John Devaney
BA(Hons), MSc, PhD (Queen's)
CQSW, PQ Award, Advanced Award in Social Work
Lecturer in Social Work
Room 2.17, 6 College Park
Ext. 5907; Email: J.Devaney@qub.ac.uk
I joined the university in 2006 following a career as a social work practitioner and manger in personal social services in Northern Ireland. My research interests lie in the area of the safeguarding of children from abuse and neglect, familial violence, the development of child welfare policy and the impact of childhood adversity in adulthood.
I have conducted studies into the operation of the child protection and looked after children systems in Northern Ireland and I have provided support and advice to central Government on the development and implementation of strategies in relation to violence against the person and child welfare.
Within the School I am a member of the ‘Family Policy and Child Welfare’ Research Cluster as well as the university wide 'Research Forum for the Child'. I am also a member of the:
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British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect National Executive Committee (http://www.baspcan.org.uk/)
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Domestic Violence Research Special Interest Group (Co-convenor)
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Child Care Research Forum (http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/ccrf/)
Teaching Interest
I co-ordinate the BSW module on 'Research for Policy and Practice' and also provide specialist teaching in the areas of safeguarding children from abuse and neglect, non-accidental child deaths and domestic violence.
Current Research Projects
| Study Title | Funder |
| Mobile phones and contact arrangements for children in care |
Public Health Agency for Northern Ireland |
| An international study of decision making in child welfare | Haruv Institute, Israel |
| Translating Learning into Action: An overview of how the learning arising from case management reviews can influence practice | Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety |
| An exploratory study of the impact of multiple adverse childhood experiences on health & social well-being throughout the life course | Unfunded |
| A study of the feasibility of combining the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Survey and Social Services Care Administrative and Records Environment (SOSCARE) data to identify and profile children and families with long term and complex needs | ESRC and the Public Health Agency for Northern Ireland |
Recently Completed Research Projects
|
An Evaluation of the Barnardo’s Safe Choices Service |
Barnardo’s and Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety |
Completed Sept 2010 |
|
Older Women’s Experiences of Coping with Domestic Violence in Northern Ireland |
Chaging Ageing Partnership |
Completed January 2010 |
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An evaluation of the draft Protocol to Promote Inter-Agency Working with Children & Families Affected by Substance Misuse |
Eastern Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Committee |
Completed June 2009 |
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An Evaluation of Case Management Review Processes in Northern Ireland and Scoping of Adverse Incident Reporting and Alternative Investigative Systems? |
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety |
Completed January 2009 |
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Looking Out from the Middle - User Involvement in Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland |
Social Care Institute for Excellence |
Completed October 2007 |
|
Chronic Child Abuse: A study of children in the child protection system |
Research & Development Office Northern Ireland |
Completed September 2004 |
Journal Affiliations
I am an Associate Editor for the journal Child Abuse Review and an Editorial Board member of the journal Child Care in Practice.
Publications
Peer Review Articles
Houston, S., Spratt, T. and Devaney, J. (in press) Mandated Prevention in Child Welfare:Considerations from a framework shaping ethical inquiry. Journal of Social Work Online First doi: 10.1177/1468017310378886
Devaney, J., Lazenbatt, A. and Bunting, L. (2011) Inquiring into Non-Accidental Child Deaths – Reviewing the Review Process. British Journal of Social Work 41(2): 242-260 doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcq069
Coman, W. and Devaney, J. (2011) Reflecting on Outcomes for Looked After Children: An ecological perspective. Child Care in Practice 17(1): 37-53 doi: 10.1080/13575279.2010.522976
Davidson, G., Devaney, J. and Spratt, T. (2010) The impact of adversity in childhood on outcomes in adulthood: research lessons and limitations. Journal of Social Work 10(4): 369-390. doi: 10.1177/1468017310378783
Devaney, J. (2009) Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence – Holding Men to Account. The Political Quarterly 80(4): 569-574 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-923X.2009.02050.x.
