Kenneth Burns
Biographic Data
| ID | 5131895 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kenneth Burns |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kenneth |
| FAMILY NAME | Burns |
| SIGNATURE | BURNS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University College Cork |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4751-7667 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 47 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1950 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Supervising and Supporting Child Protection and Welfare Systems
Child protection and welfare systems wield significant authority to intervene in family life to safeguard children, yet such interventions can have complex, sometimes harmful, consequences for children, families and communities. Recent scholarship highlights that, despite their protective aims, these systems may reinforce systemic inequalities and, at times, fail to prevent harm due to organizational shortcomings or structural biases. In response…
Ask the children
Peer reviewed
How Effective Are Ireland's Monitory Mechanisms in Improving Its Child Protection and Welfare Services
Child protection and welfare systems are entrusted with significant power by governments and are therefore a significant focus of monitoring activities. Monitoring can help to build a better child protection system and to ensure child safety; track policy and legislative implementation and resource allocation; contribute to preventing systemic ‘failures’; provide data for system, policy, and legislative reforms; and support continuous improvement…
The Social Media, Online and Digital Abuse and Harassment of Social Workers, Probation Officers and Social Work Students in Ireland
An estimated five billion people use social media globally. The digital world enables networking and community-building beyond geographical and jurisdictional boundaries, it can facilitate information-sharing and knowledge development, and facilitates speedy access and communications links. On the other hand, digital and social media platforms can also be sources and purveyors of hurt, discrimination, defamation, hatred, abuse, cyberbullying and …
The rights of the child in voluntary care in Ireland
Voluntary care agreements form a significant part of child protection systems in many jurisdictions. From a children’s rights perspective, they enjoy numerous advantages over court-ordered removals of children. However, when loosely regulated, voluntary care agreements can give rise to significant concerns in respect of compliance with international children’s rights law. This paper will present findings from the Voluntary Care in Ireland Study, …
Corporal punishment and reporting to child protection authorities
This study, which draws upon representative survey data of the populations of Austria (n = 1000), Estonia (n = 1069), Ireland (n = 1000), Norway (n = 1002) and Spain (n = 1000), compares population attitudes towards corporal punishment (CP) and whether citizens would report corporal punishment to the child protection authorities. We found significant cross-country differences in attitudes towards CP, but only small differences between countries i…
Private Family Arrangements’ for Children in Ireland
The literature on alternative care focuses overwhelmingly on formal, court-ordered placements; voluntary care placements are discussed less frequently. Least attention of all has been given to informal kinship care placements, where a child is cared for by relatives but is not formally in the legal care of state authorities. In Ireland, these placements, when facilitated by state authorities in lieu of a care order or voluntary care agreement, ar…
Findings From a Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Child Protection Social Workers’ Retention
The retention of social workers in child protection and welfare is an ongoing concern in many countries. While our knowledge based on the turnover of child protection and welfare social workers is growing, much less is known about ‘stayers’—those who undertake this work for over 10+ years. This article draws on the data gathered over a decade in Ireland on these social workers. The article addresses three questions: (i) What can we learn from soc…
Children in immediate danger
This paper presents a qualitative analysis of front‐line practices regarding emergency removals in Finnish and Irish child protection. It examines how the responses to children's immediate danger are framed by legislation and how front‐line practitioners assess the child's situation and make emergency placement decisions. The data consist of interviews with 16 Irish and 33 Finnish social workers. These child welfare protection systems respond dif…
Employment mobility or turnover? An analysis of child welfare and protection employee retention
Professional Decision Making in Social Work Practice
Career Preference', 'Transients' and 'Converts
Both domestically and internationally, retaining social workers in statutory child protection and welfare work has been identified as a problem. However, this issue appears to receive only modest attention from researchers. This paper reports on the findings of a study that examined the retention of ‘front line’ child protection and welfare social workers in one Health Service Executive area in the Republic of Ireland. A qualitative study was und…
Conspiracy Prosecutions in the Federal Courts
Career Preference', 'Transients' and 'Converts
Both domestically and internationally, retaining social workers in statutory child protection and welfare work has been identified as a problem. However, this issue appears to receive only modest attention from researchers. This paper reports on the findings of a study that examined the retention of ‘front line’ child protection and welfare social workers in one Health Service Executive area in the Republic of Ireland. A qualitative study was und…
Findings From a Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Child Protection Social Workers’ Retention
The retention of social workers in child protection and welfare is an ongoing concern in many countries. While our knowledge based on the turnover of child protection and welfare social workers is growing, much less is known about ‘stayers’—those who undertake this work for over 10+ years. This article draws on the data gathered over a decade in Ireland on these social workers. The article addresses three questions: (i) What can we learn from soc…
Employment mobility or turnover? An analysis of child welfare and protection employee retention
Children in immediate danger
This paper presents a qualitative analysis of front‐line practices regarding emergency removals in Finnish and Irish child protection. It examines how the responses to children's immediate danger are framed by legislation and how front‐line practitioners assess the child's situation and make emergency placement decisions. The data consist of interviews with 16 Irish and 33 Finnish social workers. These child welfare protection systems respond dif…
Corporal punishment and reporting to child protection authorities
