News Archive: July-Dec 2021
Assistant Professor Catherine Elliott O'Dare, with co-author Dr Riikka Korkiamäki (Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Finland ) have published an article in the journal 'Social Inclusion'.
Assistant Professor Catherine Elliott O'Dare, with co-author Dr Riikka Korkiamäki (Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Finland ) have published an article in the journal 'Social Inclusion'. The article entitled -Intergenerational Friendship as a Conduit for Social Inclusion? Insights from the “Book‐Ends”- explores intergenerational friendship as a conduit for belonging and connectedness for older and younger people in Ireland and Finland.
16th December 2021
Launch of Research on Domestic Violence and Family Homelessness
Congratulations to Associate Professor Paula Mayock and Fiona Neary, Independent Research Consultant, on the recent publication of research that examines the relationship between domestic violence and family homelessness. Launched on December 6th 2021, this is the first study of its kind to be conducted in Ireland, and reveals numerous fault lines and service gaps that prevented women from accessing safe and affordable housing post-leaving their abusive relationship.
Speaking at the launch, Focus Ireland’s Director of Advocacy, Research and Communications, Mike Allen, said: “The report is published at a vital moment, as the Department of Justice and its partners are in the final stages of preparing the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence”.
Lisa Marmion, Services Development Manager, Safe Ireland, responded to the research, stressing the urgent need for policy initiatives that ensure a clear pathway of support for families who experience domestic abuse.
The research was funded by Focus Ireland and The Housing Agency.
The recording of the launch can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UdxF1H9EX4
Media coverage of the research:
15th December 2021
Masters in Applied Social Research student publishes paper on the Care Experiences of Older People in an Emergency Department
Congratulations to Magreth Mwakilasa, a recent graduate of the Masters in Applied Social Research program, who has just published a co-authored article in the Journal of Patient Experience on care experiences in an Emergency Department. The article is based on Magreth’s Masters dissertation which was supervised by Dr. Daniela Rhode and can be accessed here
14th December 2021
UPCOMING WEBINAR: Aiming for Excellence in Inclusivity: Service User Involvement in Higher Education Professional Programs
We are delighted to announce that Dr Susan Flynn will be hosting a free webinar in January 2022 entited entitled Aiming for Excellence in Inclusivity: Service User Involvement in Higher Education Professional Programs. Further details are to register can be found here
7th December 2021
Short-term Research Assistant position
Prof Virpi Timonen is seeking to recruit a Research Assistant for up to 10 weeks in December 2021 – February 2022. Must be available to work at least 2.5 days per week and have excellent literature reviewing and writing skills, access to relevant search engines and databases, and ability to source and intelligently distil literature on social scientific topics including but not limited to environmental sociology, social dimensions of climate change, inequality, inheritance, societal generations and family relations. Please email your CV and 200-word outline of relevant skills, availability and expected pay to timonenv@tcd.ie by 10 am on Monday the 6th of December, 2021.
24th November 2021
We are Hiring! Assistant Professor in Social Work - 2 Year Contract.
The School is delighted to announce that we are hiring an Assistant Professor in Social Work - 2 Year Fixed Term Contract. Full details can be found here
Applied Social Research student presenting dissertation research at annual Growing Up in Ireland Conference
Berçem Demirel, a recent graduate of the Masters in Applied Social Research program, will be presenting her dissertation research at the annual Growing Up in Ireland conference on November 25th.
Berçem’s research looked at parental mediators of socio-economic achievement gap in early childhood and was supervised by Ms. Siobhan Scarlett.
A draft programme and other details for the conference can be found here:
https://www.growingup.ie/information-for-researchers/gui-conferences/
15th November 2021
Congratulations Dr. Sarah Parker!
Warm congratulations to Sarah Parker, who was conferred with the degree of PhD at a commencement ceremony on Friday last, November 5th. She is photographed here with Professor Neville Cox, Registrar.
Currently, Sarah is holds the post of Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Policy and Management, Trinity College Dublin. Sarah’s PhD was supervised by Associate Professor Paula Mayock.
