معرفی
Tony McGinn is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Ulster University's School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences. He joined Ulster University in 2017 and teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate social work programs while maintaining an active research profile focused on domestic violence, social inclusion, and evidence-based social work practice.
His academic qualifications include:
- PhD in Partner-violence perpetrator programmes: Exploring the change process with partner-violent men and survivors (awarded 2014)
- Bachelor in Psychology from the Open University (awarded 2015)
- Bachelor in Social Work (awarded 2011)
- Additional Bachelor's degree (awarded 1995)
McGinn's research focuses on adapting social work practice to evolving service user needs, with particular emphasis on domestic violence interventions, judicial responses to domestic violence, Family Group Conferencing efficacy, social inclusion for children transitioning to secondary education, and interventions for anxiety-driven behaviors in people with learning disabilities. His work bridges the gap between social work practice and evidence-based approaches, examining how technology can enhance client contact times and improve social work decision-making processes.
His research output demonstrates a strong trend toward systematic reviews and qualitative studies examining social work practice, particularly in domestic violence contexts and service user coproduction. His work shows increasing focus on evidence synthesis methods and their application to social work practice challenges.
His notable scientific achievements include:
- Practitioners in Practice: Advanced Scholarship Award (2021)
- The Leonard E. Gibbs Award
McGinn serves as chief investigator for the Atlantic Philanthropies/HSC sponsored Learning Disability and Dementia Data Analytics project, collaborating with Northern Ireland's five Health and Social Care Trusts. He has secured funding for two PhD studentships through the NI Department for Economy and the UK Doctoral Training Alliance, focusing on the bureaucratisation of social work practice. He currently supervises PhD projects on judicial responses to domestic violence in Ireland and the UK, as well as interventions for anxiety-driven behaviors in people with learning disabilities.
As part of Ulster University's social work research team, McGinn contributes to understanding and improving social work decision-making processes, with particular emphasis on evidence-based practice and the integration of technology in social work education and practice.
