Centre for Child, Youth, and Family Welfare Seminar 
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work

Through the Eyes of the Child: What Children tell us about their Experiences of Child Protection and Welfare Intervention

The seminar is free but places must be booked by e-mailing Professor Davy Hayes at d.hayes@qub.ac.uk

This presentation reports selectively on the findings of a study commissioned to capture the views of children and young people who are the recipients of Tusla services – the Child Protection and Welfare service in the Republic of Ireland. A qualitative research design using semi-structured individual interviews captured the children’s subjective and lived experiences - to see the world through their eyes, as experienced by them. The participating children were recruited from three geographical areas and were between 10-18 years of age at the point of interview.

Guest Speaker:
Professor Stephanie Holt, School of Social Work and Social Policy Trinity College Dublin. Stephanie’s research expertise is on domestic violence and abuse, with a particular emphasis on the impact of domestic violence on children and young people, and on engaging children in research with the objective of informing best practice. With a strong experience base in professional practice, her research achievements and impacts have been underscored by a particularly authoritative familiarity with the complexities and challenges of policy and practice. Unique to her academic career is her earlier professional social work practice (1990-2000), commencing in residential care with adolescents in Northern Ireland and spanning child protection and family support.  Across all these field of practice, domestic violence and abuse was a consistent issue.