Dr Tom Disney

Associate Professor

School: Communities and Education

I am a Social Geographer and my research interests centre on families and children experiencing interventions of the state, with a conceptual focus on care and control across a variety of institutions. I explore how these interventions break or facilitate cycles of marginalisation of children, young people and families. My work lies at the intersection of Geography, Social Work and Childhood Studies. I am interested in building dialogue between these disciplines.

Campus Address

Coach Lane Campus

Email Tom

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

I am an Associate Professor in Childhood Studies at �ֲ��ý��Ƶ, with expertise in social geography and child welfare. My research sits at the intersection of Geography, Social Work, and Childhood Studies, exploring how place and space shape the lives of children and families in contact with welfare systems.

I have conducted research across international contexts, including the operation of residential care settings and the experiences of young people transitioning out of state care in the Russian Federation. In the UK, my research has focused on longitudinal-ethnographic research into child protection social work; care-experienced students' access to higher education; and the engagement of Early Help services with families seeking support. Alongside this, I am also engaged in efforts to bring the concept of place into social work education.

I am currently PI of the Leverhulme Trust three-year funded project The Horror of Place-based Harms (£267,717). The project employs a transdisciplinary approach, bridging horror studies, social work, geography, and arts and design, to understand why certain places become associated with extra-familial harms for young people. It will contribute to theory building across all four disciplines.

I welcome collaborative research proposals that push the boundaries between Social Work and Geography, and am particularly interested in partnerships that bring new disciplinary perspectives to bear on questions of place, harm, and care.

Teaching is also central to my academic identity. I contribute to a wide range of modules across the Childhood and Early Years BA and MA programmes, and I bring research-informed perspectives into my teaching. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and am committed to inclusive, equitable teaching and academic practice that reflects the diverse experiences students bring to their studies.

��

Key Publications