Dr Kirsty Deacon
Research Associate
Children and Young People's Centre for Justice
Personal statement
Personal statement
I joined the University of Strathclyde as a Research Associate based at the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection in 2019. I currently hold an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow position based in the School of Social Work and Social Policy. This Fellowship focuses on developing and building on ideas from my doctoral thesis, “Families – Inside Prison and Out: Young people’s experiences of having a family member in prison”. It will specifically allow me to explore 'simultaneous imprisonment' for young people, where both the young person and their family member are serving a prison sentence at the same time.
My PhD and Fellowship reflect my broader interests in children and young people, families and relationships, and imprisonment.
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Publications
- "Your heart's just dismantling" : The separation of siblings through the care system and custody
- Deacon Kirsty, Nugent Briege
- Children and Youth Services Review Vol 177 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108454
- Dual liminars : teenagers and young people with a family member in prison
- Deacon Kirsty
- The British Journal of Criminology Vol 63, pp. 748–764 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azac055
- Families inside : young people’s experiences of serving a sentence at the same time as a family member
- Deacon Kirsty
- Prison Service Journal Vol 263, pp. 39-47 (2022)
- 'Never mind, we can't help you' : young people's experiences of the imprisonment of a sibling
- Deacon Kirsty
- Families, Relationships and Societies Vol 11, pp. 466-481 (2022)
- https://doi.org/10.1332/204674321X16472598316856
- Getting it Right for Families Affected by Imprisonment
- Barkas Betsy, Deacon Kirsty, Foster Rebecca, Jardine Cara, Primrose Kirsty, Troy Vic
- (2021)
- Getting It Right for Families Affected by Imprisonment : Lessons From Ten Years of Research
- Barkas Betsy, Deacon Kirsty, Foster Rebecca, Jardine Cara, Primrose Kirsty, Troy Vic
- (2021)
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Professional Activities
- Families are not just on the outside : Young people's experiences of inter- and intra-prison family relationships
- Speaker
- 8/2019
- "Stressful" and "Homely": Young people's experiences of inter- and intra-prison family relationships
- Speaker
- 6/2019
Projects
- Alternative to Police Custody Pilot
- Deacon, Kirsty (Principal Investigator) Vaswani, Nina (Co-investigator)
- 09-Jan-2026 - 31-Jan-2027
- Families – Inside Prison and Out: Young People’s Experiences of Familial Imprisonment
- Deacon, Kirsty (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2021
- Lifelong Links
- Hill, Louise (Principal Investigator) Deacon, Kirsty (Academic) Fowler, Nadine (Academic) Soraghan, Joanna (Academic) Porter, Robert Benjamin (Co-investigator)
- Lifelong Links developed by Family Rights Group (FRG) is an innovative approach to supporting looked after children, young people, and their families. It addresses concerns about permanence and how the networks of children and young people in care become fragmented. This can lead to a lack of stability, identity and belonging, poor experiences and negative outcomes for the child and young person. Together with colleagues from the Rees Centre (Oxford University), CELCIS has been working with FRG as they develop the Lifelong Links model and consider how its effectiveness might be measured. The Lifelong Links approach aims to identify and engage relatives and other supportive adults, including those who have been estranged or not yet known. By identifying adults who are willing to make a life-long commitment to the looked-after child, it is hoped to increase their sense of permanence, security, and wellbeing. It is hoped the resulting continuity and permanence of relationships will provide ongoing support, provide an explanation of historical events and reinforce identity, belonging and a sense of self for the young person.
Lifelong Links is now being piloted across England using funding from Department for Education (DfE). Additional funding sources from Esmee Fairbairn Foundation have been secured by the Family Rights Group (FRG) to allow the model to be piloted in three Scottish sites. The longitudinal mixed-method evaluation is now underway in collaboration with Dr Lisa Holmes (Director, Rees Centre) responsible for the English sites and Dr Louise Hill (Policy Lead, CELCIS) working with the Scottish Sites. The evaluation will conclude in 2023. - 01-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2023
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Contact
Dr
Kirsty
Deacon
Research Associate
Children and Young People's Centre for Justice
Email: k.deacon@strath.ac.uk
Tel: Unlisted