Dr Sarah Golightley

Lecturer

Social Work and Social Policy

Personal statement

My research, teaching, and social work practice have focused on supporting marginalised people who have experienced violence. I am passionate about uplifting the perspectives of service users/survivors/lived experience experts and challenging the power inequalities in who is listened to in social research and social work practice. I am especially interested in Disability Studies, Mad Studies, and feminist research methods. My present research focus is on institutional violence and the pathologisation of youth in the USA 'troubled teen industry'. Prior to moving into academia, I worked with LGBTQ+ victims/survivors of domestic abuse and LGBTQ+ homeless youth.

Expertise

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Area of Expertise

Troubled teen industry and therapeutic boarding schools
Mad Studies & Critical Disability Studies
Service user/survivor-led research
Social work with LGBTQ+ people

Publications

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Publications

Troubling the 'troubled teen' industry : adult reflections on youth experiences of therapeutic boarding schools: Golightley Sarah; Global Studies of Childhood Vol 10, pp. 53-63 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1177/2043610619900514
'I'm gay! I'm gay! I'm gay! I'm a homosexual!' : overt and covert conversion therapy practices in therapeutic boarding schools: Golightley Sarah; British Journal of Social Work Vol 53, pp. 1426-1444 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcad049
Ableism and Social Work Education in England and Scotland: Golightley Sarah; Doing Feminisms in the Academy Identity, Institutional Pedagogy and Critical Classrooms in India and the UK (2020) (2020)
It's maddening : re-conceptualizing embodiments of mental and physical distress: Golightley Sarah; Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, pp. 1-11 (2019)
Evaluating the Side by Side Peer Support Programme: Billsborough Julie, Currie Richard, Gibson Sarah, Gillard Steve, Golightley Sarah, Hazzard Raj, Mesaric Andreja, Mohammed Sajid, Pinfold Vanessa, Sweet Daryl, Thompson Rose, White Sarah; (2017)
The caring professions, not so caring?: An analysis of bullying and emotional distress in the academy: Tosh Jemma, Golightley Sarah; Psychiatry Interrogated (2016) (2016); https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41174-3_8

More publications

Teaching

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Teaching

I have a background in teaching and course design at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In 2023, I was a Teaching Fellow in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh and in 2021-2022 I worked with CAPS Independent Advocacy and Queen Marget University to establish the world's first Mad Studies degree programme.

At Strathclyde, I am the module coordinator for the undergraduate social work courses:

Individuals, Communities and Society
Understanding Risk and Protection
Psychology for Social Work

Research

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Research Interests

My research focuses on the so-called 'troubled teen industry' in the USA. The troubled teen industry is a network of private residential youth reform programmes, including therapeutic boarding schools and wilderness therapy programmes. I have conducted mixed methods research on the retrospective accounts of former 'therapeutic boarding school' students. My work has uncovered emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and neglect, as well as numerous human rights violations within the industry. My dedication to researching and raising awareness about this topic is underlined by my own history of having been a therapeutic boarding school student.

Press coverage:
Huffington Post Canada, Mad in America, The Conversation, Public Health Post