Social Research Unit

Promoting the well-being agenda

February 25 2010

How promoting the well-being of all children can simultaneously reduce impairments to the lives of the more vulnerable was one of the themes of Unit co-director Michael Little's contribution to a conference on emotional well-being and social justice.

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How promoting the well-being of all children can simultaneously reduce impairments to the lives of the more vulnerable was one of the themes of Unit co-director Michael Little's contribution to a conference on emotional well-being and social justice.

The meeting was part of an ESRC-funded seminar series on exploring interdisciplinary perspectives on well-being and social justice in education policy, and practice. Six seminars were held at universities across the UK in 2008 and 2009. The finale featured talks on the implications for education policy and practice, and how policy makers respond to social problems.

In an interview with The Philosophers' Magazine, Michael Little explained how developments in the measurement of children’s well-being make it easier to apply scientific methods in the classroom and in everyday assessment activity by local authorities.

He described how a growing number of new and well-evaluated interventions have been shown to improve outcomes for children. They are beginning to be used more widely by local authorities, and, in the process, are encouraging the use of more scientific evidence to measure their impact.

Other seminar speakers included Kathryn Ecclestone, Professor of Education and Social Inclusion at the University of Birmingham, and Dennis Hayes, the head of the Research Centre for Education and Career Development at the University of Derby. To hear The Philosophers' Magazine interview with Michael Little, or to download it, visit their homepage. A link to his talk is attached below. For more background, visit Prevention Action.

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Promoting the well-being agenda

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Center for Social Policy Spring Seminar 2010

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Two societies building peace

Minna joins Unit as research assistant

Joining us from Luton and the University of Bedfordshire, where she specialised in educational psychology and identity development, is psychology graduate Minna Lehtonen.

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Joining us from Luton and the University of Bedfordshire, where she specialised in educational psychology and identity development, is psychology graduate Minna Lehtonen.

Minna's dissertation research on the development of religious tolerance was presented at the 2009 British Psychological Society annual conference in Brighton and also at the 2009 conference of the International Society of Political Psychology in Dublin. It has since been published in the <em>Reinvention: A Journal for Undergraduate Research</em>.
Her work as a learning support assistant in a primary school in Luton between 2008 and 2009 and her involvement in the Mitalee Summer School project between 2005 and 2007 reflect her commitment to supporting the well-being and development of children and young people.
Kate Tobin joins the Unit

Joining us from sunny Scotland is recent psychology graduate Kate Tobin. During her studies at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow she developed a keen interest in high quality innovative qualitative research, particularly within health improvement.

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Joining us from sunny Scotland is recent psychology graduate Kate Tobin. During her studies at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow she developed a keen interest in high quality innovative qualitative research, particularly within health improvement.

Kate's membership with the Children's Panel between 2008 and 2009 reflects her passion for working with and supporting children and young people.

Kate will be supporting the unit on research projects such as Project Oracle, a project to judge the effectiveness of prevention and early intervention programmes for the city of London. See GLA Project for more information.
Directorship for our man in Wisconsin

The American practitioner who was at the centre of the Unit’s early efforts to organise its development work between the US, Spain and the UK has just been appointed Executive Director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.

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The American practitioner who was at the centre of the Unit’s early efforts to organise its development work between the US, Spain and the UK has just been appointed Executive Director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.

Ken Taylor was working for Illinois Children’s Services Department in the 1990s when he came across our work. He decided to resign his post and move to Dartington to learn more about it. He also helped us to inject solid practicality into our links with the US children’s services system.

He returned first to Massachusetts, then to Wisconsin to establish Dartington-i. His work in the US has since been part of the backdrop to major Unit projects in North America, including the current collaboration with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Marcia Engen, president of the Wisconsin Council Board of Directors said, “We are delighted to welcome Ken to the Council. The combination of leadership, policy expertise and passion he brings to the position will be an enormous asset to the organization.”
Upward to the Observatory

Research assistant Matthew Jonas has left the Social Research Unit to take up a position with SERIO, the Socio-Economic Research and Intelligence Observatory based at Plymouth University.

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Research assistant Matthew Jonas has left the Social Research Unit to take up a position with SERIO, the Socio-Economic Research and Intelligence Observatory based at Plymouth University.

