Siobhan E Laird
Biographic Data
| ID | 5137355 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Siobhan E Laird |
| GIVEN NAMES | Siobhan E |
| FAMILY NAME | Laird |
| SIGNATURE | LAIRD S E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Nottingham |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1918-7587 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 61 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Diverse Pathways and the Role of Timing
In China, young people in state‐funded childcare institutions ( Fuliyuan ) are required to exit at age 18 unless still in education, compressing the move to adulthood. This study applies a life‐course lens to examine how the timing and sequencing of key life events shape care leavers' trajectories. We conducted qualitative, semi‐structured interviews with 22 care leavers and analysed the data thematically. The findings indicate three pathways: (i…
An applied model of cultural competence in child protection practice
This empirical qualitative study explores the application of a model of cultural competence in child protection practice with families from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in the United Kingdom. Data were collected through audio-recorded and transcribed semi-structured interviews with a sample of 17 social workers and family support workers across two local government children's social care agencies. The interview route explored prac…
Working with the whole family
Practice theories to support child protection social work in the United Kingdom, as in the United States and Australia, are being squeezed out by a focus on performance targets and procedural timescales. This study examines an innovative programme designed to reverse this trend initiated by an English local government authority. The programme aimed to embed systemic family practice in situations where children are deemed to be at risk of harm. Th…
The Representation of the Family’s Voice in Serious Case Review Reports of Child Maltreatment
Australia and the United Kingdom have mandatory systems of case reviews, which are conducted whenever a child known to welfare or health services has died or been seriously harmed due to maltreatment. In the United Kingdom those conducting case reviews are required to involve family members in their deliberations. This study employed discourse analysis to examine the representation of family voices in 41 Overview Reports of Serious Case Reviews u…
Protecting children from nutritional and medical neglect in sub‐ S aharan A frica
This study critically considers the applicability of conceptions of child neglect that have been theorised by B ritish and A merican scholars and promulgated in A frican countries through the domestication of the C onvention on the Ri ghts of the C hild. The child protection legislation of five sub‐ S aharan nations was compared in order to examine the presumptions embedded in their provisions concerning child neglect. These were then appraised i…
Training Social Workers to Effectively Manage Aggressive Parental Behaviour in Child Protection in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom
This study presents research evidence from the UK, the USA and Australia regarding the prevalence of aggression directed at child protection social workers by parents or their partners. It identifies gaps in current programmes of qualifying training for social workers in these countries. Adopting a critical case approach, this study analyses a number of serious case reviews conducted in England in which the aggression of a parent or their partner…
Involving carers from minority ethnic backgrounds in carer-led research
This qualitative pilot study investigated the interest of minority ethnic informal carers, with no previous experience of research, in engaging in carer-led research. Individual face-to-face interviews and focus groups were conducted to explore the understanding and attitudes carers hold to research alongside the motivators and de-motivators to their involvement in carer-led projects. The findings reveal that carers are interested in initiatives …
Enforcing the Law on Child Maintenance in Sub-Saharan Africa
Legal enforcement of women's and children's rights under family law in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa has generally been weak. Using Ghana as a case study, this article investigates the challenges confronting the Department of Social Welfare and the Family Tribunal as they endeavour to enforce child maintenance agreements in Ghana. Semi-structured interviews with social workers reveal a raft of obstacles to enforcement. These include the mis…
Social work with children and families in Ghana
Ghanaian social workers practise in a poly-ethnic nation comprising a multitude of different indigenous cultural practices and a modern urban sector largely divorced from a rural population adhering to customary law. This qualitative study explores how Ghanaian practitioners negotiate the contradictions between child welfare legislation and customary law. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 36 qualified social workers employed…
Family Law, Sex and Society, A Comparative Study of Family Law
African Social Services in Peril
Using Ghana as an illustrative case study, this article examines the ideology and intentions which underpin the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper required for approval by the IMF and World Bank to qualify for debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative. This article critically examines the functions assigned to governmental and non-governmental agencies within the social sector generally and the Department of Social Welfare spe…
