You are warmly welcome to the HPRC International Doctoral Practice Research Seminar on Thursday, November 6th, 2025, at 11am–1pm Finnish time. The seminar is an online seminar hosted by the Helsinki Practice Research Centre, University of Helsinki, The Centre of Social Work Innovation and Research, University of Sussex, UK, and The University of Melbourne, Australia.
How to join the seminar
Passcode: 369917
The presenters and abstracts
Jacqueline Dysart
PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne
In Our Hands - Community led research as a tool for social change
Adversity presents persistent challenges to children and young people in the justice system on Larrakia Land. In this qualitative study, the researcher and community members partnered to explore how whole communities can increase support for young people, who have had contact with justice systems. Using local Indigenous Research Methods and Community Based Participatory Action Research, a Larrakia led methodology was designed to hear the views of young people. 36 young people, who had experienced contact with justice systems, completed art-based, supported surveys. Analysis was undertaken by local leaders and Traditional Owners through a deep listening process. Findings identified care and support as important approaches for strengthening wellbeing, including help with managing difficult feelings, having things to do, and building hopeful futures. Strong themes of connection to country, culture, ancestors, and community were also raised. Importantly, family and community members were identified as the primary avenues of support, suggesting a re-orientation of social support models towards family and community level expertise. The usefulness of community led methodologies for promoting critique and innovation within social systems is discussed.
Tanja Koskinen
PhD Candidate, University of Helsinki
The Construction of Young people´s Epistemic Agency Through the Involvement of Expert by Experience in Child Welfare
This presentation examines young experts by experience (EBEs) and how their epistemic agency is constructed through their involvement in child welfare. The study data consists of ten individual interviews and four group interviews with young EBEs. Using thematic analysis, the research explores the experiences of these young individuals in EBE involvement, and the forms of epistemic agency embedded within those experiences. Two main themes emerged: power relations and labor market relations. The first theme reveals that epistemic agency is constructed through feelings of capability, overcoming past experiences, and making meaningful contributions to child welfare services, while also highlighting the unequal power dynamics with professionals. In the second theme, young EBEs position their experiences as professional capital, yet they face precarious roles and limited recognition in the labor market. While EBE involvement offers opportunities for empowering young people, it can also constrain their epistemic agency by pushing them into unstable labor market positions without adequate support structures. EBE training and peer support play a critical role in shaping epistemic agency; however, such training is not always available for young EBEs. The findings underscore the ethical challenges associated with EBE involvement and highlight the need for more inclusive and secure frameworks that support the diverse experiences of young people and promote equitable participation in EBE involvement. The presentation is based on the third article of an ongoing doctoral thesis titled “Experts by Experience in Child Welfare – Experiences of Young People and Parents Regarding Epistemic (In)Justice and Agency.” The first article (currently under peer review) is a scoping literature review of experts by experience in social work, and the second article explores the experiences of EBE parents and epistemic (in)justice.
Jonathan Woollgar
PhD Candidate, University of Sussex
Narratives of harm and safeguarding: School responses to the virality of Everyone's Invited
Sexual abuse, harmful sexual behaviour, and gender-based violence between school pupils is an issue that academics have long been aware of. In the UK, despite multiple reports it took the website Everyone’s Invited, hosting first hand testimonies, going viral in 2021 to trigger attempts at large scale change. As part of my wider research into the responses of schools, this presentation looks at some of the ways that school Designated Safeguarding Leads understood their reactions from 2021 onwards and how this relates to the wider trends in safeguarding.