During his year at the Unit, Matt was much involved with the editorial management and marketing of our daily online news publication, Prevention Action, and with the development of our contribution to Birmingham City Council’s Brighter Futures strategy.

His legacy includes the Unit vegetable garden at Lower Hood Barn, which he planted and tended with his colleague, David Jodrell.

SERIO has been launched in collaboration with the Plymouth 2020 Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) which is bringing together public sector organisations, business and the community to promote Plymouth as vibrant European waterfront city.
Ella returns to the fold

Joining us from Manchester University, where she has been project manager of a Primary Care Dementia Project, is psychology postgraduate Ella Gaehl.

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Joining us from Manchester University, where she has been project manager of a Primary Care Dementia Project, is psychology postgraduate Ella Gaehl.

Joining us from Manchester University, where she has been project manager of a Primary Care Dementia Project, is psychology postgraduate Ella Gaehl.

It is second time around for Ella, who grew up close to our base in Devon, and previously worked for us on placement in Chicago and at our previous Dartington home, Warren House. In her new permanent role she will assist research director Michael Little and support the wider range of research and development projects.

Ella is looking forward to working closely with Michael, building her professional expertise and broadening her knowledge of evidence-based policy and practice.
Charity changes begin at home

Changes have been announced to the Board of the Warren House Group at Dartington, the charity that supports the work of the Social Research Unit. Roger Bullock and Gillian Downham are standing down as trustees after serving their maximum terms.

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Changes have been announced to the Board of the Warren House Group at Dartington, the charity that supports the work of the Social Research Unit. Roger Bullock and Gillian Downham are standing down as trustees after serving their maximum terms.



Professor Emeritus at the University of Bristol, Roger was one of the original members of the Social Research Unit when it was established at King’s College Cambridge in 1963, and was the Research Unit’s director at the time the new charity was formed.

He has been invited to attend future trustee meetings as a non-voting member, providing a link between the Unit’s past and future activities.

Gillian Downham is a barrister at Garden Court Family Law Chambers and has highly specialised experience as the chair of five independent mental health homicide inquiries. She remains a Fellow of the Centre for Social Policy at Dartington.

Both were founder trustees when the Warren House Group charity was formed in 2003.

These developments coincide with other significant Board changes designed to consolidate the Unit’s contribution to children’s well-being.
Psychology graduate on board

David Jodrell, a psychology graduate whose dissertation on disability policy in education won him a British Psychological Society award in 2007 has joined the Unit this month as a research assistant.

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David Jodrell, a psychology graduate whose dissertation on disability policy in education won him a British Psychological Society award in 2007 has joined the Unit this month as a research assistant.

One of David's projects will be to help adapt an established will-being measure, Kidscreen, for use by children with special educational needs. It will be trialled as part of our partnership in the Birmingham City Council Brighter Futures initiative.

David became interested in child development during his studies at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. His primary role will be to assist Unit director Michael Little, but he also hopes to broaden his knowledge of evidence-based policy and practice.
Builder of a unique centre and research community

Harold Richman, founder of the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, one of the Unit's partner organisations, has died at the age of 72.

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Harold Richman, founder of the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, one of the Unit's partner organisations, has died at the age of 72.

Richman was a distinguished professor at the School for Social Administration at the University of Chicago when he was asked to review options for a residential centre that had been established as an orphanage in the nineteenth century. The potential for residential provision was limited. So Richman proposed diverting the endowment into the production of knowledge about helping disadvantaged children.

That radical idea translated into Chapin Hall. Under Richman's tutelage for the next decade, it forged a unique identity, specialising in the analysis of administrative data and – Richman's passion – the place of community in the well-being of children and families.

He was an unusual director of a research centre. He brought academic credentials but did not let narrow scientific interests get in the way of the need for policy-orientated investigation.

He was also remarkable among leaders of children's services research organisations for raising endowment funds to support his new enterprise. Arguably his greatest strength was to forge a strong community spirit within Chapin Hall, nurturing a long list of researchers who have made significant contributions to children's services and other fields. One such alumnus was Matt Stagner who in recent years returned to become Director, an appointment Richman hugely appreciated.

He was also a determined internationalist, forging strong links between Chapin Hall and centres in England, Israel, Ireland, Jordan and Spain.

The Social Research Unit has had strong links with Chapin Hall for over a decade since it provided the research base for the book Prevention and Early Intervention for Children in Need.

