Members of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy and Society (CASPS)
Our members are mainly located within the Department of Social & Policy Sciences, although we welcome members from across the University of Bath.
Our members all have an interest in researching matter related to the analysis of social policy.
Centre Leadership
Centre Directors
Dr Theodoros Papadopoulos
Dr Theodoros Papadopoulos is a Lecturer in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences. Dr Papadopoulos’ current theoretical and empirical work is organized across three broad research themes: Power and governance in public policy; family as a socio-economic actor in the political economy of welfare; and labour commodification, social (in)security and social reproduction. Dr Papadopoulos is an expert in a variety of methodological approaches and techniques related to the comparative study of institutional design of social and public policies and their impact.
Dr Jordan Tchilingirian
Dr Tchilingirian is a Lecturer in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences with particular expertise in the study of think-tanks and policy.
Members
Louise Brown is a Professor of International Social Work & Innovation at the Department of Social & Policy Sciences. Professor Brown’s research has global reach and focuses on social innovation, internationals models of child protection and the cultural adaptation and implementation of interventions as they transfer between countries. Recent streams of work include scaling up digital healthcare interventions in Africa and promoting innovative community-based social distancing strategies in townships in South Africa.
Professor Emma Carmel is a political sociologist who researches the relationship between state, society and policy. Her work is comparative and transnational, and she is currently investigating the implications of digital statehood and the use of digital and algorithmic tools as governing practices. Dr Carmel continues her long-standing work on how migration governance shapes social relations and political economy in and beyond Europe.
Dr Melanie Channon is a Reader in the Department of Social & Policy Sciences and is a demographer and social statistician working on issues affecting low- and middle-income countries. Her main research interests include menstrual hygiene management, son preference, fertility transition, sexual and reproductive health, violence against women, and gender statistics. Dr Channon has expertise in the demography of both Asia and Africa, with a particular focus on Nepal and South Asia.
Dr Aurelie Charles is an economist and Senior Lecturer in Global Political Economy at the University of Bath. Her expertise is on group behaviour in socio-ecological interactions. Research interests relate to the understanding and measurement of herd-behaviour and social norms, their impact on individual decision-making, well-being and resource entitlements. Dr Charles’ current research projects evolve around sustainable earnings, group inequality mapping, and cross-disciplinary approaches to climate justice.
Lynn Prince Cooke is an Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of Bath and a CASPS research associate. Her research draws on sociological and economic theories to deepen our understanding of how policies in affluent societies shape inequalities in paid and unpaid work not just between women and men, but also among them.
Joe Devine is a Professor of Global Development with an overall interest in the dynamics of social change and the politics of development processes in South Asia. His other research interests are in extreme poverty, vulnerability, and inequality; patronage, clientelism and poor people’s politics; civil society and NGOs; and International development policy and management among others.
Professor Matt Dickson has been a member of CASPS since 2012 and served as CASPS’s deputy director from 2013-2017. He leads the programme of research on widening participation in higher education at the Institute for Policy Research. Additional areas of expertise include the causal effects of education on an individual’s socio-economic outcomes, their health and their children’s outcomes; the impact of health conditions on later socio-economic outcomes; and relationships between education, crime and the labour market.
Professor Ana Dinnerstein is Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Reader at the Department of Social & Policy Sciences. She is a critical theorist, political sociologist and scholar activist. Her research interests are in social movements, critical sociology and theory, Bloch’s philosophy, open Marxism, feminism, decolonial horizons and contemporary forms of utopia. Dr Dinnerstein has created a new transdisciplinary research field: ‘the Global Politics of Hope’, the focus of which is the contradictory processes of transformation led by social, labour, indigenous, urban and rural movements mainly in the Global South but not exclusively.
Dr Jeremy Dixon is a Senior Lecturer in social work at the University of Bath and became a member of CASPS in 2012. His work centres on the views of people who use mental health services and their carers. Dr Dixon also focusses on the management of risk and uncertainty within mental health services and adult social care. He is currently working on projects looking at how social workers manage adult safeguarding risks and safeguarding responses for people with dementia.
Dr Alinka Gearon’s research in child trafficking and modern slavery is a crosscutting social issue, relevant to policy areas of child protection, child migration, criminal justice, immigration, social policy, and human rights. Her research engages with how children and young people experience contemporary childhood and adolescence in a globalised world and how they experience child protection and trafficking policies.
Dr Gearon’s research interests lie in qualitative and child-focused research exploring children’s worlds, child protection, and children’s rights. She has an interest in child trafficking participatory research, utilising creative and trauma-informed methods to engage and empower children and youth to be heard on matters important to them. Dr Gearon’s current research interests lie in prevention/protection programmes.
Anna Gilmore is a Professor of Public Health and the Director of the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath. She is a global leader in research on the commercial determinants of health, particularly in relation to the tobacco industry, which has been internationally recognised. Professor Gilmore’s team launched Tobacco Tactics to conduct rigorous research on the tobacco industry and its practices.
