Episode 28 | Gender race, and religion: exploring the identity of care experienced children and care leavers

CoramBAAF Conversations

Ann Horne, CoramBAAF’s Kinship Consultant, is joined by researcher and academic Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor. As part of this year’s Members’ Week celebrations, they will be talking about the theme of identity, with insights from Sariya’s research and her key findings from past and present projects.

Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (PhD) is an Associate Professor in the Sociology of Islam at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, UK. She is Chair (2020-2023) of the Muslims in Britain Research Network (MBRN). As a feminist sociologist of religion, she interrogates the power dynamics within knowledge production and the implications of the processes and systems of knowledge on society as a whole. She started undertaking research with and for children in care after starting the process to become an adopter, just under a decade ago.

Her extensive portfolio includes projects funded by prestigious bodies like the AHRC, ESRC, and the British Academy, covering topics such as Muslim women’s experiences, religion, and the intersectional identities of care-experienced children. Cheruvallil-Contractor’s work is deeply rooted in feminist, pragmatist, and decolonising methodologies.

Ann Horne joined CoramBAAF in February 2022 alongside jobshare partner, Clare. Ann has been a local authority social worker in children's services for 20 years. She has worked in kinship care for the last 14 years and for 7 of these co-managed a dedicated kinship care team in Brighton and Hove. Ann contributed to the development of best practice models within the Brighton and Hove Team, and some of her work locally later contributed to wider national policy developments around kinship assessments. Ann also took a lead in developing comprehensive kinship support services, ensuring kinship carers in Brighton and Hove were well served by a range of available supports.

Find out more: https://corambaaf.org.uk/membership/members-week-2024-listening-child/identity/episode-28-gender-race-and-religion-exploring