Louise Oliver

Dr Louise Oliver is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Bournemouth University, affiliated with the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. She specializes in teaching across qualifying and post-qualifying social work programs, blending academic rigor with practical experience as a qualified social worker. Her research focuses on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), family violence dynamics, and innovative pedagogical tools for social work education. Key themes include domestic abuse, child-to-parent violence, familial secrecy, and critical reflection in practice.

Her professional background spans social work in children’s services and family welfare within local authorities. Dr Oliver has secured grants for projects such as developing perpetrator behavior change programs for domestic abuse and investigating support systems for professionals experiencing domestic violence. She co-authored Social Work Practice with Adults Learning from Lived Experience (SAGE, 2023) and edited works on interdisciplinary learning. Her doctoral research (2018) explored family narratives of child-to-parent violence, emphasizing secrecy’s role in familial dynamics.

Dr Oliver engages in outreach through initiatives like the ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign and collaborates with organizations such as Soroptimists International. She advocates for positionality in qualitative research and uses creative methods like haiku poetry to foster critical reflection among students and practitioners.