Social Work Practice to Support Survival Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa
Journal Article Social Work Practice to Support Survival Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa Get access Siobhan E. Laird Siobhan E. Laird Dr. Siobhan E. Laird qualified as a social worker in 1994 with a background in mental health and child protection. She was employed for several years in a community care team in Belfast. Dr. Laird moved to Ghana in 1997 where she lived for four years and worked as the Co-ordinator of Social Work at the University …
Anti-Oppressive Social Work
Racism and Ethnic Minorities Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Practice Cultural Competence in Social Work Communities with Roots in India Communities with Roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh Communities with Roots in the Caribbean Communities with Roots in China Economic Migrants and Refugees Developing Cultural Awareness
Rolling Back the African State
The New Policy Agenda of the Reagan and Thatcher years has profoundly influenced aid flows from the industrialized countries of North America and Western Europe to the developing nations of sub‐Saharan Africa. The application of neo‐liberal principles to the disbursement of multilateral and bilateral aid for social development has resulted in the diversion of donor funding away from the public sector towards non‐governmental organizations. The co…
International Child Welfare
There has been exhaustive scrutiny of the policies of the Bretton Woods institutions and the United Nations Population Fund. UNICEF, despite a prominent role in agenda setting for children's welfare in developing countries, has not been subject to comparable scrutiny. This paper argues that the Country Programmes promulgated by UNICEF to improve children's welfare reflect ethnocentric conceptualisations of the family. As a case study, Ghana's Cou…
Counselling and Psychotherapy with Refugees
David Blackwell London, Jessica Kingsley, 2005, pp. 124, ISBN 1 84310 316 8, £14.95 The dispersal policy adopted by the British government on asylum seekers meant relocating many refugees from London to the regions, with the result that increasing numbers of health and social-care professionals across the country are coming into contact with them. There are, however, relatively few texts available to guide social workers, therapists and doctors i…
The 1998 Children's Act
Journal Article The 1998 Children's Act: Problems of Enforcement in Ghana Get access Siobhan Laird Siobhan Laird Siobhan Laird is presently undertaking doctoral research at the Department of Development Studies, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London. Correspondence to Ms Siobhan Laird, 18 Ranfurly Avenue, Bangor, County Down BT20 3SN. E‐mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Aca…
Anti-Oppressive Social Work
Racism and Ethnic Minorities Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Practice Cultural Competence in Social Work Communities with Roots in India Communities with Roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh Communities with Roots in the Caribbean Communities with Roots in China Economic Migrants and Refugees Developing Cultural Awareness
The 1998 Children's Act
Journal Article The 1998 Children's Act: Problems of Enforcement in Ghana Get access Siobhan Laird Siobhan Laird Siobhan Laird is presently undertaking doctoral research at the Department of Development Studies, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London. Correspondence to Ms Siobhan Laird, 18 Ranfurly Avenue, Bangor, County Down BT20 3SN. E‐mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Aca…
Working with the whole family
Practice theories to support child protection social work in the United Kingdom, as in the United States and Australia, are being squeezed out by a focus on performance targets and procedural timescales. This study examines an innovative programme designed to reverse this trend initiated by an English local government authority. The programme aimed to embed systemic family practice in situations where children are deemed to be at risk of harm. Th…
Enforcing the Law on Child Maintenance in Sub-Saharan Africa
Legal enforcement of women's and children's rights under family law in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa has generally been weak. Using Ghana as a case study, this article investigates the challenges confronting the Department of Social Welfare and the Family Tribunal as they endeavour to enforce child maintenance agreements in Ghana. Semi-structured interviews with social workers reveal a raft of obstacles to enforcement. These include the mis…
Training Social Workers to Effectively Manage Aggressive Parental Behaviour in Child Protection in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom
This study presents research evidence from the UK, the USA and Australia regarding the prevalence of aggression directed at child protection social workers by parents or their partners. It identifies gaps in current programmes of qualifying training for social workers in these countries. Adopting a critical case approach, this study analyses a number of serious case reviews conducted in England in which the aggression of a parent or their partner…
Protecting children from nutritional and medical neglect in sub‐ S aharan A frica
