Lauren is an Associate Professor in the Sociology Department at Durham University. Since 2009 Lauren has been researching how professional organisations in the UK and internationally seek to create safety for marginalised individuals and those who have experienced violence and abuse. Lauren’s recent projects and publications with the Contextual Safeguarding team have explored: inequalities in protection responses to extra-familial harm; the holistic safety implications of ‘out of area’ placements for adolescents exposed to ‘extra-familial’ risks; the efficacy and ethics of multi-agency safeguarding responses to ‘county lines’ using a contextual and social harm lens; and the role of surveillance and trusted relationships in innovations in children’s social care in response to extra-familial harm and during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lauren is PI and research lead on the Resourcing Safety project, a participatory action research project that will explore the mismatch between need and service provision in relation to extra-familial harm. Lauren was previously PI of the Contextual Safeguarding Across Borders research project exploring the applicability and feasibility of Contextual Safeguarding in Europe with asylum-seeking adolescents, and Co-PI on The Next Chapter (TNC) project, leading the communities and inequalities strand.
Lauren is a registered social worker with practice experience in a range of settings with young people and adults impacted by violence and abuse. Lauren is a co-founder and trustee at the charity Social Workers Without Borders (SWWB) supervising Independent Social Work Reports for families impacted by immigration control. SWWB was awarded the 2019 Gold Award for championing social work values. Lauren is the editor of Social Work with Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants: Theories and Skills for practice published in 2019 by Jessica Kingsley publishers.