Prof Ros Thorpe ~ Adjunct Professor

Prof Ros Thorpe is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at James Cook University, and, since her retirement at the end of 2010, she is President of and a volunteer community social worker with The Family Inclusion Network, a service user support and advocacy organisation in which families and supportive professionals work together to achieve greater social justice for children and families caught up in the child protection system.

Ros qualified as a social worker in 1967 in the UK, and migrated to Australia in 1978. She has had significant practice experience in family casework and group-work in child welfare and has an international reputation for her research with children in out-of-home care, their parents, and their foster carers.

Ros’ research and practice activities also include the fields of domestic and family violence, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander approaches to social welfare practice, community work, service user involvement in human services and counter-oppressive approaches to social work.

Interests

Professional

• Community development and empowerment in child and family welfare

Research

• The impact on parents' and grandparents' physical and mental health of loss of children into the care system

Teaching

• Social justice and social work practice

Research Disciplines

• Social work (4409)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Bennett K, Booth A, Gair S, Kibet R and Thorpe R (2020) Poverty is the problem – not parents: so tell me, child protection worker, how can you help? Children Australia, 45 (4). pp. 207-214
• Gair S, Zuchowski I, Henderson D, Thorpe R and Munns L (2019) Grandparents battle to be key stakeholders in protecting grandchildren. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 31 (1). pp. 101-113
• Gair S, Zuchowski I, Thorpe R, Henderson D and Munns L (2019) "In the Firing Line': grandparent carers at risk of family violence. Journal of Family Violence, 34 (4). pp. 321-329
• Zuchowski I, Gair S, Henderson D and Thorpe R (2019) Convenient yet neglected: the role of grandparent kinship carers. British Journal of Social Work, 49 (3).
• Gair S, Zuchowski I, Munns L, Thorpe R and Henderson D (2018) Grandparents matter: optimizing grandparents' involvement after child safety concerns. Child and Family Social Work, 23 (4). pp. 684-692
• Rees S, Mohsin M, Tay A, Thorpe R, Murray S, Savio E, Fonseca M, Tol W, Silove D and (2016) Associations between bride price obligations and women's anger, symptoms of mental distress, poverty, spouse and family conflict and preoccupations with injustice in conflict-affected Timor-Leste. BMJ Global Health, 1 (1).
• Rigby E, Gair S and Thorpe R (2016) Surviving intervention: grandparents' struggle to maintain relationships with their grandchildren following contact with child protection services. Children Australia, 41 (2). pp. 98-105
• Rees S, Thorpe R, Tol W, Fonseca M and Silove D (2015) Testing a cycle of family violence model in conflict-affected, low-income countries: a qualitative study from Timor-Leste. Social Science and Medicine, 130. pp. 284-291
• Thorpe R and Ramsden K (2014) Resourceful friends: an invaluable dimension in family inclusive child protection practice . Children Australia, 39 (2). pp. 65-73
• Rees S, Silove D, Verdial T, Tam N, Savio E, Zulmira F, Thorpe R, Liddell B, Zwi A, Kuowei T, Brooks R and Steel Z (2013) Intermittent explosive disorder amongst women in conflict affected Timor-Leste: associations with human rights trauma, ongoing violence, poverty, and injustice. PLoS ONE, 8 (8). pp. 1-7

Book Chapters

• Fernandez E and Thorpe R (2020) Engaging first mothers, fathers and grandparents in the care continuum. In: Child Protection and the Care Continuum: theoretical, empirical and practice insights. Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp. 300-317
• Thorpe R (2018) Action for social justice - then and now: a memoir. In: Radicals in Australian Social Work: stories of lifelong activism. Connor Court, Redlands Bay, QLD, Australia, pp. 17-34

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 28+ research outputs authored by Prof Ros Thorpe from 1998 onwards.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Living with the Enemy. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)