Interpersonal Relationships and Wellbeing Research Group

IRWB @The University of Worcester

Category: Children and Young People

Interested in PhD study?

21 March 2024 / / 0 Comments

We are pleased to announce the release of six new PhD projects that will be supervised by members of the Interpersonal Relationships & Wellbeing Research Group.  These opportunities are for self-funding students and align with major areas of research activity within the group. 

Why study our projects?

We asked project supervisors to give us an insight into the value and importance of their proposed projects and we share their comments below.  Please click on the project title links to find out more.

Pro-Environmental Behaviour and Life History Theory

Dr Daniel Farrelly, Principal Lecturer in Psychology will supervise this project and Daniel explains why this work is important:

“Our early surroundings can have profound and lifelong effects on our cognition, perception and emotions. These effects shape how we respond to our world in later life, and can predict how we interpret and behave in different scenarios such as risk-taking, impulsivity and social relationships. One possible further effect our early life can have is on pro-environmental behaviour, and this project will explore precisely this. By doing so it will offer valuable insights into how attempts to tackle the climate crisis can be shaped for different populations in society.”

Read more from Dr Farrelly here.

Training emotional competency in the workplace: Does ‘one size’ really ‘fit all’?

Dr Sarah Davis, Principal Lecturer in Psychology and Interpersonal Relationships & Wellbeing Group Lead will supervise this project.  Sarah explains that:

“Training emotional competencies in the workplace has become commonplace, particularly with the rise of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy.  Most of us will have heard of programmes that teach ‘perspective taking’, ‘sensitivity training’,  or ‘emotional intelligence’ in our workplaces.  But does everyone always benefit from these ‘interventions’ at work? Might there be some unanticipated and unintended consequences for employers and employees?  This research seeks to explore the scope of these practices within organisations across the UK and explore this neglected but important question.”

Read more from Dr Davis here.


“Getting On With It!”: Ensuring Safe and Compassionate Supervision and Thinking Spaces for Practitioners in Child Protection Practice

Dr Claire McLoone-Richards, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Violence Prevention, Trauma and Criminology and leader of our Trauma & Violence Prevention theme will supervise this project.  Claire outlines why this research is valuable:

“The professional experiences and practices of child protection is complex, challenging and takes a toll on the emotional well-being and resilience of practitioners. This study can examine the need for promoting and ensuring organisational cultures of compassion and safety for staff, as being conducive to enabling critical reflective practice to protect vulnerable children.”

“Please take us seriously!”: examining the help and support needs of male victims of domestic abuse

Dr Claire McLoone-Richards Senior Lecturer in the Department of Violence Prevention, Trauma and Criminology and leader of our Trauma & Violence Prevention theme will supervise this project.  Claire explains:

“This is an important research theme when considering the experiences of less visible and marginalised groups. The concern of male victims is troubling against the backdrop of “toxic masculinities” in society, as restrictive gender norms and the shaming of men,  make it more difficult for victims to disclose their experiences of abuse.”   

Read more from Dr McLoone-Richards here.

Responsible virtual assistant for effective marketing communication

Dr Sajad Rezaei, Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing, and member of our Customer Interactions theme will supervise this project.  Sajad believes that “exploring Responsible AI empowers academics and practitioners to discover the potential of emerging technologies for society.” 

How care-experienced individuals define and achieve career success

Dr Pamela Murray, Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour, and member of our People and Work theme will supervise this project.  Pamela notes that “A regrettable relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and a range of marked negative outcomes impacting the life course exists [see a recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood:

Children enter the care system for a myriad of reasons, most of which can be characterised by loss of a pivotal positive in the children’s lives. That being the case, this vision of this research is to explore enabling interventions experienced by care-leavers making their way toward personal fulfilment by achievement of career aspirations”.

Read more from Dr Murray here.

How to apply

If you wish to apply for any of these projects, please go to our Course Search and select the relevant research degree programme area.

