Carmel Devaney
Biographic Data
| ID | 3560470 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Carmel Devaney |
| GIVEN NAMES | Carmel |
| FAMILY NAME | Devaney |
| SIGNATURE | DEVANEY C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9842-3076 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 61 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Leadership Through Language, Terminology and Representation: Conceptual and Tangible Steps Towards Epistemic Justice Practices
This article is based on research about language, terminology and representation in relation to institutions in Ireland formerly known as ‘Mother and Baby Homes’. Learning from this research informs tangible and conceptual steps towards greater epistemic justice practices for social work. The concept of epistemic justice is used to explore how critical attention to language, terminology and testimony can contribute to promoting rights, countering…
The meaningful participation of children in matters that affect them: Child participation in the context of child protection across five European countries
Promoting child welfare and supporting families in Europe: Multi-dimensional conceptual and developmental frameworks for national family support systems
A social justice perspective on the delivery of family support
Family support as an approach to working with children, youth, parents, and families is widely practiced across Europe albeit with a range of diverse meanings and interpretations. This paper responds to this ambiguity and provides a conceptual understanding of the delivery of family support in Europe. In doing so it applies a social justice approach critically examining the extent to which Family Support reflects the right of families, children, …
Participation in practice in child welfare: Processes, Benefits and Challenges
Incarcerated mothers’ experience of adversity heard using participatory mixed-method research
This article is based on mixed-method participatory research with incarcerated mothers in Ireland. It draws on this research which aimed to profile imprisoned mothers, hear their experiences of motherhood and mothering and examine their available supports. An overview of relevant literature on motherhood, incarceration, trauma and addiction in the context of incarceration is presented, followed by a detailed outline and discussion of the particip…
Culture and parenting: Polish migrant parents’ perspectives on how culture shapes their parenting in a culturally diverse Irish neighbourhood
While it is now widely acknowledged that child-rearing practices vary culturally, there has been little research or consideration on how cultural difference is experienced by Polish immigrant parents in Ireland. This paper reflects on how culture is experienced by migrant parents and shapes Polish migrant parenting in the Irish context. It draws on findings from a qualitative study which elicited Polish migrant parents’ perspectives on the norms …
Youth Suicide and Self-Harm: Latent Class Profiles of Adversity and the Moderating Roles of Perceived Support and Sense of Safety
Research suggests that exposure to adversity can lead to an increased risk of experiencing suicidal and self-injurious thoughts or behaviours, but few studies have examined whether different patterns of adversity are differentially associated with youth suicide/self-harm. The current study aims to explore the relationship between exposure to adversity across various social domains and youth self-harm and suicidality, using a person centred approa…
Protective Support and Supportive Protection: Critical Reflections on Safe Practice and Safety in Supervision
This paper was based on a framework for practice and supervision based on ‘protective-support and supportive-protection’ (PS-SP) that can be used to discuss and plan for practice in a way that maximises the capacity of workers in child protection and welfare (CPW) services to provide support and protection simultaneously. The framework is underpinned by a long-established assumption about social work in child protection and welfare as a socio-leg…
Children’s participation in practice: Comparing the views of managers and practitioners in an early intervention and prevention programme
Purpose Participation is the active involvement of children and young people in decision-making regarding issues that affect their lives. It is crucial in the context of child protection and welfare systems and how they respond to the needs of children and young people. The purpose of this paper is to report on the evaluation of child and family participation in an early intervention and prevention programme implemented by the Irish Child and Fam…
Child, parent or family? Applying a systemic lens to the conceptualisations of Family Support in Europe
This paper considers how Family Support is conceptualised in the European context with respect to its primary beneficiaries. The central question considers the focus of concern in a child welfare system and what it means when Family Support is focused on children, on parents, or involves the family unit as a whole. Informed by a body of relevant literature reviewed as part of a wider project, Family Support is seen as more often conceptualised as…
Realizing the potential of a strengths‐based approach in family support with young people and their parents
This paper on a strengths‐based approach (SBA) to practice is based on empirical research with stakeholders involved in an intensive support programme for young people at risk and their parents in Ireland. The Youth Advocate Programme (YAP) model provides wraparound support to respond to their needs by focusing on their competencies and their coping skills and building networks of community‐based supports. The model includes parents or carers in …