This study critically considers the applicability of conceptions of child neglect that have been theorised by B ritish and A merican scholars and promulgated in A frican countries through the domestication of the C onvention on the Ri ghts of the C hild. The child protection legislation of five sub‐ S aharan nations was compared in order to examine the presumptions embedded in their provisions concerning child neglect. These were then appraised i…
Social work with children and families in Ghana
Ghanaian social workers practise in a poly-ethnic nation comprising a multitude of different indigenous cultural practices and a modern urban sector largely divorced from a rural population adhering to customary law. This qualitative study explores how Ghanaian practitioners negotiate the contradictions between child welfare legislation and customary law. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 36 qualified social workers employed…
Social Work Practice to Support Survival Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa
Journal Article Social Work Practice to Support Survival Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa Get access Siobhan E. Laird Siobhan E. Laird Dr. Siobhan E. Laird qualified as a social worker in 1994 with a background in mental health and child protection. She was employed for several years in a community care team in Belfast. Dr. Laird moved to Ghana in 1997 where she lived for four years and worked as the Co-ordinator of Social Work at the University …
Rolling Back the African State
The New Policy Agenda of the Reagan and Thatcher years has profoundly influenced aid flows from the industrialized countries of North America and Western Europe to the developing nations of sub‐Saharan Africa. The application of neo‐liberal principles to the disbursement of multilateral and bilateral aid for social development has resulted in the diversion of donor funding away from the public sector towards non‐governmental organizations. The co…
International Child Welfare
There has been exhaustive scrutiny of the policies of the Bretton Woods institutions and the United Nations Population Fund. UNICEF, despite a prominent role in agenda setting for children's welfare in developing countries, has not been subject to comparable scrutiny. This paper argues that the Country Programmes promulgated by UNICEF to improve children's welfare reflect ethnocentric conceptualisations of the family. As a case study, Ghana's Cou…
The Representation of the Family’s Voice in Serious Case Review Reports of Child Maltreatment
Australia and the United Kingdom have mandatory systems of case reviews, which are conducted whenever a child known to welfare or health services has died or been seriously harmed due to maltreatment. In the United Kingdom those conducting case reviews are required to involve family members in their deliberations. This study employed discourse analysis to examine the representation of family voices in 41 Overview Reports of Serious Case Reviews u…
The 1998 Children's Act
Journal Article The 1998 Children's Act: Problems of Enforcement in Ghana Get access Siobhan Laird Siobhan Laird Siobhan Laird is presently undertaking doctoral research at the Department of Development Studies, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London. Correspondence to Ms Siobhan Laird, 18 Ranfurly Avenue, Bangor, County Down BT20 3SN. E‐mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Aca…
International Child Welfare
There has been exhaustive scrutiny of the policies of the Bretton Woods institutions and the United Nations Population Fund. UNICEF, despite a prominent role in agenda setting for children's welfare in developing countries, has not been subject to comparable scrutiny. This paper argues that the Country Programmes promulgated by UNICEF to improve children's welfare reflect ethnocentric conceptualisations of the family. As a case study, Ghana's Cou…
Counselling and Psychotherapy with Refugees
David Blackwell London, Jessica Kingsley, 2005, pp. 124, ISBN 1 84310 316 8, £14.95 The dispersal policy adopted by the British government on asylum seekers meant relocating many refugees from London to the regions, with the result that increasing numbers of health and social-care professionals across the country are coming into contact with them. There are, however, relatively few texts available to guide social workers, therapists and doctors i…
Rolling Back the African State
The New Policy Agenda of the Reagan and Thatcher years has profoundly influenced aid flows from the industrialized countries of North America and Western Europe to the developing nations of sub‐Saharan Africa. The application of neo‐liberal principles to the disbursement of multilateral and bilateral aid for social development has resulted in the diversion of donor funding away from the public sector towards non‐governmental organizations. The co…
African Social Services in Peril
Using Ghana as an illustrative case study, this article examines the ideology and intentions which underpin the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper required for approval by the IMF and World Bank to qualify for debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative. This article critically examines the functions assigned to governmental and non-governmental agencies within the social sector generally and the Department of Social Welfare spe…
Social Work Practice to Support Survival Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa
Journal Article Social Work Practice to Support Survival Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa Get access Siobhan E. Laird Siobhan E. Laird Dr. Siobhan E. Laird qualified as a social worker in 1994 with a background in mental health and child protection. She was employed for several years in a community care team in Belfast. Dr. Laird moved to Ghana in 1997 where she lived for four years and worked as the Co-ordinator of Social Work at the University …
