People

Head of Unit for School and Family Studies

I became Head of the Unit of School and Family Studies in 2011. I am a lecturer in the Department of Psychology, and arrived at Goldsmiths in 2009, after completing post-doctoral work at UCL with Professor Norah Frederickson.

My main research interest is in the cognitive and affective correlates of behavioural problems, particularly those   that impact on a child’s education. I use a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding behavioural difficulties, including neuroimaging, behavioural genetic investigations, as well as neuropsychological and behavioural research. Most recently, I have been working with colleagues in Educational Psychology to develop and evaluate interventions for children showing difficult behaviour in the classroom. 

Professor Peter Smith, PhD

Emeritus Professor

I am primarily researching school bullying, cyberbullying, the causes of bullying and ways of preventing it in school. Recently, with ABA and with Fran Thompson, I carried out a research project on the success of anti-bullying strategies in schools in England, funded by the DCSF/DfE (2008-2010).

I am also Chair of COST Action IS0801 on cyberbullying, from 2008 to 2012. Several research students are working in this area, including examining the use and effectiveness of peer support schemes in schools, use of quality circles to reduce bullying, and aspects of cyberbullying.

Researchers

I joined the Unit for School and Family Studies this year as a Research Assistant on a study building a psychological profile of students in Pupil Referral Units, with Dr Alice Jones. I received a first class BSc in Psychology from the University of Bristol in 2007, and received a distinction in an MSc in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at Goldsmiths in 2011. During this MSc, I worked on a research project looking at the social goals and motivations of children with antisocial behaviour and callous-unemotional traits.

Before coming to Goldsmiths, I worked as a child protection case manager in Melbourne, Australia and my experiences in this role provided me with an increased understanding of and interest in the risk factors associated with child and adolescent antisocial behaviour. I have also worked with children with multiple and profound disabilities and complex medical needs during my time as a care assistant at The Children's Trust. I am also currently working part-time as an Assistant Psychologist for the CAMHS Department at the Royal Free Hospital.

Hannah Smith, BSc MSc

I graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2007 and from Birkbeck College, University of London in 2011, with a distinction in an MSc Psychological Research Methods. My background includes therapeutic work with adults and young people with mental health difficulties, and the development and implementation of behavioural and educational interventions for children with autism. I have also been involved with a number of psychological research projects. Areas of particular interest include autism spectrum disorders, children’s behavioural and emotional difficulties, school bullying, and the effect of mental health difficulties within the family.

I am currently working on two research projects:

1) With the Unit of School and Family Studies, I am investigating the emotional and behavioural correlates of school bullying and refining cognitive-affective profiles associated with different types of bullying behaviour.

2) As part of the Families, Children, and Child Care project at Birkbeck, I am examining the effect of parental depression and marital difficulties on children’s social, emotional, and behavioural development.

PhD Students:

Sharon Howard, BSc

Dorothy Grigg, BSc

MSc students (2011-12)

Tegan Cullen: Tegan completed her first degree in Psychology in 2010, at University of Warwick, and is currently studying for an MSc in Foundations of Clinical Psychology and Health Services. For her MSc thesis, she plans to study the association between the executive function and mental well-being in secondary school students.

Vanessa Gunputh: Vanessa's work is focused on better understanding the neuropsychological profiles of children who are underachieveing at school. Her MSc thesis aims to profile pupils identified as underachieving in terms of their executive functions and their emotion understanding and regulation skills. A further aim of Vanessa's MSc project will be to examine the effectiveness of training learning support assistants in developing pupil's executive function and emotion processing skills.

Diana Ilinca: Diana previously trained in psychotherapy in Romania. She is currently working toward an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology. Her research interests are in the area of children with psychopathic traits and, more specific in the emotional talk with their figures of attachment and their peers. For her MSc thesis, she is investigating the association between the ability of children between 5-7 years old with callous-unemotional traits to verbalize and express different types of emotions, particularly the ‘distress’ emotions.

Christine O’ Connell: Christine O’Connell carried out her undergraduate degree in Psychology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth in 2009, and is currently studying for an MSc in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience. For her MSc thesis, she plans to study self-esteem in adolescents with conduct problems and its relation to narcissism and callous-unemotional traits. She is hoping her research will inform on appropriate interventions for this sub-group of adolescents within Pupil Referral Units and prompt further research into this area.

Tasleem Rana: Tasleem is interested in factosr assocaited with success of youth mentoring schemes. Her MSc project aims to explore what characteristics of youth mentoring relationships contribute to perceptions of quality, and more specifically, how mentors perceptions of characteristics within the relationship effect mentees perceptions of relationship quality.

BSc Project Students (2011-12)

Cherelle Allen: Resiliency and behavioural profiles associated with social inclusion

Abigail Collier: Behaviour and communication abilities in secondary school students

Sharon Komakech: The impact of indirect and direct bullying on the mental and physical health of primary school children

Charlene Manning: Indirect and Direct Bullying and Social Skills: A study of the social behaviour and social problem-solving strategies in primary school children