Jackie Sanders School of Social Work, Massey University

Jackie Sanders is a Professor in Children's and Youth Studies at Massey University, where she is also the Director of the Children, Youth and Families Research Project. This is a research programme that focuses upon identifying changing patterns of family life and the different ways in which parents and children/young people respond to change. It is particularly interested in identifying matters that impact upon wellbeing of parents and children, and developing new models of family work practice that take account of these matters. The programme works from a strengths-based philosophy and all the research programmes are multi-disciplinary in nature. The project has already undertaken several long term pieces of research that have had both a social service organisation and a community development focus. The project works collaboratively and we are keen to develop research and practice partnerships with a range of other individuals and organisations. Jackie comes to Massey with twenty years experience in health and social service planning and management. She has worked on a number of school research projects over the past seven years and is also contributing to the development of new teaching programmes, particularly those with a focus on research. Her interests are the study of children and families, evaluation and planning for social service delivery and the development of new models of practice.