Dr Jennifer Golan is a Senior Lecturer in Development Economics at the University of Bath. She has worked for various international organizations on research-related tasks, including for the World Bank, the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation and the Overseas Development Institute. Dr Golan's research focuses on applied development microeconomics and in particular on topics in intra-household resource allocation and the economics of gender.
Mark Hammond is a Non-executive Board Member of The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Board and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee. He has had an extensive career in the public sector, having served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and CEO of West Sussex County Council. MHe is also a Visiting Professor in Public Policy at Canterbury Christ Church University and a senior fellow at the University's Centre for European Studies.
Caroline Hickman is a lecturer at the Department of Social & Policy Sciences. She worked in both mental health and children and family social work teams for several years in South London. Dr Hickman qualified as a Social Work Practice Educator and an Approved Mental Health Social Worker. Her research interests are in climate change, children’s communications, attachment theory and the relationship between people and nature among many others.
Dr Jonathan James is a Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics. Jonathan completed his PhD at the University of Essex in 2011. Prior to joining the University of Bath, he held a post-doctoral position as a Max Weber fellow at the European University Institute in Italy. Jonathan's research interests are in the field of applied microeconomics, with a focus on applied policy orientated research.
Dr Rana Jawad is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Social & Policy Sciences. Her main research interests are the social policies and welfare systems of the Middle East and North Africa region, with particular emphasis on the Arab and Muslim populations there. Dr Jawad’s interests also include welfare theory and ethics; religion and social welfare action and social movement. Current projects include looking at conflict and peace building in the MENA region.
Yvonne Jewkes is a Professor of Criminology in the Department of Social & Policy Sciences. Professor Jewkes has undertaken a significant programme of work on: the rehabilitative potential of prisons and the commissioning, planning and design of prisons in England and Wales, Scotland, Norway and Denark, and the 'lived experience' of prison architecture for prisoners, prison staff, prison visitors, neighbours and other stakeholder groups in those jurisdictions. In addition to this empirical research, she has done extensive consultancy and advisory work on prison planning and design.
Dr Ricky Kanabar is Assistant Professor of Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Social Sciences at the University of Bath. His principal research interests are in ageing, social mobility and health. Current research involves analysing the effect of state pension age reforms on individual’s retirement expectations and also understanding the effects of testosterone on labour market dynamics. Ricky has contributed to multiple reports released by UK government departments and international organisations such as the OECD.
Hugh Lauder is a Professor of Education and Political Economy at the University of Bath. Hugh is Director of The Institute for Policy research (IPR) and a fellow at the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS). His work focuses on the relationship between education and the economy. Since 2005 he has given keynote presentations in over 17 countries, including World Bank in Washington, International Labour Office in Geneva, European Commission in Brussels.
Dr Peter Manning is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the Department of Social & Policy Sciences. His research explores the connections between human rights, transitional justice, and memory. Also concerned with the intersections of environmental issues with these fields. Current projects include exploring the opportunities and challenges in the delivery of genocide education, particularly through arts methodologies and a new book that explores the life trajectories and meaning making practices among ex-combatants after Cambodia's civil war.
Jane Millar is a Professor of Social Policy in the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath. Her research interests include the design, implementation and impact of social policy and comparative research on family policy, social security and employment policy, with particular reference to gender and changing family patterns. Professor Millar’s current research examines the impact of Universal Credit on couples, focusing on labour market and family budgeting.
Professor Sarah Moore joined the University of Bath in 2015, having previously held lectureships at Royal Holloway, University of London and Queen’s University, Belfast. Her research is concerned with how and why are certain social groups made to feel responsible for their personal safety and wellbeing? And how do late modern social institutions make themselves accessible and accountable to the public? Dr Moore has also twice been awarded University-wide teaching prizes, most recently in 2016 for ‘Best Supervisor’ at the University of Bath.
Dr Piotr Ozieranski is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social & Policy Sciences. His research looks at decision-making mechanisms, especially in policy areas with important implications for public health. Dr Ozieranski is interested in how expert knowledge is generated, supplied, and utilised in the policy process. In analysing these themes, he considers complex relationships between public institutions, private economic actors, think-tanks and non-governmental organisations.
Dr Kate Precious is a Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Bath. Her research interests include disability policy, citizen participation and lobbying and policy change. She has a particular interest in autism policy and in the participation of marginalised groups in policymaking.
Dr Justin Rogers’ research interests are in the area of child welfare and child protection. Justin has a particular interest in the ways that children and young people in public care, are looked after by the state. This includes unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people's experiences of foster care; the experiences of sibling groups living in public care; and global responses to child welfare.
Graham Room is Professor of European Social Policy at the University of Bath. He joined the University in 1973 and was a member of CASPS from its establishment. Recent publications and current research interests include behaviourist science and C-19, Brexit and European integration, non-linear social dynamics and complex systems.