An application link can then be found towards the bottom of each programme page. In your application, please remember to clearly highlight that you are applying for one of our un-funded MPhil/PhD project ideas.

Working for all children and young people with the Children’s Alliance

18 February 2022 / / 3 Comments

Sharing an aim to support the lives of children and young people, I have worked alongside peers and professionals from many walks of life. I have relished the opportunity to be a part of the Children’s Alliance Campaign, targeted at enhancing life conditions for children, young people, their families and carers.

Based on the vision of Steve Franks (former Chief Executive of Water Babies who was tragically lost to COVID-19), the Children’s Alliance is child-centric. Steve’s aim was to enable opportunities for activity for all young children. This vision was embedded strategically and carefully broadened via the Children’s Alliance who seeks to ‘work for the next generation’, by raising awareness of children’s circumstances and influence their futures through policy and community.

In responding to the prevailing ailing conditions for children and young people, the direction set with ‘Building a brighter future for young people: The Children’s Alliance’ called for fundamental change. It was decided to produce four reports with the intention of persuading the UK Government to appoint a Cabinet Minister with responsibility for Children and Young People.

For me (like many others), to better understand and account for how things are for children and young people, and dedicate time to join efforts to redress inequalities therein, is an honour. I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the initiative and for this, thank Campaign Manager Helen Clark.

I have contributed to each report of this series focusing on children and young people’s living conditions and life chances. My involvement has been poignant and at times, made for stark learning on my part. As a result, I have attempted to use my University-developed acumen to seek to establish ‘what is’ with curiosity and resilience, underpin the evidence search with academic rigour for accuracy and credibility, and, try to better empathise with the conditions found to impede or crush the flourishing lives of our children and young people.

Working together

In terms of the writing collaboration process, it seems to be both science and art. Clearly identified chapter titles are disseminated, who will do what and by when is established. The adherence parameters are set by the Lead Author Helen Clark, and actively supported by Paul Wright, [Founding Member of the Children’s Alliance at the House of Lords] who keeps everyone in-touch and in-check.

Report contributors have opportunity to ‘speak to’ what they feel they can provide evidential indicators of and/or practise insights into. The production of tenable contributions is a well-oiled machine where keen contributors comply with the spirit and reality of the explicit topic boundaries and deadlines.

Our research provides a glimpse into the hardship and challenges facing children and young people. Multiple issues around lack of physical activity, deterioration in mental health issues and socio-economic and cultural inequalities, magnified by the Covid pandemic, have beleaguered thousands of children and young people. These limitations make it difficult for children and young people to meet the functional needs in their lives. Instead of reaching their fullest potential, for instance:  

40,000 children begin school obese

200,000 young people have been referred to mental health services in 3 months

1 in 3 children in the UK are living in poverty, including 2.2 million under-5s

With that, the recognition by Government that the initial 1001 days of children’s lives impact their physical and mental wellbeing for the remaining days of their lives, is needed to secure monies to give every child their voice and the best start in life.

Read more:

To date, the Children’s Alliance has published: 

• Report 1) The Early Years Children’s Alliance (October 2021) The Health and Wellbeing of Children in the Early Years

• Report 2) The Physical Health of Children and Young People Children’s Alliance (December 2021). The Physical Health of Children and Young People. 

Forthcoming in 2022: 

• Report 3) Mental Health 

• Report 4) Family and Community 

The collaborative writing has come to an end with the final report deadline met. Contributors to this Children’s Alliance body of work will be joining together for its presentation to the Houses of Parliament on March 1st 2022. Pamela will be there with fellow supporters hoping for a positive fruition to this worthy campaign and will continue to support The Children’s Alliance through her work at the University of Worcester.

For further information and to find out more about Pamela’s work, please get in touch p.murray@worc.ac.uk.

Dr Pamela F Murray


Pamela is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour at Worcester Business School and member of the Interpersonal Relationships and Wellbeing Research Group. 

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