A Framework to Inform Protective Support and Supportive Protection in Child Protection and Welfare Practice and Supervision
In this article, our intention is to provide an in-depth framework to inform the management of the inevitable complexity of day-to-day practice and supervision in child protection and welfare. It is based on what is now well evidenced about child protection and welfare literature in relation to risk, relationships, family support, supervision, and professional development. Using Ireland as a case example for illustration and application, we intro…
Protective support and supportive protection for families “in the middle”: Learning from the Irish context
This paper critically examines the relationship between statutory family support and child protection using the case study of Ireland. It builds on the work of Devaney and McGregor (2017) to offer an additional contribution to existing frameworks for practice through adapting the Hardiker Exton and Barker (1991) model of prevention. Using evidence from current Irish developments, the case for moving away from linear and simplistic differentiation…
Outcomes for Permanence and Stability for Children in Care in Ireland: Implications for Practice
This paper reports on a qualitative study of outcomes for permanence and stability for children in long-term care in Ireland. The aim of this research was to inform social work practitioners on how to enhance stability and permanence for children and to inform decision making and report writing for children in care. The research was designed and delivered in partnership with social work practitioners in the relevant areas. Drawing from the signif…
Early Implementation of a Family-Centred Practice Model in Child Welfare: Findings from an Irish Case Study
This article reports on the outcomes of a research study on the early implementation of a strengths-based family-centred model of practice in Ireland known as the Meitheal model. The paper aims to translate the key messages from this research to practice with families involved in the child welfare system. This is done by highlighting the process by which intervention focused on support and prevention using a strengths perspective has begun to occ…
Hoping for a better tomorrow: A qualitative study of stressors, informal social support and parental coping in a Direct Provision centre in the West of Ireland
This paper focuses on informal social support and coping amongst parents living in a Direct Provision (DP) reception centre in the rural west of Ireland. Since 2000, asylum seekers in Ireland are subject to DP where the state provides accommodation and food to asylum seeking families, and a small supplementary allowance. Despite calls for its abandonment and that it constitutes ‘citizenship based discrimination’, DP features prominently in Irish …
Child protection and family support practice in Ireland: A contribution to present debates from a historical perspective
This paper takes the opportunity of the current child welfare system change in Ireland to promote the value of learning from history to better understand the interface between family support and child protection. The paper draws from the histories of child protection and family support to illuminate the commonalities and differences that have come to define the two practices. Using findings from two historical studies – one on family support and …
Voice and meaning: The wisdom of F amily S upport veterans
Although a widely accepted term in child welfare discourses, there remains a vagueness as to what F amily S upport as a named orientation in children and family services actually entails. This lack of clarity is, at times, used to detract from its usefulness within the policy and practice arena. Using the accumulated wisdom of a select group of accomplished managers, academics and policy makers in social work and social care, this paper retrospec…
Family Support and Child Protection: Natural Bedfellows
This article explores whether family support theoretical underpinnings and models of work can be applied to child protection social work practice. The setting for the small-scale study is a statutory social work department which processes child protection and welfare referrals. The researcher presented family support as an approach to seven social work practitioners who applied these during the course of the study to two specific child protection…
Protective support and supportive protection for families “in the middle”: Learning from the Irish context
This paper critically examines the relationship between statutory family support and child protection using the case study of Ireland. It builds on the work of Devaney and McGregor (2017) to offer an additional contribution to existing frameworks for practice through adapting the Hardiker Exton and Barker (1991) model of prevention. Using evidence from current Irish developments, the case for moving away from linear and simplistic differentiation…
A Framework to Inform Protective Support and Supportive Protection in Child Protection and Welfare Practice and Supervision
In this article, our intention is to provide an in-depth framework to inform the management of the inevitable complexity of day-to-day practice and supervision in child protection and welfare. It is based on what is now well evidenced about child protection and welfare literature in relation to risk, relationships, family support, supervision, and professional development. Using Ireland as a case example for illustration and application, we intro…
