Professor Karen Winter
Professor Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland
Email: k.winter@qub.ac.uk
Profile
My research focuses on children known to, or in the care of, social services and their families. Within this, I have a particular interest in their UNCRC rights, their views, wellbeing, and outcomes. I have published widely in the area. Prior to a a career in academia, I worked as a social worker, team manager and court guardian with children and families.
Research
Publications
Books
Winter, K. and Ruch, G. (eds.) (2025.) Supporting Young Children's Participation in Child Welfare. European Perspectives. Bristol: Policy Press.
Thomas, N. P and Winter, K. (2024). Social Work with Young People in Care. Looking After Children in Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.
Winter, K. (2011). Building Relationships and Communicating with Young Children: A Practical Guide for Social Workers, London: Routledge.
Journals
Winter, K., Flewitt, R., El Gemayel, S., Bunting, L., Arnott, L., Connolly, P., Dalziell, A., Gillen, J., Goodall, J., Liu, M.C. and McLaughlin, K. (2025). The rights of very young children in the digital environment of the family home: findings from a UK survey of children 0–36 months and their parents. Children & Society, https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12968.
Patton, K. and Winter, K. (2023). Changing the research relationship. The ‘real’ researcher’s positionality, Journal of Early Childhood Research, 21(3), pp.303-313.
Winter, K., Sebba, J., Tah, P., Connolly, P., Roberts, J. and Millen, S. (2022). Using the Talking Album to elicit the views of young children in foster care regarding a reading intervention, Qualitative Social Work, p.14733250221122373.
Patton, K. and Winter, K. (2022). Children’s agentic capacity, schoolification and risk: competing discourses and young Children’s experiences in pre-school settings. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 54(5), pp.647-664.
Ruch, G., Winter, K., Morrison, F., Hadfield, M., Hallett, S. and Cree, V. (2020). From communication to co‐operation: Reconceptualizing social workers' engagement with children. Child and Family Social Work, 25(2), pp. 430-438.
Marshall, G., Winter, K. & Turney, D. (2020). Honneth and positive identity formation in residential care. Child and Family Social Work, 25(4), pp. 733-741.
Morrison, F., Cree, V., Ruch, G., Winter, K., Hadfield, M. & Hallett, S. (2019). Containment – exploring the concept of agency in children’s statutory encounters with social workers. Childhood, 26(1), pp. 98-112.
Brown, T., Winter, K. and Carr, N. (2018). Residential childcare workers: relationship-based practice in a culture of fear, Child and Family Social Work, 23(4), pp.657-665.
Winter, K., Morrison, F., Cree, V., Hadfield, M., Ruch, G. and Hallett, S. (2018). Emotional labour in social workers’ encounters with children and their families, British Journal Social Work, 49(1), pp. 217-233.
Ruch, G., Winter, K., Cree, V., Hallett, S., Morrison, F. and Hadfield, M. (2017). Making meaningful connections: Using insights from social pedagogy in statutory child and family social work practice. Child and Family Social Work, 22(2), pp.1015-1023.
Winter, K., Cree, V., Hallett, S., Hadfield, M., Ruch, G., Morrison, F. and Holland. S (2016). Exploring communication between social workers, children and young people, British Journal of Social Work, 47(5), pp.1427-1444.