Personal profile

Research interests

Ravinder Barn is Professor of Social Policy, and Head of Department of Law & Criminology. Together with Professor Anna Gupta, she is also Co-Director of the Families and Children Research Cluster. Ravinder is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences, and served as a member for the Social Work and Social Policy sub-panel for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

Ravinder has a strong track record in policy-relevant research in relation to racial/ethnic, social and gender inequalities. She is the author/editor of eight books and over 100 journal papers or book chapters. She writes on gender, ethnicity, child and youth welfare, and criminal justice. Her research on child welfare and migrant groups; and gender-based violence is highly regarded nationally and internationally. Ravinder is a mixed-methods researcher. Her academic base is inter-disciplinary and spans social policy, sociology, social work, and criminology.

As Principal Investigator, she has successfully led on a number of externally funded research studies. Ravinder's empirical research has been funded by many organisations including the Economic and Social Research Council, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Social Tech Trust, Former Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), Canadian High Commission, Department of Health, Family Rights Group, and the European Union. In undertaking policy related research, Ravinder has worked in partnership with numerous statutory and non-statutory organisations including many local authorities across England, National Children's Bureau, First Key, Youth Justice Board, Council of Europe and the European Union. Ravinder's research is empirically and theoretically grounded and key findings are disseminated to a wide variety of potential beneficiaries ranging from academic researchers, central and local government, international organizations including the Council of Europe and the European Union, and third sector organizations. 

Ravinder is currently engaged in four ongoing empirical research studies:-

1. An inter-disciplinary study into digital technology to help reduce re-offending, and promote positive engagement between youth workers and young people involved in youth offending teams - our project website.

2. Gender and policing in India

3. Unaccompanied minors and child well-being in Italy

4. Covid-19 pandemic and child well-being in India; and South Africa.

 

Professor Barn welcomes ideas for collaborative research from academic colleagues at Royal Holloway and beyond. She is keen to receive PhD applications in areas related to her research interests.

Ravinder's Twitter profile is @ProfRaviBarn

Ravinder's work can also be followed on Academia.edu; SSRN, and LinkedIn.

 

Some former PhD students include:

Chaitali Das (Professor for Transnational and International Social Work, Frankfurt University, Germany)

Vicki Harman (Reader in Sociology, University of Surrey, UK)

Zamri Hassan (Senior Lecturer, University of Malaysia, Sarawak, Malaysia)

Rick Hood (Professor of Social Work, Kingston University, UK)

Utsa Mukherjee (Lecturer in Education, Brunel University, London)

Jenny Tonsing (Lecturer, Appalachian State University, USA)

 

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or