This study, which draws upon representative survey data of the populations of Austria (n = 1000), Estonia (n = 1069), Ireland (n = 1000), Norway (n = 1002) and Spain (n = 1000), compares population attitudes towards corporal punishment (CP) and whether citizens would report corporal punishment to the child protection authorities. We found significant cross-country differences in attitudes towards CP, but only small differences between countries i…
The rights of the child in voluntary care in Ireland
Voluntary care agreements form a significant part of child protection systems in many jurisdictions. From a children’s rights perspective, they enjoy numerous advantages over court-ordered removals of children. However, when loosely regulated, voluntary care agreements can give rise to significant concerns in respect of compliance with international children’s rights law. This paper will present findings from the Voluntary Care in Ireland Study, …
The Social Media, Online and Digital Abuse and Harassment of Social Workers, Probation Officers and Social Work Students in Ireland
An estimated five billion people use social media globally. The digital world enables networking and community-building beyond geographical and jurisdictional boundaries, it can facilitate information-sharing and knowledge development, and facilitates speedy access and communications links. On the other hand, digital and social media platforms can also be sources and purveyors of hurt, discrimination, defamation, hatred, abuse, cyberbullying and …
Private Family Arrangements’ for Children in Ireland
The literature on alternative care focuses overwhelmingly on formal, court-ordered placements; voluntary care placements are discussed less frequently. Least attention of all has been given to informal kinship care placements, where a child is cared for by relatives but is not formally in the legal care of state authorities. In Ireland, these placements, when facilitated by state authorities in lieu of a care order or voluntary care agreement, ar…
Professional Decision Making in Social Work Practice
Conspiracy Prosecutions in the Federal Courts
Professional Decision Making in Social Work Practice
Career Preference', 'Transients' and 'Converts
Both domestically and internationally, retaining social workers in statutory child protection and welfare work has been identified as a problem. However, this issue appears to receive only modest attention from researchers. This paper reports on the findings of a study that examined the retention of ‘front line’ child protection and welfare social workers in one Health Service Executive area in the Republic of Ireland. A qualitative study was und…
Employment mobility or turnover? An analysis of child welfare and protection employee retention
Children in immediate danger
This paper presents a qualitative analysis of front‐line practices regarding emergency removals in Finnish and Irish child protection. It examines how the responses to children's immediate danger are framed by legislation and how front‐line practitioners assess the child's situation and make emergency placement decisions. The data consist of interviews with 16 Irish and 33 Finnish social workers. These child welfare protection systems respond dif…
Findings From a Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Child Protection Social Workers’ Retention
The retention of social workers in child protection and welfare is an ongoing concern in many countries. While our knowledge based on the turnover of child protection and welfare social workers is growing, much less is known about ‘stayers’—those who undertake this work for over 10+ years. This article draws on the data gathered over a decade in Ireland on these social workers. The article addresses three questions: (i) What can we learn from soc…
The rights of the child in voluntary care in Ireland
Voluntary care agreements form a significant part of child protection systems in many jurisdictions. From a children’s rights perspective, they enjoy numerous advantages over court-ordered removals of children. However, when loosely regulated, voluntary care agreements can give rise to significant concerns in respect of compliance with international children’s rights law. This paper will present findings from the Voluntary Care in Ireland Study, …
Corporal punishment and reporting to child protection authorities
This study, which draws upon representative survey data of the populations of Austria (n = 1000), Estonia (n = 1069), Ireland (n = 1000), Norway (n = 1002) and Spain (n = 1000), compares population attitudes towards corporal punishment (CP) and whether citizens would report corporal punishment to the child protection authorities. We found significant cross-country differences in attitudes towards CP, but only small differences between countries i…
Private Family Arrangements’ for Children in Ireland
The literature on alternative care focuses overwhelmingly on formal, court-ordered placements; voluntary care placements are discussed less frequently. Least attention of all has been given to informal kinship care placements, where a child is cared for by relatives but is not formally in the legal care of state authorities. In Ireland, these placements, when facilitated by state authorities in lieu of a care order or voluntary care agreement, ar…
How Effective Are Ireland's Monitory Mechanisms in Improving Its Child Protection and Welfare Services
Child protection and welfare systems are entrusted with significant power by governments and are therefore a significant focus of monitoring activities. Monitoring can help to build a better child protection system and to ensure child safety; track policy and legislative implementation and resource allocation; contribute to preventing systemic ‘failures’; provide data for system, policy, and legislative reforms; and support continuous improvement…
The Social Media, Online and Digital Abuse and Harassment of Social Workers, Probation Officers and Social Work Students in Ireland
An estimated five billion people use social media globally. The digital world enables networking and community-building beyond geographical and jurisdictional boundaries, it can facilitate information-sharing and knowledge development, and facilitates speedy access and communications links. On the other hand, digital and social media platforms can also be sources and purveyors of hurt, discrimination, defamation, hatred, abuse, cyberbullying and …
Ask the children
Peer reviewed
Supervising and Supporting Child Protection and Welfare Systems
Child protection and welfare systems wield significant authority to intervene in family life to safeguard children, yet such interventions can have complex, sometimes harmful, consequences for children, families and communities. Recent scholarship highlights that, despite their protective aims, these systems may reinforce systemic inequalities and, at times, fail to prevent harm due to organizational shortcomings or structural biases. In response…
Political science (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Psychology (10 works) · Child Abuse and Trauma (8 works) · Child protection (8 works) · Social Work Education and Practice (7 works) · Medicine (6 works) · Social Work (6 works) · Welfare (6 works) · Business (5 works)