Dr Janet Boddy

Biography

After graduating from the University of Glasgow in Psychology, Janet carried out her PhD at the Institute of Child Health, University College London. Following a period lecturing at the University of Leeds, she moved to the multi-disciplinary Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU) at the Institute of Education in London, where she was involved in the development of a new Foundation Degree in Working with Children. In January 2012, Janet joined the Department of Education in the School of Education and Social Work at Sussex, where she leads the BA in Childhood and Youth: Theory and Practice, and co-directs the new interdisciplinary Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth (CIRCY), with Rachel Thomson.  

Janet’s research in the UK and elsewhere in Europe includes studies of parents and families, child health, and studies of mainstream and targeted services for children and families. The latter includes studies which have considered social pedagogy as a model of education for work with children and families in continental Europe.  Janet also has a particular interest in social research governance and ethics, and is involved in a range of research and advisory work in this area.  In 2010, with colleagues at the Institute of Education, she completed the development of the Ethics Guidebook website, an ESRC funded resource which aims to support social scientists in navigating research ethics requirements in their research:  http://www.ethicsguidebook.ac.uk

Role

Co-Director, Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth (CIRCY)

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/esw/circy/

Course Leader, BA Childhood and Youth: Theory and Practice

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/esw/circy/teaching

My supervision interests are focused on childhood, youth and family, with a particular interest in:

• families' everyday lives, and
• services for children, parents and families, including:
• parent and family support;
• policy and services for looked after children and for children and families with complex needs; and
• approaches to work with children and families, including European models of social pedagogy and other disciplines.  

In terms of methodology, I have particular interests in: cross-national research; mixed methods approaches; methods for studying everyday life; narrative; and research governance and ethics.

Current and recent research projects include:

Understanding Permanence: A review of research for the Care Inquiry.  This review was commissioned to inform The Care Inquiry, a collaboration of specialist charities (Adoption UK, British Association of Adoption & Fostering(BAAF), Family Rights Group, the Fostering Network, Research in Practice, TACT, The Together Trust and The Who Cares? Trust) established with the support of the Nuffield Foundation. The review has now been published as an Annex to the main Care Inquiry report:

http://thecareinquiry.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/understanding-permanence-for-lac.pdf

Working with Families of Children Placed Away From Home: Cross European Perspectives, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.  Working with partners in Denmark, France, and the Netherlands, this project aims to consider how the study countries address policy and practice in relation to:  (a) parental contact and  involvement in the lives of their children while placed away from home, and (b) work with families to support return home and address problems that contributed to care entry. 

Study team:  Janet Boddy, June Statham, Inge Danielsen, Helene Join-Lambert, Esther Geurts

Family Lives and the Environment:  Cross-national Perspectives on Habitual Practices is part of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods Node NOVELLA (Narratives of Varied Everyday Lives and Linked Approaches) - see http://www.novella.ac.uk/. 

Family Lives and the Environment project examines family narratives about the environment, including climate change and climatic events, and understandings of everyday practices in family life. You can read an overview of the study in the spring 2013 edition of ESRC NCRM Methods News: http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/3066/1/MethodsNewsSpring2013.pdf

Study team:  Janet Boddy, Ann Phoenix, Natasha Shukla, Catherine Walker (PhD student), Virginia Morrow and Gina Crivello (Young Lives, University of Oxford), Madhavi Latha and Uma Vennam (Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswavidyalayam University).

Good Practice in Child Protection in Secondary Schools was commissioned by the Office of the Children's Commissioner to support schools in developing good practice in this important field.  Through case studies in six varied schools, identified as exemplars of well-developed practice across four local authorities, the research has examined characteristics of good practice in child protection in secondary school settings, with a specific focus on identification of and early intervention with potential safeguarding and child protection concerns.

Study team: Michelle Lefevre, Janet Boddy, Rachel Burr, Robert Rosenthal (University of Sussex) and Susi Arnott (Walking Pictures)

Inequalities in School Exclusions was commissioned by the Office of the Children's Commissioner to build on theChildren's Commissioner's Inquiry into School Exclusions, which highlighted the disproportionate exclusion rate of certain groups of young people from secondary school, including boys, black and ethnic minority groups, those partaking of Free School Meals and those with Special Educational Needs. The study addressed this significant concern and aimed to identify - and inform the development of - good practice, through interviews in schools and local authorities, and with Initial Teacher Education providers. The Children's Commissioner's full report, They Go The Extra Mile, is available to download from the Office of the Children's Commission website. The University of Sussex research report is Annex A.

Study team: Louise Gazeley, Tish Marrable, Chris Brown and Janet Boddy.