Child protection and family support practice in Ireland: A contribution to present debates from a historical perspective
This paper takes the opportunity of the current child welfare system change in Ireland to promote the value of learning from history to better understand the interface between family support and child protection. The paper draws from the histories of child protection and family support to illuminate the commonalities and differences that have come to define the two practices. Using findings from two historical studies – one on family support and …
Voice and meaning: The wisdom of F amily S upport veterans
Although a widely accepted term in child welfare discourses, there remains a vagueness as to what F amily S upport as a named orientation in children and family services actually entails. This lack of clarity is, at times, used to detract from its usefulness within the policy and practice arena. Using the accumulated wisdom of a select group of accomplished managers, academics and policy makers in social work and social care, this paper retrospec…
Hoping for a better tomorrow: A qualitative study of stressors, informal social support and parental coping in a Direct Provision centre in the West of Ireland
This paper focuses on informal social support and coping amongst parents living in a Direct Provision (DP) reception centre in the rural west of Ireland. Since 2000, asylum seekers in Ireland are subject to DP where the state provides accommodation and food to asylum seeking families, and a small supplementary allowance. Despite calls for its abandonment and that it constitutes ‘citizenship based discrimination’, DP features prominently in Irish …
Children’s participation in practice: Comparing the views of managers and practitioners in an early intervention and prevention programme
Purpose Participation is the active involvement of children and young people in decision-making regarding issues that affect their lives. It is crucial in the context of child protection and welfare systems and how they respond to the needs of children and young people. The purpose of this paper is to report on the evaluation of child and family participation in an early intervention and prevention programme implemented by the Irish Child and Fam…
Outcomes for Permanence and Stability for Children in Care in Ireland: Implications for Practice
This paper reports on a qualitative study of outcomes for permanence and stability for children in long-term care in Ireland. The aim of this research was to inform social work practitioners on how to enhance stability and permanence for children and to inform decision making and report writing for children in care. The research was designed and delivered in partnership with social work practitioners in the relevant areas. Drawing from the signif…
The meaningful participation of children in matters that affect them: Child participation in the context of child protection across five European countries
Child, parent or family? Applying a systemic lens to the conceptualisations of Family Support in Europe
This paper considers how Family Support is conceptualised in the European context with respect to its primary beneficiaries. The central question considers the focus of concern in a child welfare system and what it means when Family Support is focused on children, on parents, or involves the family unit as a whole. Informed by a body of relevant literature reviewed as part of a wider project, Family Support is seen as more often conceptualised as…
Leadership Through Language, Terminology and Representation: Conceptual and Tangible Steps Towards Epistemic Justice Practices
This article is based on research about language, terminology and representation in relation to institutions in Ireland formerly known as ‘Mother and Baby Homes’. Learning from this research informs tangible and conceptual steps towards greater epistemic justice practices for social work. The concept of epistemic justice is used to explore how critical attention to language, terminology and testimony can contribute to promoting rights, countering…
Participation in practice in child welfare: Processes, Benefits and Challenges
Culture and parenting: Polish migrant parents’ perspectives on how culture shapes their parenting in a culturally diverse Irish neighbourhood
While it is now widely acknowledged that child-rearing practices vary culturally, there has been little research or consideration on how cultural difference is experienced by Polish immigrant parents in Ireland. This paper reflects on how culture is experienced by migrant parents and shapes Polish migrant parenting in the Irish context. It draws on findings from a qualitative study which elicited Polish migrant parents’ perspectives on the norms …
Youth Suicide and Self-Harm: Latent Class Profiles of Adversity and the Moderating Roles of Perceived Support and Sense of Safety
Research suggests that exposure to adversity can lead to an increased risk of experiencing suicidal and self-injurious thoughts or behaviours, but few studies have examined whether different patterns of adversity are differentially associated with youth suicide/self-harm. The current study aims to explore the relationship between exposure to adversity across various social domains and youth self-harm and suicidality, using a person centred approa…
Protective Support and Supportive Protection: Critical Reflections on Safe Practice and Safety in Supervision