Anti-Oppressive Social Work
Racism and Ethnic Minorities Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Practice Cultural Competence in Social Work Communities with Roots in India Communities with Roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh Communities with Roots in the Caribbean Communities with Roots in China Economic Migrants and Refugees Developing Cultural Awareness
Family Law, Sex and Society, A Comparative Study of Family Law
Enforcing the Law on Child Maintenance in Sub-Saharan Africa
Legal enforcement of women's and children's rights under family law in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa has generally been weak. Using Ghana as a case study, this article investigates the challenges confronting the Department of Social Welfare and the Family Tribunal as they endeavour to enforce child maintenance agreements in Ghana. Semi-structured interviews with social workers reveal a raft of obstacles to enforcement. These include the mis…
Social work with children and families in Ghana
Ghanaian social workers practise in a poly-ethnic nation comprising a multitude of different indigenous cultural practices and a modern urban sector largely divorced from a rural population adhering to customary law. This qualitative study explores how Ghanaian practitioners negotiate the contradictions between child welfare legislation and customary law. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 36 qualified social workers employed…
Involving carers from minority ethnic backgrounds in carer-led research
This qualitative pilot study investigated the interest of minority ethnic informal carers, with no previous experience of research, in engaging in carer-led research. Individual face-to-face interviews and focus groups were conducted to explore the understanding and attitudes carers hold to research alongside the motivators and de-motivators to their involvement in carer-led projects. The findings reveal that carers are interested in initiatives …
Training Social Workers to Effectively Manage Aggressive Parental Behaviour in Child Protection in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom
This study presents research evidence from the UK, the USA and Australia regarding the prevalence of aggression directed at child protection social workers by parents or their partners. It identifies gaps in current programmes of qualifying training for social workers in these countries. Adopting a critical case approach, this study analyses a number of serious case reviews conducted in England in which the aggression of a parent or their partner…
Protecting children from nutritional and medical neglect in sub‐ S aharan A frica
This study critically considers the applicability of conceptions of child neglect that have been theorised by B ritish and A merican scholars and promulgated in A frican countries through the domestication of the C onvention on the Ri ghts of the C hild. The child protection legislation of five sub‐ S aharan nations was compared in order to examine the presumptions embedded in their provisions concerning child neglect. These were then appraised i…
Working with the whole family
Practice theories to support child protection social work in the United Kingdom, as in the United States and Australia, are being squeezed out by a focus on performance targets and procedural timescales. This study examines an innovative programme designed to reverse this trend initiated by an English local government authority. The programme aimed to embed systemic family practice in situations where children are deemed to be at risk of harm. Th…
The Representation of the Family’s Voice in Serious Case Review Reports of Child Maltreatment
Australia and the United Kingdom have mandatory systems of case reviews, which are conducted whenever a child known to welfare or health services has died or been seriously harmed due to maltreatment. In the United Kingdom those conducting case reviews are required to involve family members in their deliberations. This study employed discourse analysis to examine the representation of family voices in 41 Overview Reports of Serious Case Reviews u…
An applied model of cultural competence in child protection practice
This empirical qualitative study explores the application of a model of cultural competence in child protection practice with families from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in the United Kingdom. Data were collected through audio-recorded and transcribed semi-structured interviews with a sample of 17 social workers and family support workers across two local government children's social care agencies. The interview route explored prac…
Diverse Pathways and the Role of Timing
In China, young people in state‐funded childcare institutions ( Fuliyuan ) are required to exit at age 18 unless still in education, compressing the move to adulthood. This study applies a life‐course lens to examine how the timing and sequencing of key life events shape care leavers' trajectories. We conducted qualitative, semi‐structured interviews with 22 care leavers and analysed the data thematically. The findings indicate three pathways: (i…
Political science (15 works) · Law (11 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Medicine (8 works) · Social Work (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Social Work Education and Practice (7 works) · Child Abuse and Trauma (6 works) · Economic growth (5 works)