My research interests focus on inclusion for children and families at risk of exclusion and marginalisation, specifically migrant children and their role as cultural and linguistic brokers. Having worked in children’s services for over 25 years, I have seen how children’s lived experiences can be shaped by their own agency and the factors which facilitate or constrain this.
I am passionate about social justice, inclusion and diversity and the health and wellbeing of children and young people. My research and publications aim to offer critical insight to child, education and family practitioners regarding some of the barriers encountered by marginalised groups that negatively impact their life outcomes.
My research interests is driven by my passion about diversity and inclusion related to children and families. I have been involved in a wide range of research projects and also invited to speak and present at national and international conferences.
My current research project focuses on ‘everyday’ crime and criminality in East Germany. I am interested in discourses of crime, as well as theories about criminal motives, and am enthusiastic about collaborating with scholars with a background in criminology.
My aim is to identify where sustainability happens through intention, where it happens inadvertently, and where it is stymied by the inconsistencies, contradictions and paradoxes that characterise everyday life.
As part of my studies, I conducted fieldwork with Bantu speakers in South Africa. I’m always interested in new projects and open to collaborations with colleagues within and outside of my department, discipline and institution.
My own studies fostered a fascination with American culture, and I became particularly interested in how visual culture represents the values, ideologies and anxieties of a nation.