You can learn more about Harold Richman on Chapin Halls' website.
Perkins completes UK translation

Our visiting US professor, Daniel Perkins, has returned home to Pennsylvania and Penn State University at the weekend with messages about UK research implementation efforts and the attractions of an English summer.

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Our visiting US professor, Daniel Perkins, has returned home to Pennsylvania and Penn State University at the weekend with messages about UK research implementation efforts and the attractions of an English summer.

Professor Perkins joined the Unit in August 2008 to improve our understanding of “translational” skills – aspects of the new scientific approach to disseminating and implementing evidence-based programmes.

He has also helped us to explore a relationship with the influential Prevention Research Centre at Penn State University where he is Professor of Family and Youth Resilience and Policy.

His role at the Unit has included shaping our evolving partnership with the City Council in Birmingham. He has helped to establish three pioneering randomised controlled trials there and steered investigations into the effectiveness of the PATHS, Triple P and The Incredible Years programmes.

Of the lessons learned, he says:

"Especially in these its formative years, dissemination and implementation science call for multidisciplinary thinking and collaboration between scholars and practitioners.

The rubber meets the road in the everyday detail of rolling out programmes.

Planning is essential but so is an unflagging willingness to solve practical problems as they occur.

Relationships are the bedrock of implementation: programmes cannot be built or sustained without good communications.

You always need to communicate more frequently than you think you do! In the midst of all the practical concerns, the biggest challenge is to protect the integrity of scientific method. Without it, knowledge and children’s lives will never be improved."

Wife Tammy, daughters Brighid and Kiera and son Colman returned home in the spring and left him alone with the wet English July. "The stereotype is absolutely accurate," he says.
Penn State loans us translation expert

Joining us on a year’s sabbatical from the influential Prevention Research Centre at Penn State University is US Professor of Family and Youth Resilience and Policy Daniel Perkins.

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Joining us on a year’s sabbatical from the influential Prevention Research Centre at Penn State University is US Professor of Family and Youth Resilience and Policy Daniel Perkins.

Here improve our knowledge of how to translate proven programmes into effective practice, he will play an important role in the Unit’s evolving partnership with the City Council in Birmingham where he will oversee three randomised controlled trials.

He will also be investigating the effectiveness of PATHS, Triple P and Incredible Years. In the US, Daniel has contributed to the development and large scale implementation of the PROSPER program.

Tracey Bywater Tracey Bywater joined the Unit in 2008 on a half-time basis as a Senior Researcher. Her other half-time role is as a Research Fellow in the School of Psychology at Bangor University. Her area of interest and expertise lies in the design and implementation of randomised controlled trials of evidence based parent and school interventions to assess behavioural and health outcomes. Contact	Dwan Kaoukji Dwan Kaoukji has been with the unit since 2006. Dwan is involved in numerous development and dissemination projects. Her areas of interest are in international aid funded projects for children in the global south, and their effect on outcomes. Contact
Kevin Mount Kevin Mount joined the Unit in 1991 as a research overwriter and publications designer. Clients have included UK government departments, university research teams, and UK children's services agencies including Research in Practice from its inception to 2005. He is managing editor of www.preventionaction.org. Contact	Minna Lehtonen Minna Lehtonen joined the unit in December 2009 after leaving a position as a learning support assistant in a primary school in Luton. Minna is working as a research assistant, and interests include the development of tolerance and pro-social behaviour and inclusive education of SEN children Contact
Ella Gaehl Ella recently joined the Unit in October 2009, after leaving a position as project manager of a Primary Care Dementia Project. Ella is a junior researcher, and works closely with Michael Little on a wide range of research and development projects. Contact	Louise Morpeth Louise Morpeth is Deputy Director and joined the team in 1997. She was one of the first researchers to go through SRU doctoral training programme, completing her PhD in 2000. Louise oversees all aspects of development work and ensures the smooth running of the charity. She has a particular a interest in service design, the implementation of evidence-based programmes and workforce development. Contact
Tim Hobbs Tim Hobbs joined the unit in 2005 and works largely on epidemiological endeavors to measure the well-being of children in communities, local authorities and states. In addition his interests lie in childhood stress processes and the way in which a child’s context influences these. Contact	Kay Turner Kay Turner has been at the Unit since January 2001. Kay is responsible along with the Company Secretary for all the administration and financial procedures , governance arrangements for the Charity, including support to senior management and Trustees. Contact
Michael Little Michael Little is Director of the Social Research Unit, and holds visiting appointments at the universities of Bath and Chicago. His main interest is in the application of science to policy and practice. Michael is author of over 10 books and 100 other publications. His work has been used in the formation of policy and practice in several EU and US states. Contact	Kate Tobin Kate Tobin joined the Unit in November 2009 after graduating with a BA Hons in Psychology from the University of Strathclyde. Kate is working as a research assistant and supports Vashti Berry on various projects. Her research interests include weight management, eating practices and qualitative research within the health sector. Contact
Sarah Blower Sarah Blower joined the unit in 2004. Sarah is involved in several research and development projects. Her area of interest is in how children adapt to normative transitions and she is currently investigating this in a study of children making the transfer between primary and secondary school. Contact	Vashti Berry Vashti Berry joined the Unit in 2001. She is a senior researcher, having completed her PhD in 2008 on the effects of family conflict on children’s health and development. Vashti heads up a team of people focused on understanding the role of family, school and community contexts in shaping children’s development. She is also responsible for the Unit’s doctoral training programme. Contact
David Jodrell David joined the Unit in September 2008 as a research assistant after gaining a BSc in psychology. His main role is to support Michael Little in a variety of development projects, and the Unit's epidemiological work. His academic interests are disabilities in education, particularly inclusive education. Contact	Nick Axford Nick Axford joined in 1997. He has worked on studies to define and measure child well-being, to quantify service provision in the community and to design and evaluate new services. He is particularly interested in methods for adapting and implementing proven programmes, an expertise he has been applying in Ireland and Birmingham. He is co-editor of the Journal of Children's Services. Contact

