Following an initial academic training in philosophy and ancient history, Ian Sinclair had a varied career in supply teaching, industrial research, probation, counselling and social work. He gained his PhD with a study of probation hostels while working at the Home Office Research Unit.
Over the past 28 years Ian has worked consistently in research, albeit with a period of teaching while Professor of Social Work at York. Twelve of these years were spent as director of research at the National Institute of Social Work, where he was responsible for a large programme of research concerned with elderly people. More recently he has focussed on children in care first as Co-director of SWRDU and then as Research Professor. Here his major work has focussed on foster and residential care and movement among children in care.
Ian's work has contributed substantively to attachment theory and to the understanding of foster and residential care, and methodologically to the development of cross-institutional designs. He was vice-chair of the Social Policy and Social Work panel, and academic co-ordinator to the Department of Health research initiative on the Costs and Effectiveness of Children in Need. He is now officially retired but has been re-employed half-time to work on specific studies. Professor Sinclair was honoured for his work with the award of an OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours list.
Social Work Research Interests
- attachment theory
- methodologies that combine quantitative and qualitative work
- foster care
- residential work with children and young people
- patterns of movement in the care system.
Current Social Work Research Projects
Ian Sinclair's Publications
2011
Intensive fostering: an independent evaluation of MTFC in an English setting, 2011
Biehal, N., Ellison, S. and Sinclair, I., Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 2043-2049.
Caring for Abused and Neglected Children: Making the right decisions for reunification or long-term care, 2011
Wade, J., Biehal, N., Farrelly, N. and Sinclair, I., Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
2010
Belonging and Permanence: Outcomes in long-term foster care and adoption, 2010
Biehal, N., Ellison, S., Baker, C. and Sinclair, I., BAAF.
A Report on the Intensive Fostering Pilot Programme, 2010
Biehal, N., Ellison, S., Sinclair, I., Randerson, C., Richards, A. Mallon, S., Kay, C., Green, J., Bonin, E. and Beecham, J..
Looked after children: can existing services ever succeed? A different view, 2010
Sinclair, I., Adoption & Fostering, 34, 2, 8-13.
What makes for effective foster care: some issues, 2010
Sinclair, I., pp.189-203 in E. Fernandez and R. Barth (eds.) How does Foster Care Work? International Evidence on Outcomes, Jessica Kingsley.
Maltreated children in the looked after system: a comparison of outcomes for those who go home and those who do not, 2010
Wade, J., Biehal, N., Farrelly, N. and Sinclair, I., Research Brief, DFE-RBX-10-06, Department for Education.
2009
Characteristics, outcomes and meanings of three types of permanent placement - adoption by strangers, adoption by carers and long-term foster care, 2009
Biehal, N., Ellison, S., Baker, C. and Sinclair, I., DCSF Research Brief, DCSF-RBX-09-11, Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Local Index of Child Well-being: Summary report, 2009
Bradshaw, J., Bloor, K., Huby, M., Rhodes, D., Sinclair, I., Gibbs, I., Nobel, M., McLennan, D. and Wilkinson, K..
A child well-being index at small area level in England, 2009
Bradshaw, J., Noble, M., Bloor, K., Huby, M., McLennan, D., Rhodes, D., Sinclair, I. and Wilkinson, K., Child Indicators Research, 2, 2, 201-219.
An exemplary scheme? An evaluation of the Integrated Children's System, 2009
Shaw, I., Bell, M., Sinclair, I., Sloper, P., Mitchell, W., Dyson, P., Clayden, J. and Rafferty, J., British Journal of Social Work, 39, 4, 613-626.
Measuring the turbulence of English children's homes, 2009
Sinclair, I. and Gibbs, I., pp. 263-280 in M. Courtney and J. Thoburn (eds.) Children in State Care, Ashgate.
Foster care in England, 2009
Sinclair, I. and Wilson, K., pp. 120-138 in G. Schofield and J. Simmonds (eds.) The Child Placement Handbook: Research, policy and practice, British Association for Adoption & Fostering.
Matches and mismatches: the contribution of carers and children to the success of foster placements, 2009
Sinclair, I. and Wilson, K., pp. 147-160 in M. Courtney and J. Thoburn (eds.) Children in State Care, Ashgate.
2008
Erfahrungen mit familiaren Umgangskontacte von Pflegerkindern in England (The English experience of contact in foster care), 2008
Sinclair, I., Forum Erziehungshilfen, 14, 110-114.
Stability and well-being in the care system, 2008
Sinclair, I., NICE Expert Paper, EP2 - LAC 2.4, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, 7 pages.
Stability and wellbeing in care: what makes the difference?, 2008
Sinclair, I., Care Matters: Transforming Lives - Improving Outcomes Conference, 7-9 July 2008, Keble College, Oxford, UK: Digest of Papers, pp. 64-66.
2007
The Integrated Children's System: An evaluation of the practice, process and consequences of the ICS in councils with social services responsibilities, 2007
Bell, M., Shaw, I., Sinclair, I., Sloper, P. and Rafferty, J..
The Pursuit of Permanence: a Study of the English Care System, 2007
Sinclair, I., Baker, C., Lee, J., and Gibbs, I., Quality Matters in Children's Services Series.
2006
Costs and Outcomes in Children's Social Care: Messages from research, 2006
Beecham, J. and Sinclair, I., Jessica Kingsley.
Can the corporate state parent?, 2006
Bullock, R., Courtney, M., Parker, R., Sinclair, I., & Thoburn, J., Children and Youth Services Review, 28, 11, 1344-1358.
Analysis of a care planning intervention for reducing depression in older people in residential care, 2006
Lyne, K.J., Moxon, S., Sinclair, I., Young, P., Kirk, C., and Ellison, S. , Aging and Mental Health, 10, 4, 394-403.
Residential Care in the UK, 2006
Sinclair, I., pp. 203-216 in C. McAuley, P. Pecora, & W. Rose (eds.) Enhancing the wellbeing of children and families through effective interventions: - UK and USA evidence for practice, Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
2005
York Research on Foster Care and Adoption, 2005
Baker, C., Sinclair, I. & Wilson, K. , Social Work Research and Development Unit.
Children and young people in and leaving care, 2005
Gibbs, I., Sinclair, I., & Stein, M., pp. 202-220 in J. Bradshaw & E. Mayhew (eds.) The Well-Being of Children in the UK, Save The Children.
Fostering Now: Messages from Research, 2005
Sinclair, I., Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Going home or staying away: What is best for long-stay foster children? , 2005
Sinclair, I. , pp. 93-105 in N. Axford et al. (eds.) Forty Years of Research Policy and Practice in Children's Services: A Festschrift for Roger Bullock, Wiley.
A Management Solution to Keeping Children Safe: Can agencies on their own achieve what Lord Laming wants?, 2005
Sinclair, I., and Corden, J., Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Foster Children: Where They Go and How They Get On, 2005
Sinclair, I., Baker, C., Wilson, K., & Gibbs, I., Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Foster Placements: Why They Succeed and Why They Fail , 2005
Sinclair, I., Wilson, K., & Gibbs, I. , Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Contact
Social Policy Research Unit
University of York
Heslington
York
YO10 5DD
Telephone: 01904 321951
Email 
