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University of Bedfordshire
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
UK, LU1 3JU

Dr Helen Beckett

Research Fellow, The Institute of Applied Social Research

I am an action-oriented researcher, whose research interests lie primarily in the field of children’s rights. Specific areas of interest within this include child sexual exploitation and the wider child protection field, the experiences of looked after children and young people, juvenile justice, youth homelessness and other forms of social marginalisation experienced by youth. I joined the University of Bedfordshire in September 2011 and am currently undertaking research into gang-association child sexual exploitation in England.  Prior to that I worked in the fields of research and policy across the academic, statutory and voluntary sectors in Northern Ireland (NI).

Qualifications

  • Phd (An Ethnography of Youth Homelessness), The Queen’s University of Belfast
  • MSc European Social Policy Analysis, Bath University
  • BA (Hons) Modern History and Social Policy, The Queen’s University of Belfast
  • Advanced Diploma in Management Practice, The University of Ulster

Research Interests

  • Sexual exploitation
  • Looked after children
  • Youth homelessness
  • Domestic violence
  • Juvenile justice
  • Children’s rights

Recent Research Projects

  • Gang-associated sexual exploitation of children and young people in England (current)
  • Sexual exploitation of children and young people in NI
  • A review of the state of children’s rights in NI
  • Children and young people’s participation in the care planning process
  • The experiences of young consumers
  • Speech and language provision in NI
  • Evaluation of juvenile justice youth conferencing scheme

Recent Publications

  • Beckett, H. (2011) Not a World Away: The Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People in Northern Ireland. Belfast: Barnardo’s NI
  • Beckett, H. (2010) ‘Adolescents’ Experiences of the Right to Play and Leisure in Northern Ireland’ in Child Care in Practice 16:3
  • Beckett, H. et al (2009) Children’s Rights: Rhetoric or Reality. A Review of Children’s Rights in Northern Ireland 2007/08.
  • Beckett, H. et al (2005) Interim Evaluation of the Northern Ireland Youth Conferencing Scheme. Belfast: Northern Ireland Office
  • Beckett, H. (2004) An Ethnography of Youth Homelessness (PhD thesis, Queen’s University Belfast)

Contact Details

T: 07955 378634
E: helen.beckett@beds.ac.uk

Bedfordshire University

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