Roy Parker

fellow
Roy Parker was the first Professor of Social Policy at the University of Bristol and is Founding Fellow of the Centre for Social Policy at Dartington. His work has made several significant impacts on UK social policy for children and adults, and his historical studies, such as his recent book Uprooted have done much to reveal significant continuities and discontinuities in British legislation and guidance.

Erica De Ath

fellow
Erica De’Ath serves on the Children and Family Courts Advisory Support Service, is Vice Chair of The Cranfield Trust, and Board Member of the Public Management and Policy Association. Her voluntary sector career focused on child care and family support as Chief Executive of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, National Stepfamily Association and NCVCCO (now Children England).

Ali Abunimah

collaborator
Ali Abunimah has been involved in research, development and dissemination work aimed at improving children's outcomes in cross-cultural and international contexts since the mid-1990s. Based in Chicago, his work has also taken him to Europe and the Middle East. In addition, he is pursuing a PhD in ethnopolitical studies at Exeter University.

Roger Bullock

fellow
Roger Bullock is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of Bristol and Chair of the Board of the Warren House Group, the charity that shelters the Social Research Unit. Roger was the first researcher to be employed by the Unit when it was founded at Kings College Cambridge in 1963. He is the editor of Adoption and Fostering.

Owen Keenan

chair of trustees
Owen Keenan is the founder and director of Middlequarter, a Dublin-based consultancy that helps organisations to maximise their social impact. He was previously CEO of Barnardos in Ireland, one of the country’s most active children’s charities. He has worked with the Social Research Unit on many mutually funded projects.

David Gordon

trustee
David Gordon is the director of the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research, founded in 1999 in recognition of the achievements of the late Peter Townsend. He is Professor of Social Justice at Bristol University's School of Social Policy Studies and an international expert in poverty related research and disability studies.

Jonathan Bradshaw

trustee
Jonathan Bradshaw helped found the widely respected Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York, where he is Professor of Social Policy. He is acknowledged as a national expert on the effects of poverty and inequality, particularly upon child outcomes. He has led studies for UNICEF on the well-being of children in rich nations. Jonathan became a Trustee of the Social Research Unit in 2007.

Judy Renshaw

collaborator
Judy Renshaw is an independent researcher and analyst, and has undertaken reviews of projects and services for The Social Research Unit, including a review of much of the development work carried out in Ireland. She has also written several service manuals for projects with which the unit has been working and reviewed the work on epidemiology. Previously she carried out national service reviews for the Audit Commission and managed a research programme for the Youth Justice Board.