This paper was based on a framework for practice and supervision based on ‘protective-support and supportive-protection’ (PS-SP) that can be used to discuss and plan for practice in a way that maximises the capacity of workers in child protection and welfare (CPW) services to provide support and protection simultaneously. The framework is underpinned by a long-established assumption about social work in child protection and welfare as a socio-leg…
Realizing the potential of a strengths‐based approach in family support with young people and their parents
This paper on a strengths‐based approach (SBA) to practice is based on empirical research with stakeholders involved in an intensive support programme for young people at risk and their parents in Ireland. The Youth Advocate Programme (YAP) model provides wraparound support to respond to their needs by focusing on their competencies and their coping skills and building networks of community‐based supports. The model includes parents or carers in …
Family Support and Child Protection: Natural Bedfellows
This article explores whether family support theoretical underpinnings and models of work can be applied to child protection social work practice. The setting for the small-scale study is a statutory social work department which processes child protection and welfare referrals. The researcher presented family support as an approach to seven social work practitioners who applied these during the course of the study to two specific child protection…
Voice and meaning: The wisdom of F amily S upport veterans
Although a widely accepted term in child welfare discourses, there remains a vagueness as to what F amily S upport as a named orientation in children and family services actually entails. This lack of clarity is, at times, used to detract from its usefulness within the policy and practice arena. Using the accumulated wisdom of a select group of accomplished managers, academics and policy makers in social work and social care, this paper retrospec…
Child protection and family support practice in Ireland: A contribution to present debates from a historical perspective
This paper takes the opportunity of the current child welfare system change in Ireland to promote the value of learning from history to better understand the interface between family support and child protection. The paper draws from the histories of child protection and family support to illuminate the commonalities and differences that have come to define the two practices. Using findings from two historical studies – one on family support and …
Early Implementation of a Family-Centred Practice Model in Child Welfare: Findings from an Irish Case Study
This article reports on the outcomes of a research study on the early implementation of a strengths-based family-centred model of practice in Ireland known as the Meitheal model. The paper aims to translate the key messages from this research to practice with families involved in the child welfare system. This is done by highlighting the process by which intervention focused on support and prevention using a strengths perspective has begun to occ…
Hoping for a better tomorrow: A qualitative study of stressors, informal social support and parental coping in a Direct Provision centre in the West of Ireland
This paper focuses on informal social support and coping amongst parents living in a Direct Provision (DP) reception centre in the rural west of Ireland. Since 2000, asylum seekers in Ireland are subject to DP where the state provides accommodation and food to asylum seeking families, and a small supplementary allowance. Despite calls for its abandonment and that it constitutes ‘citizenship based discrimination’, DP features prominently in Irish …
Protective support and supportive protection for families “in the middle”: Learning from the Irish context
This paper critically examines the relationship between statutory family support and child protection using the case study of Ireland. It builds on the work of Devaney and McGregor (2017) to offer an additional contribution to existing frameworks for practice through adapting the Hardiker Exton and Barker (1991) model of prevention. Using evidence from current Irish developments, the case for moving away from linear and simplistic differentiation…
Outcomes for Permanence and Stability for Children in Care in Ireland: Implications for Practice
This paper reports on a qualitative study of outcomes for permanence and stability for children in long-term care in Ireland. The aim of this research was to inform social work practitioners on how to enhance stability and permanence for children and to inform decision making and report writing for children in care. The research was designed and delivered in partnership with social work practitioners in the relevant areas. Drawing from the signif…
A Framework to Inform Protective Support and Supportive Protection in Child Protection and Welfare Practice and Supervision
In this article, our intention is to provide an in-depth framework to inform the management of the inevitable complexity of day-to-day practice and supervision in child protection and welfare. It is based on what is now well evidenced about child protection and welfare literature in relation to risk, relationships, family support, supervision, and professional development. Using Ireland as a case example for illustration and application, we intro…
Protective Support and Supportive Protection: Critical Reflections on Safe Practice and Safety in Supervision
