Presented by Sinéad Tobin and Dr Sinéad Whiting, the seminar will focus on children’s lived experience of foster care.

Sinéad Tobin’s presentation will draw on findings from two research projects relating to foster care placement breakdown. In contrast to the dominant quantitative knowledge base on this topic, Sinéad’s presentation will focus on children and young people’s lived experiences of placement breakdown. The presentation will conclude with offering key messages for practice.

Dr. Sinéad Whiting’s presentation will explore findings from a qualitative study involving 22 young adults who grew up in foster care with permanence in Ireland. The presentation will focus on the participants' descriptions of their relationships with their foster carers and the various ways they developed a sense of permanence throughout their time in long-term foster care. It will highlight the co-creation of permanence between the young adults and their foster carers, offering insights into the dynamics that contributed to their sense of stability and belonging.

About the presenters:

Sinéad Tobin is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy in Trinity College Dublin. Sinéad holds an innovative joint appointment position between Trinity College and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. Sinéad brings almost two decades of experience working as a social worker. Arising from her practice experience, Sinéad has a particular interest in key transitions for children in, and within, the care system.

Dr Sinéad Whiting is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy in Trinity College Dublin. Her primary research interests relate to permanence in care, care leaving, youth transitions, adoption and foster care as well as social work practice education.

Thursday 13 February 2025, 1pm-2pm 

View the recording here

Presented by Dr Yvonne Lynch and Jane Sheridan (Research Assistant)

Trinity Research in Childhood Centre invites you to join our 2024/25 seminar series. Chaired by Professor Imelda Coyne and Professor Nicola Carr, the next seminar of the academic year will be held on Monday 2nd December, 1pm-2pm. This is a hybrid event. 

View the recording here

Dr. Connell will give an overview of the formation and development of the Pennsylvania State University Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, an interdisciplinary unit of the university’s social science research institute that addresses the complex issue of child maltreatment through research, scholarship, education, and training programs. Formed in 2012, the Network has developed a robust research and educational portfolio, including a successful federally funded capstone center grant and renewal, and a successful pre- and postdoctoral research training grant—both funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The seminar will ground the work of the Network in the need for interdisciplinary science to address child maltreatment detection, prevention, and effective response and highlight research activities under the capstone center. Dr. Connell will also describe Network efforts to partner with state and local agencies—including child protection, child welfare, justice, and healthcare agencies—to create integrated data systems for applied and policy-relevant research.

Friday 8 November 2024, 1pm-2pm

Presented by Dr Lorraine Swords and Lami Tadjine (Research Assistant)

View the recording here

Trinity Research in Childhood Centre invites you to join our 2024/25 seminar series. Chaired by Prof Imelda Coyne, the first seminar of this academic year will be held via Zoom Friday 8th November at 1pm. Presented by Dr Lorraine Swords, Assistant Professor, School of Psychology and Lami Tadjine, research assistant at the Trinity Institute of Neuroscience, the seminar will explore the intergenerational effects of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), with a specific focus on mothers and how their own experiences of childhood adversity influences their parenting. It discusses how exploring pathways in the intergenerational effects of ACEs can inform early intervention strategies to improve life course outcomes for parents and children and contribute towards breaking the cycle of intergenerational risk.

About the Presenters

Dr Lorraine Sword's primary teaching responsibilities are in the area of developmental psychology and, along with her collaborators and postgraduate students, she researches, presents and publishes on topics relating to children's health and wellbeing. She has particular research interest in how exposure to potentially traumatic events or circumstances in early life can negatively impact upon children's development and cast long shadows forward over their later adult lives and impact the lives of the next generation.

Lamia Tadjine's masters thesis (2022) focused on the intergenerational transmission of trauma through parenting. Her research intimately examined parenting practices, and the subsequent effects of adverse childhood experiences on mothering. Before starting as a research assistant at the Trinity Institute of Neuroscience, Lamia worked as an assistant psychologist at a family-orientated service for high-risk parents. Under clinical supervision, Lamia conducted cognitive assessments, personality assessments, functional behaviour assessments and devised mental health plans for service users.