Ms Chris Gray

After completing a Masters Degree in Psychology at the University of Glasgow, I worked within Psychological Services in the NHS providing evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to adults in primary care. I have worked with Rape Crisis Scotland and within their network for over ten years and most recently was responsible for developing a young person and families service within Perth and Kinross. I am a registered Social Worker and have worked in Children and Family services in several Local Authorities including South Lanarkshire and Perth and Kinross.

I am now based in the Centre for Child Wellbeing and Protection within the University of Stirling where I am completing an ESRC funded PhD using 'standpoint' and Institutional Ethnography as a way of foregrounding marginalised populations and exploring knowledge production . I also teach on the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Social Work programmes and I'm an Associate Tutor responsible for a small group of post-graduate Social Work students. I am currently involved several research projects which include evaluating a mentoring programme aimed at raising the attainment of young people at risk of experiencing care, young people with care experience, and young carers. I am interested in exploring the varying values we attach to knowledge and using participatory and feminist research methods as a way of disrupting the dominant discourse.

I am particularly interested in examining knowledge production and amplifying the voices, knowledge and experiences of marginalised groups. Using participatory action research and feminist epistemology, I have worked to foreground the systems and processes that impact the every day/night life of a range of less dominant populations.

I am interested in the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, with a particular focus on how statutory and third sector organisations can better meet the needs of children and young people who are marginalised or considered 'vulnerable'. I really enjoy applied research in environments with a real-world impact.

I have a longstanding interest in and professional experience of gender based violence and how children and young people experience and are affected by this. I am interested in how the voices of children and young people can improve the range of services that are available to them and how these services work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for survivors.

I have further interests in palliative and end of life care, the impact of poverty and other barriers that children and families experience and a how Social Workers can create and sustain therapeutic relationships, working alongside children, young people and their families to improve wellbeing and better meet their needs.

I am an Associate Tutor and occasional Lecturer within the Social Work team and I’m based within the Centre for Child Wellbeing and Protection. I am particularly interested in the kinds of knowledge Social Work can foreground, how it is prioritised and the interplay of this within existing systems and processes. I aim to equip students and professionals with strong reflective and analytical skills in order to explore how individuals, families and communities can experience varied and multiple disadvantage. I continue to promote the importance of relationships and connection within the Social Work role.