Adoption Research Group
This is a special interest group within the Childhood research group in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University.
It is a multi-disciplinary group and core members are:
Dr. Julie Doughty, Cardiff Law School
Dr. Sally Holland, School of Social Sciences
Dr Heather Ottaway, School of Social Sciences
Dr Katherine Shelton, School of Psychology.
Members are actively engaged in research and policy and practice development in the field of adoption. Particular interests include children’s experiences of adoption, families’ support needs, siblings and legal processes. Methodological expertise encompasses qualitative and quantitative methods and includes participatory approaches, visual research methods, ethnography and prospective, longitudinal research designs.
Group activities include:
Julie Doughty is a member of the BAAF Legal Group Advisory Committee and co-author of Child Law for Social Workers in Wales,published by the Care Council for Wales. She has formerly worked as a solicitor for local authority children’s services and for Cafcass.
Sally Holland is independent advisor to the National Assembly for Wales’ Children and Young Person Committee’s Adoption Inquiry. Sally is a qualified social worker with practice experience in the fields of children’s services and particular expertise in child and family assessment.
Heather Ottaway is a member of the Welsh Government’s Expert Advisory Group on Adoption. She completed her doctoral research on sibling relationships in adoption in 2012. Read her response to the Department for Education’s consultation on siblings in adoption here. Heather is a qualified social worker with practice experience in the fields of fostering and adoption.
Katherine Shelton is conducting the third wave of her research into relationships between family functioning and adoptive children’s psychological well-being.
The group has excellent links with Welsh Government, adoption agencies and voluntary support and campaign groups, including Adoption UK, After Adoption, St David’s Children Society, BAAF, SSAFA Forces Help Adoption Agency.
Post-graduate research
The group welcome applications from prospective research students in any area related to adoption.
Current doctoral students in the School of Social Sciences researching adoption:
- Cecilia Love: Experiencing Transracial Adoption: A psycho-social exploration
- Marja Kempenaar: Adoption Support Plans: Exploring the processes