Harry Rutter is a Professor of Global Public Health in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences. He was the founder and director of the English National Obesity Observatory, and among other roles is a member of the NHS England net zero carbon expert panel and the SAGE Environmental and Modelling Group. His research particularly focuses on obesity, physical activity, environmental sustainability, and both communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Dr Tina Skinner is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bath. Her research is concerned with gender and marginalisation – specifically sexual violence and domestic violence, and the intersection of work, mothering and dis-ability. She is known for her research on survivors of rape and their experiences of SARCs (Sexual Assault Referral Centres), the police and courts. More recently Dr Skinner is leading a Home Office evaluation of domestic abuse services in Bath and North East Somerset, alongside a Great Wester 4 project to develop a strategic response to gender-based violence at University.
Richard Vellemen is Emeritus Professor of Mental Health Research within the Department of Psychology and is also the Co-Director of the Addictions Research Group within Sangath, a major research-based NGO based in India. His research interests are in mental health, substance misuse, and the impact of such problems on other family members. Professor Vellemen’s current projects include ones in India developing and researching new ways of delivering psychological interventions to people (and their families) with mental health problems.
Dr David Wainwright is a Senior Lecturer in the Department for Health studying the connections between work, health and wellbeing. His key research interests lie in the extent to which problems at work have become medicalised through the discourse of work stress; the management of medically unexplained illnesses; and extending working life and psycho-social influences on resilience and illness behaviour. Dr Wainwright’s current research explores he use of behaviour change interventions in extending working life.
Dr Andrew Weyman is a Reader in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. He has over 20 years’ experience of research in applied psychology and human factors, specialising in the Psychology of Risk. Dr Weyman’s research interests include public understandings of risk and risk communication; stakeholder engagement techniques; and design of behaviour change interventions.
Doctoral Researchers and Master Students
Doctoral Researchers
Baljit Banga is in the Professional Doctorate programme at the Institute of Policy Research. She is focusing on the impact of competitive tendering policies on violence against women and girls in the UK. The theme intersects with gender equality, disproportionality impacting BME women and concepts regarding social justice and social value.
Associated Members
Nick Gould is an Emeritus Professor of Social Work and a former Head of the Department of Social and Policy Sciences. His research interests include mental health, social informatics, professional learning and methodological innovation in systematic reviewing. For many years he worked with the National Institute for Care and Health Excellence and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health on the development of practice guidelines for health and social care. He recently collaborated with UK, German and US colleagues on a systematic review of the effectiveness of psychodynamic interventions in reducing self-harm. Since retirement from the University of Bath he has served as a specialist member of the Mental Health Tribunal.
Simeón Baker is a Director of HealthWeb Solutions, working primarily with government, public sector and charitable organisations, advising on strategy, public relations, communications and crisis management. He has a keen interest in accessibility to health and social care services and related policy and strategy development. Simeón has worked with Mencap and the University of Bath on the launch of the report into ‘Transition into Old Age: Support for People with Learning Disabilities and their Carers’ as well as writing on accessibility to health and social care information during the covid-19 pandemic.
Paula is a Health Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Bath, and has worked within the NHS and in health and social care services research for over 20 years. Her research focus is around family carers, long term conditions and end of life care. She is currently a member of the Research Design Service South West, which is part of the National Institute for Health Research, and advises researchers and health and social care professionals on social care funding applications connected to the NHS. Currently Paula is working with researchers in the NHS and local palliative care services exploring the use and acceptability of remote consultations for both patient, families and staff as services develop following the Covid-19 pandemic, and is also the CO-I on the CASPS Policy Lab work.
Julie is a Programme Manager at the University of Bath and is managing the newly established Healthy Later Living network which brings together experts from a broad range of disciplines to tackle complex challenges of ageing. The Network collaborates with industry, the NHS, health and social care providers, charities and local communities to address the challenges of positive ageing and translate our research into policy and practice. Julie has also participated in the CASPS Policy Labs.
Sue Postle Hammond
Sue Postle Hammond is a project manager and science policy adviser on environmental and other issues, particularly climate change for the public, private and academic sectors in the UK and overseas. Experience includes research programme management and reviews, stakeholder needs assessments and Secretariat support to senior managers She has recently been Project Manager for the Centre for Analysis of Social Policy Policy Labs project on Healthy Later Living which has involved the engagement between academics, Public Service Providers and Users to address Later Living issues including those relating to the Covid pandemic. She has also volunteered for a number of years for the NSPCC, including recently as Treasurer and for UKHarvest, which is engaged, with rescuing unused food from organisations and distributing to other local charities.
Professor Rachel Forrester-Jones
Professor Rachel Forrester-Jones is a Honorary Professor at the University of Bath. Her research interests cover the life course of people with learning disabilities and people with mental health issues, from early transitions, to death and bereavement. The primary focus of Professor Forrester-Jones' research has been to further advance the social inclusion of vulnerable adults through social networks and social support. As a qualified Barrister she is also interested in legal issues in relation to vulnerable groups.