Role
Helen Woods is a Lecturer in Youth Justice in the School of Social Sciences.
BA Hons Youth Justice:
Role at NTU:
Course Leader for Youth Justice (Years 1 and 2).
Teaching:
- Evolutions of the Youth Justice System. (Year one).
- Effective Practice in Youth Justice. (Year two).
- Delivering Interventions in Youth Justice (Year three).
Helen also supervises undergraduate dissertations.
Career overview
Helen began lecturing with NTU on the Youth Justice BA in 2019. She is also completing her doctorate on young people's experiences of living in residential children's homes.
Helen has extensive experience as a social worker in the arenas of Youth Justice, Children and Families and Substance Misuse from 2000, when she qualfied as a social worker at the University of Bradford with a BA Hons in Applied social studies with DipSW. Helen began her career as a Probation Officer before moving into youth justice.
Helen also provided staff training within local authorities and partner agencies in the area young people and familial substance misuse.
Prior to commencing her PhD, Helen obtained Master's degrees in Global Citizenship and Human Rights (2013), and Research Methods (2015), both at the University of Nottingham.
Helen is a HCPC registered social worker, a member of BASW (British Association of Social Worker's) and the BSA (British Sociological Association).
Research areas
Helen's doctoral research is an ethnographic study of two children's homes, exploring the lived experience of children and young people within these settings. Her work is particularly concerned with the impact of movement and change on young people and the care they receive, drawing upon theories of stigma, belonging and social death. Her wider research interests include children in care, childhood, children's rights and participation, family and youth studies.
In 2017 Helen was involved in the European Project with the Anne Craft Trust, exploring the implementation of human rights in residential settings for children with disabilities.