This paper was based on a framework for practice and supervision based on ‘protective-support and supportive-protection’ (PS-SP) that can be used to discuss and plan for practice in a way that maximises the capacity of workers in child protection and welfare (CPW) services to provide support and protection simultaneously. The framework is underpinned by a long-established assumption about social work in child protection and welfare as a socio-leg…
Children’s participation in practice: Comparing the views of managers and practitioners in an early intervention and prevention programme
Purpose Participation is the active involvement of children and young people in decision-making regarding issues that affect their lives. It is crucial in the context of child protection and welfare systems and how they respond to the needs of children and young people. The purpose of this paper is to report on the evaluation of child and family participation in an early intervention and prevention programme implemented by the Irish Child and Fam…
Child, parent or family? Applying a systemic lens to the conceptualisations of Family Support in Europe
This paper considers how Family Support is conceptualised in the European context with respect to its primary beneficiaries. The central question considers the focus of concern in a child welfare system and what it means when Family Support is focused on children, on parents, or involves the family unit as a whole. Informed by a body of relevant literature reviewed as part of a wider project, Family Support is seen as more often conceptualised as…
Realizing the potential of a strengths‐based approach in family support with young people and their parents
This paper on a strengths‐based approach (SBA) to practice is based on empirical research with stakeholders involved in an intensive support programme for young people at risk and their parents in Ireland. The Youth Advocate Programme (YAP) model provides wraparound support to respond to their needs by focusing on their competencies and their coping skills and building networks of community‐based supports. The model includes parents or carers in …
Incarcerated mothers’ experience of adversity heard using participatory mixed-method research
This article is based on mixed-method participatory research with incarcerated mothers in Ireland. It draws on this research which aimed to profile imprisoned mothers, hear their experiences of motherhood and mothering and examine their available supports. An overview of relevant literature on motherhood, incarceration, trauma and addiction in the context of incarceration is presented, followed by a detailed outline and discussion of the particip…
Culture and parenting: Polish migrant parents’ perspectives on how culture shapes their parenting in a culturally diverse Irish neighbourhood
While it is now widely acknowledged that child-rearing practices vary culturally, there has been little research or consideration on how cultural difference is experienced by Polish immigrant parents in Ireland. This paper reflects on how culture is experienced by migrant parents and shapes Polish migrant parenting in the Irish context. It draws on findings from a qualitative study which elicited Polish migrant parents’ perspectives on the norms …
Youth Suicide and Self-Harm: Latent Class Profiles of Adversity and the Moderating Roles of Perceived Support and Sense of Safety
Research suggests that exposure to adversity can lead to an increased risk of experiencing suicidal and self-injurious thoughts or behaviours, but few studies have examined whether different patterns of adversity are differentially associated with youth suicide/self-harm. The current study aims to explore the relationship between exposure to adversity across various social domains and youth self-harm and suicidality, using a person centred approa…
The meaningful participation of children in matters that affect them: Child participation in the context of child protection across five European countries
Promoting child welfare and supporting families in Europe: Multi-dimensional conceptual and developmental frameworks for national family support systems
A social justice perspective on the delivery of family support
Family support as an approach to working with children, youth, parents, and families is widely practiced across Europe albeit with a range of diverse meanings and interpretations. This paper responds to this ambiguity and provides a conceptual understanding of the delivery of family support in Europe. In doing so it applies a social justice approach critically examining the extent to which Family Support reflects the right of families, children, …
Participation in practice in child welfare: Processes, Benefits and Challenges
Leadership Through Language, Terminology and Representation: Conceptual and Tangible Steps Towards Epistemic Justice Practices
This article is based on research about language, terminology and representation in relation to institutions in Ireland formerly known as ‘Mother and Baby Homes’. Learning from this research informs tangible and conceptual steps towards greater epistemic justice practices for social work. The concept of epistemic justice is used to explore how critical attention to language, terminology and testimony can contribute to promoting rights, countering…
Political science (19 works) · Psychology (18 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Medicine (13 works) · Public relations (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Context (archaeology (10 works) · Child Abuse and Trauma (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Social Psychology (9 works)