McMahon, M., Devaney, J. and Lazenbatt, A. (2009) The role of theory in promoting social work values and its potential effect on outcomes in work with domestically violent men. Irish Probation Journal 6: 151-170.
Devaney, J. and Spratt, T. (2009) Child abuse as a complex and wicked problem: Reflecting on policy developments in the United Kingdom in working with children and families with multiple problems. Children & Youth Services Review 31(6): 635-641. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.12.003.
Spratt, T. and Devaney, J. (2009) Identifying families with multiple problems: Perspectives of practitioners and managers in three nations British Journal of Social Work 39(3): 418-434. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm151.
Devaney, J. (2009) Chronic Child Abuse: The Characteristics and Careers of Children Caught in the Child Protection System. British Journal of Social Work 39(1): 24-45. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcm089.
Devaney, J. (2008) Chronic Child Abuse and Domestic Violence – children and families with long-term and complex needs. Child & Family Social Work Early View doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2008.00559.x.
Devaney, J. (2008) Inter-professional working in child protection with families with long-term and complex needs. Child Abuse Review 17(4): 242-261 doi:10.1002/car.1024.
Devaney, J. (2004) Relating Outcomes to Objectives in Child Protection Child & Family Social Work, 9(1), 27-38.
Hayes, D. and Devaney, J. (2004) Accessing Social Work Case Files for Research Purposes: Some Issues and Problems Qualitative Social Work, 3(3) 313-333.
Book Chapters
Devaney, J., McAndrew, F. and Rodgers, T. (2010) ‘Our Children and Young People – Our Shared Responsibility: The Reform Implementation Process in Child Protection Services in Northern Ireland’ in Stafford, A., Vincent, S. and Parton, N. (eds) Child Protection Reform Across the United Kingdom. Edinburgh, Dunedin Academic Press Ltd.
Pinkerton, J. and Devaney, J. (2009) ‘Safeguarding Children: vision, working hypotheses and negotiations’ in Adams, R., Dominelli, L. and Payne, M. (Eds) Critical Practice in Social Work (Second Edition) Hampshire, Palgrave.
Devaney, J. (2008) 'Challenging output based performance management in child protection' in Calder, M. (Ed) Contemporary Risk Assessment. Lyme Regis, Russell House Publishers.
Devaney, J. (2006) 'Child Support Services' in Fitzpatrick, T. et al (2006) International Encyclopaedia of Social Policy London, Routledge.
Devaney, J. (2002) 'Integrating a Research Focus into Supervision and Management Processes' in Kelly, G., McCullough, B. and Smyth, C. (Eds) Promoting Research and Evidence-based Practice - From Rhetoric to Reality Papers from a Conference held in February 2001, Belfast, Northern Ireland Social Care Council.
Research Reports
Devaney, J. (2010) An Evaluation of the Barnardo's Safe Choices NI Service. Belfast, Queen's University.
Lazenbatt, A. and Devaney, J. (2010) Older Women's Lifelong Experiences of Coping with Domestic Violence in Northern Ireland . Belfast, Changing Ageing Partnership.
Devaney, J., McCrystal, P., Hayes, D. and Duffy, J. (2009) The Draft Protocol to Promote Inter-Agency Working with Children & Families Affected by Substance Misuse: An Evaluation. Belfast, Eastern Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Team.
Lazenbatt, A., Devaney, J. and Bunting, L. (2008) An evaluation of the Case Management Review process in Northern Ireland and a scoping exercise of adverse incident reporting and alternative investigative systems. Belfast, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. For a copy of the report, plase click here.
Other Publications
Devaney, J. (2008) Safeguarding Children in a Hostile Climate. Perspectives. Summer 2008. Belfast, BASW.
Devaney, J. (2008) Safeguarding Children in Northern Ireland. Perspectives. Winter/Spring 2008 Belfast, BASW.
Wilson, D. and Devaney, J. (2004) International Perspectives on Social Work from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Social Work Today, 4(1), 19-20.
Devaney, J. (2002) Doomed to Fail? Professional Social Work October. Birmingham, BASW.