15th November 2021
Dr Erna O’Connor has co-authored an article entitled ‘To fail or not to fail: enhancing our understanding of reasons why social work students failed practice placements (2015–2019)’
Dr Erna O’Connor has co-authored an article with Dr Audrey Roulston and Professor David Hayes, Queens University Belfast; Dr Helen Cleak, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia; Dr Paula McFadden, Ulster University and Caroline Shore, University College Cork entitled ‘To fail or not to fail: enhancing our understanding of reasons why social work students failed practice placements (2015–2019)’ The article, recently published in Social Work Education is based on a research study which sought to expand understanding of the incidence of and reasons why students failed their practice placement whilst studying social work on the island of Ireland. Anonymised data in relation to failed placements, from four participating universities in the timeframe 2015–2019 was analysed. 63 students (19 male, 44 female; mean age 34 years) failed placement in this timeframe (2.3% of 2,696 registered students). The majority (58.7%) failed a first placement. Reasons for failing were categorised into knowledge, skills, values and personal reasons. The most common reasons for failing were a poor understanding of the professional social work role, poor time management, poor written work, the inability to follow direction, limited application of knowledge to practice, and poor professional conduct. Results suggest most students disclosed mitigating circumstances, which affected engagement and competence. Full article can be found here
8th November 2021
Student publishes article in British Medical Journal based on Master’s dissertation
Congratulations to Josephine Greene, a recent graduate of the Masters in Applied Social Research program, who has co-authored an article based on her dissertation research which examined seeking online telemedicine abortion. Josephine was supervised by Dr. Catherine Conlon who is also a co-author of the article. Details can be found at:
Greene, J., Butler É., Conlon, C., et al. (2021). ‘Seeking online telemedicine abortion outside the jurisdiction from Ireland following implementation of telemedicine provision locally’. BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health. DOI:10.1136/bmjsrh-2021-201205
3rd November 2021
Congratulations to Orla Crowe who authored a chapter in a book called Living with Cancer with Hope amid the Uncertainty
Congratulations to Lecturer Orla Crowe who authored a chapter in a book called Living with Cancer with Hope amid the Uncertainty. Her chapter incorporates the patient voice.
There is abundance of information available for those affected by cancer but it can be difficult to know where to start and crucially, what to trust. Living with Cancer: with Hope amid the Uncertainty aims to address this information overload. In this book, leading psychologists, academics and medical experts unite to provide a non-jargon, reliable, peer reviewed one-stop information shop for people living with cancer.
The book was edited by Dr Paul D'Alton Head of the Department of Psychology at St Vincent's University Hospital and Associate Professor at the School of Psychology and published by UCD Press. It is available in bookshops nationwide and from UCD Press. All proceeds go to the Irish Cancer Society.
1st November 2021
Congratulations to MSc in Child Protection & Welfare graduate Susan O'Connor Funcheon & Assistant Professor Eavan Brady on their recently published article in Child Abuse and Neglect.
The article is entitled ‘An exploration of professional and practice-based perspectives on reunification of children in out-of-home care in Ireland: The road less travelled?’ The article can be accessed here
28th October 2021
Dr Natalie Glynn and Associate Professor Paula Mayock publish article in Journal of Youth Studies
The article entitled “Housing after Care: Understanding security and stability in the transition out of care through the lenses of liminality, recognition and precarity” examines care leavers’ experiences of seeking housing based on data from a qualitative longitudinal study of sixteen care-experienced youth in Ireland. The findings demonstrate how aftercare policies and a lack of affordable housing combined to create precarity for many, highlighting the deleterious consequences of time-limited aftercare supports for care leavers’ sense of security and their ability to achieve valued life goals.
Dr. Natalie Glynn completed her PhD at the School of Social Work and Social Policy in 2019. She is currently a Research Officer/Lecturer in the Institute for Political Science at the University of Tübingen in Germany, where she teaches in the areas of youth policy and evaluation.
