About
Beth Neil is Professor of Social Work and Director of Research at the University of East Anglia's School of Social Work, where she chairs the Research Ethics Committee. She holds a PhD from the University of East Anglia and previously worked as a social worker before joining academia. Her career includes positions at University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Texas at Austin prior to her professorship at UEA.
Research Focus: Professor Neil specializes in adoption studies, particularly post-adoption contact arrangements, birth relatives' perspectives, and support services for adoptive families. Her longitudinal 'Contact after Adoption' study (1996-2013) tracked adoptive and birth families for 18 years, while the 'Researching Adoption Support' project (2005-2010) examined agency support systems. Current ESRC-funded research explores adoptees' transition to parenthood and adoptive parents becoming grandparents.
Her publications emphasize psychological aspects of adoption, including managing complex relationships, identity formation in adoptees, and policy implementation in child welfare. Recent work examines letter-exchange programs ('Letter Swap') and decision-making frameworks for long-term foster care.
Awards and Leadership: Recipient of the Baron Prize for teaching and research excellence (1997) and UWM Distinguished Teaching Award (1999). Neil secured over £200,000 in research funding, including grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research. She founded UEA's Centre for Research on Children and Families and established its Certificate and Community programs in Jewish Studies.
