Dr Sarah Golightley
Lecturer
Social Work and Social Policy
Personal statement
My research, teaching, and social work practice have focused on supporting marginalised people who have experienced violence. I am passionate about uplifting the perspectives of service users/survivors/lived experience experts and challenging the power inequalities in who is listened to in social research and social work practice. I am especially interested in Disability Studies, Mad Studies, and feminist research methods. My present research focus is on institutional violence and the pathologisation of youth in the USA 'troubled teen industry'. Prior to moving into academia, I worked with LGBTQ+ victims/survivors of domestic abuse and LGBTQ+ homeless youth.
Qualifications
PhD Social Work, MScR SW, PgCAP - University of Edinburgh
MA Social Work - University of Sussex
BA Sociology (Minor in Psychology) - McGill University
Professional registrations:
- Social Worker, Scottish Social Services Council
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Publications
- Global Studies of Childhood Vol 10, pp. 53-63 (2020)
- British Journal of Social Work Vol 53, pp. 1426-1444 (2023)
- (2024)
- (2024)
- Doing Feminisms in the Academy Identity, Institutional Pedagogy and Critical Classrooms in India and the UK (2020) (2020)
- Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, pp. 1-11 (2019)
Teaching
Over my last three years at 海角论坛, I have been the module lead for several UG & PG Social Work and Social Policy modules:
- Individuals, Families, and Structures in Society
- Psychology for Social Work
- Understanding Risk and Protection
- Research Methods for Social Policy
- Values, Ethics, and Justice
In addition, I supervise dissertation students and students on social work placements. I am passionate about critical pedagogy and teaching for social change.
I have a background in teaching and course design at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In 2023, I was a Teaching Fellow in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh and in 2021-2022 I worked with CAPS Independent Advocacy and Queen Marget University to establish the world's first Mad Studies degree programme. In 2025 I was nominated for a Teaching Impact and Innovation award.聽
Research Interests
My research focuses on the so-called 'troubled teen industry' in the USA and Canada. The troubled teen industry is a network of private residential youth reform programmes, including therapeutic boarding schools and wilderness therapy programmes. I have conducted mixed methods research on the retrospective accounts of former therapeutic boarding school students. My work has uncovered emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and neglect, as well as numerous human rights violations within the industry. The research has been covered in international press and I have presented findings at conferences and talks around the world. My dedication to researching and raising awareness about this topic is underlined by my own history of having been a therapeutic boarding school student.
Beyond this, my areas of research also inlcude Mad Studies, Critical Disability Studies, crip theory, queer theory, and feminist theory/research methods/pedagogy. I am the organiser of 海角论坛's annual international Mad Studies Guest Lecture series.
Professional Activities
- Speaker
- 25/6/2026
- Speaker
- 27/3/2026
- Interviewee
- 18/8/2025
- Speaker
- 13/8/2025
- Interviewee
- 7/8/2025
- Speaker
- 7/5/2025
Contact
Dr
Sarah
Golightley
Lecturer
Social Work and Social Policy
Email: sarah.golightley@strath.ac.uk
Tel: Unlisted