Summary
I am a social work academic with over 20 years of experience working to improve child protection practice with Romani and Traveller families. I have published widely on this topic and presented my research at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the House of Lords, the Welsh Assembly and national and international conferences.
I am particularly interested in examining the intersection of power relations, prejudice and reflexivity, and the impact of governmentality, subjectivities, and ethics on the translocational positionality of professional conduct. Developing a perspective that combines concepts of eco-social justice and structural social work, I examine discursive mechanisms and questions of why, how and so what in the context of dominant discourses affecting regimes of practice at individual, cultural and societal levels.
Professional networks
I am registered with the professional regulatory body, Social Work England. Registration Number: SW20434.
I am a member of the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Social Work Association.
I Chair the Association of Child Protection Professionals 'Working Together to Safeguard Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children' Special Interest Group.
I am an affiliate researcher at Ilisimatusarfik's Center for Children & Adolescent Research Environment in Greenland and lead a UK-Greenland Arctic Research Project 'SafeHarbour Greenland: Safely Reducing the Number of Children in Out-of-Home Care'.
I am a Steering Group member of the NIHR-Supported Incubator in Mental Health Social Care.
Awards
In 2022, the paper Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children in child welfare services in England, written with a former dissertation student, Victoria Hamnett, won the annual 'Kay McDougall British Journal of Social Work Prize' for its breadth of scholarship, the sophistication of theory, rigour, relevance and international appeal.
Videos and Podcast
Check out my recent podcast: Challenging the Last Acceptable Form of Racism
Check out this recent video: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children in Child Welfare Services in England
Selected Publications
Feather, J., Allen, D., Crompton, R., Jones, Z., Christiansen, A. and Butler, G. (2023). Transitional support interventions for care leavers: A scoping review. Children & Society, 00, 1– 22.
Allen, D. (2023). ‘Staying Close’: Enabling social interdependence for young people leaving residential care in England. Children & Society, 00, 1– 17.
Rogers, M., & Allen, D. (2023). Embedding Reflexivity in Social Work Research through the Critical Reflexive Framework, The British Journal of Social Work, 0, 1-20.
Allen, D., & Hamnett, V. (2022). Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children in child welfare services in England. The British Journal of Social Work, 52(7) 3904-3922.
Rogers, M., & Allen, D. (2021). An A-Z of Social Work Skills. London: SAGE
Allen, D., & Hulmes, A. (2021). Aversive Racism and Child Protection Practice with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children and Families. Seen and Heard, 31(2) 44-67.
Allen. D., Dove, D., Hulmes, A., & Moloney-Neachtain, M. (2021) The Romani and Traveller perspective. In Tanya Moore and Glory Simango (Eds) The Anti-Racist Social Worker: stories of activism in social care and allied health professionals. St Albans: Critical Publishing, pp 61-75.
Allen, D., Heyes, K., Hothersall, G., O'Leary, C., Ozan, J., Mitchell-Smith, Z., & Szifris, K. (2020). Bristol City Council Staying Close Pilot. London: Department for Education.
Rogers, M., & Allen, D. (2019). Applying Critical Thinking and Analysis in Social Work. London: SAGE Publications Limited.
Allen, D., & Riding, S. (2018). The Fragility of Professional Competence: A Preliminary Account of Child Protection Practice with Romani and Traveller Children. Budapest: European Roma Rights Centre.
Allen, D. (2018). A Romani and Traveller child's journey through alternative care. In D. Allen, M. Greenfields, D. Smiths (Eds.), Transnational Resilience and Change: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Strategies of Survival and Adaptation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Allen, D. (2018). Marginality, Segregation or Cultural Resilience. In D. Allen, M. Greenfields, D. Smiths (Eds.), Transnational Resilience and Change Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Strategies of Survival and Adaptation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Allen, D. (2018). Resilient cultural transmission in a Hostile State. In D. Allen, M. Greenfields, D. Smiths (Eds.), Transnational Resilience and Change Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Strategies of Survival and Adaptation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Allen, D. (2017). Roma People: Are Discriminatory Attitudes Natural? In K. Bhatti-Sinclair, & C. Smethurst (Eds.), Diversity, Difference and Dilemmas: Analysing concepts and developing skills. (pp. 77-94). McGraw Hill.
Allen, D., & Cemlyn, S. (2016). Outreach: Care experiences amongst Gypsy/Traveller families. In Social Work in a Diverse Society Transformative Practice with Black and Minority Ethnic Individuals and Communities. Policy Press.
Allen, D. (2016). 'It's in their Culture': Working with automatic prejudice towards Gypsies, Roma and Travellers during care proceedings. Seen and Heard, 26(2), 40-52.
Allen, D. (2015). Protecting the cultural identity of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children living in the public care system. Today's Children Tomorrow's Parents, (40-41), 122-139.
Allen, D. C., Baker, T., & Rootes, D. L. (2014). Becoming a Nursing and Social Work Student: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis of Interprofessional Education. Journal of Research in Interprofessional Practice and Education, 4(1) 186-214.
Allen, D., Adams, P. (2013). Social Work with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children. London: CoramBAAF.
Allen, D. (2013). Changing Relationships with the Self and Others: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of a Traveller and Gypsy life in public care. (PhD Thesis, De Montfort University).
Allen, D. (2012). 'Gypsies, Travellers and social policy: misconceptions and insignificance. In Richardson, J and Rider, S (Eds.) Gypsies and Travellers Empowerment and Inclusion in British Society. London: Policy Press