Featured Projects

Dr Lesley Deacon (Senior Lecturer in Social Work):

Church of England, Diocese of Newcastle Safeguarding Team: Along with Dr Matt Durey, Dr Deacon is investigating ‘How can the Newcastle Diocese Safeguarding Team better support Incumbents and Parish Safeguarding Officers in the effective implementation of Church of England safeguarding policy in practice?’

Participatory Action Research Project, Facilitated Practice-based Research (FPR): Since 2019, Dr Deacon has been conducting an extended piece of Participatory Action Research to answer the question 'How can we bridge the gap between social work research and social work practice?' Dr Deacon has developed an empowerment model, FPR, which is an eclectic interdisciplinary intensive research mindedness programme for practitioners. The aim is to facilitate practitioners to address their research anxiety through the act of doing a group practice research project in a supportive environment. Dr Deacon has developed and tested FPR at a total of four organisations (two local authorities and two charities) to date and is currently in the final phase of testing working with colleagues Carrie Philips, Zeta Bikova and Emma Aggar. Currently, two practice research projects are in development: understanding service users’ lived experiences of ‘consent’; and understanding professionals’ experiences of multi-agency working in safeguarding.

Whole Schools’ Approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing: Along with Anneliesa Butler and Julie Shaw, Dr Deacon is conducting a piece of research for Wallsend Children’s Community to understand how a sample of schools in the North East implement mental wellbeing strategies to support young people. The project consists of three stages – a blind policy analysis, a mental health framework policy analysis, and a practice evaluation.

Dr Sarah Lonbay (Associate Professor of Social Sciences and Engagement):

'A Vision of Safety: An arts-based exploration of safety from the perspectives of people who have experienced abuse': This participatory and arts-based research will explore the concept of safety and what it means to people who have experienced abuse. The project has been developed in partnership with people who have lived experience of the research topic. Safety is something that many of us take for granted and although the literature addresses aspects of safety, the question of what safety means to people who have experienced abuse is under-researched. It's important to understand what safety means to people and what strategies people use to keep themselves safe so that services can effectively support people who have experienced abuse in ways which are grounded in empathy and understanding.

Dr Sheila Quaid (Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences):

'Bringing Humanising Influences into Critical Care through the Natural Environment: Collaborative Evaluation of the New Critical Care Garden at James Cook University Hospital': Dr Sheila Quaid is currently leading, designing and conducting a qualitative study and evaluation of a recently created hospital garden. The aim is to explore the impacts of this natural environment on the mental wellbeing of patients, staff, and visitors to the hospital. Participation of patients, hospital staff and families is included to elicit impacts and effects on how patients feel about their time spent in the garden on their wellbeing. This is a three-way collaboration with Dr Laura Johnston (Enlighten Project) and Dr Paul Chazot (Durham University). We co-construct the research with patients and caregivers, clinicians, policymakers, families, and nursing and medical staff. The main aim is to elicit feelings, wellbeing, and general health benefits of the garden. The knowledge produced in this project will form the major foundation for the further in-depth evaluation of this garden project. This is a collaborative interdisciplinary knowledge exchange project which has the potential for positive impact on patients in critical care, their hospital staff, their families, and their mental and physical wellbeing whilst undergoing hospital treatment. The initial evaluation by Dr Quaid will be submitted to South Tees Health Trust.

Dr Nicola Roberts (Associate Professor of Criminology):

Supporting Social Science Staff to Research Project: Dr Nicola Roberts, along with Sarah Connelly, is leading on a research project which from an institutional ethnography approach, analyses institutional texts and work knowledges to explore how a HEI can best support staff to research.

Building on her previous research on students’ perceptions of safety and experiences of interpersonal violence and abuse, she, in collaboration with Dr William Webster (FHSW) and Dr Helen Williams, are carrying-out the Sexual Harm Project, which interviews transgender and non-binary university students about their perceptions and experiences of sexual harm.

Building on her previous research from the on-campus safety and security project, she is carrying out three inter-related projects:

• With the Security Manager, Andy Mulligan, she is carrying out an Evaluation of Campus Security Practices, which gathers feedback from students about campus security practices, including their campaigns, so that the campus security team can enhance their practices to ensure the safety of students and the campuses
• With Lauren Doyle and an independent researcher, she is carrying out the Student Safety and Support Project, which analyses all UK universities' websites for discourses of student safety, sexual violence, and provisions of support, including mechanisms for reporting and preventing interpersonal violence/abuse
• With a research assistant, Suzanne Butler, she is carrying-out The Incident Data Project, which, using Freedom of Information requests, analyses incidents of interpersonal violence/abuse reported to universities’ online reporting tools and the outcomes of these

Dr Diane Simpson (Senior Lecturer in Social Work):

Dr Diane Simpson is working with other academics in the social work team (Cally Bleasby, Phil Watson, Jamie Scorer and Kristy Regan), BA (Hons) Social Work students, and qualified social workers from three different local authorities to establish a peer mentoring scheme for the BA (Hons) Social Work.  This project is supported by the Vice Chancellor’s Team Teaching Award and is based on Dr Simpson’s experiences of establishing a peer mentoring scheme in a previous university and an allied co-produced research project with student researchers (Simpson et al, 2022).

Dr Angela Wilcock (Senior Lecturer in Criminology):

Exploring the Experiences of Thai Women Living in England Following Migratory Marriage: Dr Angela Wilcock is currently carrying out fieldwork on a sole research project, and the the aim of this qualitative study is to gain an understanding about the women’s experiences of their move to England. Dr Wilcock is interested in the relationships they have formed, if any, within extended families, local community such as employment opportunities, education, friendships, how the women maintain family links in Thailand, and in identifying any barriers that the women may experience. There has been little focus on the experiences of Thai women following migratory marriage and who are now living in the UK. Dr Wilcock is also currently planning a study into young people's (16-21 years) understandings of coercive and controlling behaviour in collaboration with Dr Nicola Roberts (Associate Professor, University of Sunderland).