Postgraduate - Glasgow Caledonian University

School of Law and Social Sciences 93
Contact: School Research Co-ordinator
E: Michelle.Connolly@gcal.ac.uk
T: +44(0)141 331 3276
W: www.caledonian.ac.uk/lss
Social Justice and Inequality, and Health are the
two main fields of research within the School of
Law and Social Sciences. We welcome enquiries
regarding research undertaken in the following
areas: Poverty, Welfare and Health; Violence,
Violation and Public Health; History of Health and
Welfare; History of War and Society; History of
Modern Scotland; Equalities, Diversity and Work;
Regulation, Policing and Security; European
Politics and Multi-level Governance; and Political
Theory and Ideology. Sub-themes are embedded
in established Research Centres and groups, some
of which involve established collaborations
and/or articulate with other universities, in some
instances through Scottish level sector wide
research pooling institutes.
The school hosts the Scottish Poverty Information
Unit, the Caledonian Centre for Equality and Diversity,
the Organisations, Work and Care group, and the Centre
for the Social History of Health and Healthcare. The
school is also partnered with various Scottish wide
research centres, including: the Centre for Research on
Families and Relationships (CRFR), The Scottish Institute
for Policing Research (SIPR), The Scottish Centre for Crime
and Justice Research (SCCJR), and The Joseph Bell Centre
for Forensic Statistics and Legal Reasoning. Each of the
discipline based groupings that constitute the School of
Law and Social Sciences has a strong and coherent
research culture.
Law
The Division of Law has an extensive research profile and
is looking to build on existing research initiatives such as:
Women in the Law; Law and IT; and Islamic Law. More
generally, there is expertise in Delict, Employment,
Constitutional Law, Public Law, European Union Law and
International Law, Media Law, Company Law, and
Human Rights and the use of State Force. The work of
the Division is interdisciplinary in nature and staff are
exploring research collaborations in Healthcare Law and
Ethics, on a multidisciplinary history of Childhood
Protection in Scotland, and by adding an international
legal dimension to the work of colleagues within the
School on Equality and Diversity. It is also a partner in
The Joseph Bell Centre for Forensic Statistics & Legal
Reasoning, based at the University of Edinburgh.
Criminology
The newly formed multidisciplinary Criminology group
involves members from across the University, with
backgrounds in Criminology, Psychology, Sociology,
History, Law and Public Policy. The research of this group
in criminal and social justice is structured around two
organising themes of Violence, Violation and Public
Health, and Regulation, Policing and Security. Within
these themes, staff are working on gender and violence,
domestic violence, gangs and violence, risk assessment
and public health, violation and organisations, policing
of ethnic minorities and young people, and trafficking in
people and missing persons, to name but a few.
Group members have strong links with the Glasgow
Centre for the Study of Violence (based at GCU), The
Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR),
The Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), the
Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR),
the Risk Management Authority and other national and
international government and non government agencies
and other voluntary and statutory agencies.
Sociology
The Sociology group is well established and focuses
around three major areas of research: Poverty, Welfare
and Health; Violation, Violation and Public Health (driven
principally by the Criminology group); and Equalities,
Diversities and Work. The work of the group has
contributed to national and international debates on a
range of areas including poverty and social inclusion,
sociology of health, ageing and society, well-being, work
life balance, gender and equality issues, and violence.
Applied research includes work with voluntary sector
organisations, charities, government departments and
other agencies to enhance the links between research,
analytical thinking and ideas, and policy and practice
developments.
Sociology hosts the Scottish Poverty Information
Unit (SPIU), the Organisations, Work and Care group and
is also a collaborating partner in the Centre for Research
on Families & Relationships (CRFR).
Politics
The current areas of research focus within the unit have
built upon an existing track record in European and
territorial politics and may be categorised under one or
both of two main overarching themes, mainly: European
Politics and Multi-level Governance, and Political Theory
and Ideology. These areas encompass the politics of
immigration and asylum, politics of education policy,
politics of health, environmental political theory, state
theory, and democratic theory, amongst others.
The international dimension to most of the unit’s work
fits seamlessly into the broader research themes of
societal studies, social policy and social inclusion. Such
themes easily encompass the study of political and
institutional frameworks which ultimately determine the
socio-political context within which states and societies
seek to tackle the challenges facing our social and
natural environments.
Collaborative research links exist with the Stein
Rokkan Centre, University of Bergen and through
involvement in the Centre for Research on Families &
Relationships (CRFR).
History
The History group at Caledonian operates under the
banner of History@Caledonian, with the activity taking
place within a structured research environment focused
on three main interlocking themes: History of health and
welfare; war and society in Germany and Austria; and
Modern Scottish history. More specifically, the group are
conducting research in the post-war European welfare
states, the history of child guidance and child psychiatry,
social welfare in modern Britain, the history of
occupational health, the history of war and society,
migration and community identity, socio-political
development in modern Scotland, and modern Highland
and Scottish history.
Glasgow Caledonian University is also the lead
institution in the Centre for the Social History of Health
and Healthcare (CSHHH) in partnership with colleagues
at the University of Strathclyde. The history group places
a high priority on national and international research.
Important links have been established with research
partners at Stony Brook University, New York, the
University of Auckland, and with the German Historical
Institute in London.