The article is available to read here
5th October 2021
LAUNCH OF OUR NEW SOCIAL POLICY JOINT HONOURS PROGRAMME
Wednesday September 22nd saw the inaugural orientation and launch of our School’s new undergraduate offering of Social Policy as a subject in the BA Joint Honours programme. This new presence for Social Policy in the undergraduate programme allows students to combine Social Policy with Economics, Politics, Sociology and Modern Languages. On Wednesday we welcomed the largest intake of Junior Fresh students to our subject, with over 40 students from Ireland and across the globe. The highly inclusive entry pathways facilitate access through multiple routes - CAO, mature entry, Trinity Access Programme (TAP) and the DARE and HEAR scheme pathways. While CAO points increased on many programmes this year, Social Policy saw a significant surge of over 100 points compared with last year, with points for 2021/22 ranging from 554 to 588 depending on the subject combination. The testifies to the value of being a part of Trinity College’s new Undergraduate Curriculum through the Joint Honours programme with its innovative and ambitious teaching and learning approach and graduate attributes. It also highlights the growing relevance of Social Policy as a field of study for students committed to playing a part in realising a more inclusive, just and knowledge-based society. We look forward to the next four years together and the day when our Junior Fresh students join our new Provost Prof Linda Doyle in front square to celebrate their graduations. Go n-éirí an bothar leo! If you would like any information about the new Social Policy Joint Honours programmes, see the school webpage https://www.tcd.ie/swsp/undergraduate/joint-honors-social-policy/ and contact the Course Directors Dr Julie Byrne and Dr Catherine Conlon.
4th October 2021
We are Hiring! Assistant Professor in Social Policy - 4 Year Contract.
The School is delighted to announce that we are hiring an Assistant Professor in Social Policy - 4 Year Fixed Term Contract. Full details can be found here
22nd September 2021
UPCOMING: Online CPD training course on Domestic Violence & Child Protection Training for Practitioners
The School, in collaboration with Trinity Online and Mason, Hayes & Curran, is honoured to be running our training course for child protection and welfare practitioners in direct response to the rise in domestic violence cases over the course of the pandemic.
The organisers of the course are Stephanie Holt, Associate Professor and Head of School at the School of Social Work & Social Policy in Trinity College Dublin, and Sonya Bruen of legal firm Mason, Hayes & Curran. This course was designed to meet the need for specialised training for a range of practitioners who work with families and children experiencing domestic violence. This is a socio-legal module with a focus on two main practice areas which are
1. Research Findings and Practice Guidance
2. Legal Framework for Domestic Violence and Child Protection;
Further details are available here here
26th August 2021
The new Trinity Research in Social Sciences Podcast is now live
Click here for a link to all the episodes of the new TRiSS podcast
13th August 2021
Generation Covid: Experiences of the coronavirus pandemic among secondary school graduates of 2020 in Ireland
School closures and remote learning resulted in major disruptions for final-year secondary school students who were due to take their examinations in June 2020. This article by Ayeshah Emon (Teaching Fellow in Social Policy), Jo Greene (Graduate from Masters in Applied Social Research) and Virpi Timonen (Professor in Social Policy) examines the impact of the coronavirus restrictions on the lives, education and plans of graduating secondary school students in Ireland. We found that while participant responses to the pandemic were diverse, some students struggled more with the worry and uncertainty caused by the pandemic than others. Instead of assuming uniform effects of the pandemic in young populations, we need to be attuned to the diverse pathways whereby some young adults can tap into their social networks and creative resources while others need extensive support to make up for the lost opportunities and isolation that ensued from the pandemic.
The article – titled “Generation Covid: Experiences of the coronavirus pandemic among secondary school graduates of 2020 in Ireland" - is available on Open Access (free for all to read) in Cogent Education – https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2021.1947014
7th July 2021
New paper on children's views about their time in primary school
What do children think of primary school and its role in their lives over the years as they prepare to move on to secondary school ? Professor Robbie Gilligan and Dr Jennifer Scholtz, Research Associate, collaborated with Professor Daniela Sime, University of Strathclyde to investigate this surprisingly under-studied question. They have recently published an open access paper in the journal Childhood based on their study in a Scottish primary school. The findings are a reminder of the aspects of school life that children value - a sense of belonging, support and encouragement from teachers, and friendship and fun with peers. There are also insights as to what children may find more challenging from their time in primary school. Further details at
Citation:
Sime, Daniela, Robbie Gilligan, and Jennifer Scholtz. "Children at transition from primary school reflecting on what schools are for–narratives of connectedness,(mis) recognition and becoming." Childhood 28.2 (2021): 294-308. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0907568221992852
6th July 2021