BA Childhood and Youth: Theory and Practice

Module convenor:

European Perspectives: Social Pedagogy and Work with Children and Young People (Year 1)

Contributions to modules:

Contemporary Debates (Year 1)

Childhood, Youth and Transition (Year 1)

Social Work with Children and Young People (Year 2)

MA Childhood and Youth Studies

Contributions to modules:

Introducing Childhood and Youth Studies

Research Methods with Children and Young People

MA Social Work

Contributions to modules:

Situating Social Work

Student Consultation

During term time, I am usually available in Essex House Room 210 at the following times:

Monday 10-11am

Wednesday 4-5pm

If you wish to see me outside these times, or if exceptionally I am not available during my office hourse, please email to make an appointment.  

Boddy, Janet (2013) Understanding permanence for looked after children: a review of research for the Care Inquiry. Other. The Care Inquiry, Online.

Boddy, Janet (2013) European perspectives on parenting and family support. In: Family troubles? Exploring changes and challenges in the family lives of children and young people. Policy Press, Bristol. ISBN 9781447304432

Gazeley, Louise, Marrable, Tish, Brown, Chris and Boddy, Janet (2013) Reducing inequalities in school exclusion: learning from good practice. Project Report. Children's Commissioner.

Boddy, Janet (2013) Research across cultures, within countries: hidden ethics tensions in research with children and families? Progress in Development Studies, 13 (4). ISSN 1464-9934 (In Press)

Boddy, Janet (2013) Research with children across cultures, within countries: a UK perspective on ethics tensions. In: Cross-cultural child research: ethical issues. Childwatch international, Oslo, pp. 71-96. ISBN 9788276820645

Geurts, Esther M W, Boddy, Janet, Noom, Marc J and Knorth, Erik J (2012) Family-centred residential care: the new reality? Child and Family Social Work, 17 (2). pp. 170-179. ISSN 1356-7500

Boddy, Janet, Statham, June, Warwick, Ian, Hollingworth, Katie and Spencer, Grace (2012) Health related work in family intervention projects. Project Report. Thomas Coram Research Unit, London.

Boddy, Janet, Smith, Marjorie and Statham, June (2011) Understandings of efficacy: cross-national perspectives on 'what works' in supporting parents and families. Ethics and Education, 6 (2). pp. 181-196. ISSN 1744-9642

Boddy, Janet (2011) The Supportive Relationship in 'Public Care': The Relevance of Social Pedagogy. In: Social Pedagogy and Working with Children and Young People: Where care and education meet. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London, pp. 105-124. ISBN 9781849051194

Boddy, Janet and Oliver, Christine (2010) Research governance in children's services: the scope for new advice. Project Report. University of London, London.

Boddy, Janet (2010) Parenting Support across five European countries. In: Supporting parenting. Early childhood in focus (5). The Open University, Milton Keynes, p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7492-2913-9

Mooney, Ann, Statham, June, Boddy, Janet and Smith, Marjorie (2010) The National Child Measurement Programme: Early Experiences of routine feedback to parents of children's height and weight. Other. Institute of Education, London.

Statham, June and Boddy, Janet (2010) Supporting young people on the 'edge' of care: Lessons from a cross-European study. In: Inside out. How interventions in child and family care work. An international source book. KOP (30). Garant, Antwerp, pp. 126-128. ISBN 9789044126976

Boddy, Janet and Statham, June (2010) Understandings of parenting support: European Perspectives. In: Inside out. How interventions in child and family care work. An international source book. KOP (30). Garant, Antwerp, pp. 139-141. ISBN 9789044126976

Boddy, Janet, Neumann, Tim, Jennings, Sean, Morrow, Virginia, Alderson, Priscilla, Rees, Rebecca and Gibson, Will (2010) The research ethics guidebook: a resource for social scientists. The research ethics guidebook: a resource for social scientists.

Boddy, Janet and Statham, June (2009) European Perspectives on Social Work: Models of education and professional roles. Other. Nuffield Foundation, London.

Boddy, Janet, Statham, June, Susan, McQuail, Petrie, Pat and Owen, Charlie (2009) Working at the 'Edges' of Care? - European Models of Support for Young People and Families. Other. Department for Children, Schools and families, London.

Boddy, Janet, Statham, June, Smith, Marjorie, Ghate, Deborah, Wigfall, Valerie, Hauari, Hanan, Canali, Cinzia, Danielsen, Inge, Flett, Marion, Garbers, Simon and Milova, Hélène (2009) International Perspectives on Parenting Support - Non-English Language Sources. Project Report. Institute of Education, London.

Boddy, Janet and Smith, Marjorie (2008) Asking the Experts: Developing and Validating Parental Diaries to Assess Children's Minor Injuries. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 11 (1). pp. 63-77. ISSN 1364-5579

Mooney, Ann, Boddy, Janet, Statham, June and Warwick , Ian (2008) Approaches to developing health in early years settings. Health Education, 108 (2). pp. 163-177. ISSN 0965-4283

Mooney, Ann, Warwick, Ian, Statham, June and Boddy, Janet (2007) 'Starting young': health, well-being and early years. Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 127 (1). pp. 10-11. ISSN 1466-4240