Doctoral dissertations

PhD student: Soline Balet
Summary: The structural exclusion of illegalised migrants from Belgian society, their limited rights and restricted access to social services render it difficult for social workers and volunteers to provide more than just material support, situated in the present. This research project aims to gain a deeper understanding of structural social support practices and specific approaches to socio-legal and psycho-social support through ethnographic research methods. Therefore, the project focuses on local and municipal initiatives that link conditional welfare services, namely shelter, to intensive social counselling towards certain future perspectives for illegalised migrants. At the same time, the research endeavours to encompass how social workers, volunteers and illegalised migrants themselves construct informal forms of social support.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Robin Vandevoordt, Ine Lietaert (Social Work, Ghent University)
Periode of time: October 2021 - October 2025

PhD student: Marianne Bruhn Kjeldsen
Summary: In Denmark municipalities have chosen to apply the Integrationsuddannelse (IGU) policy with a focus on recruiting new employees to the field of elderly care. The IGU policy embodies an education and integration strategy in Danish policy and provides an integration training course for refugees. The rationale behind this approach is that many of the refugees, and mainly women, are experienced in taking care of older family members in their home countries. The aim of the doctoral research is to investigate the stereotypical underlying assumptions at stake in these recent policy strategies. Based on interpretative and retrospective biographical research, the efforts made by the various educational actors in this program are examined in how they relate to, and interfere with, the diverse life histories and educational backgrounds of the refugees, and in how this program affects their possibilities in commencing a vocational education or achieving employment on the Danish labour market.
PhD in Educational Sciences
Promoter(s): Griet Roets
Periode of time: June 2019 - June 2024

PhD student: Céline Cannaert
Summary: Today, definitions of parenthood are mainly limited to the classical image of the Western middle-class family where biological, social and legal parenthood coincide. Foster care is a challenging case to question that dominant idea given its complicated nature and the ambition to realise ‘shared parenthood’ in order to meet the child's right to parents and family. However, within the existing body of (inter)national foster care research, shared parenthood is mainly defined as a procedural and divided concept and each perspective of the various actors in foster care involved is always studied separately. This project aims to contribute to the international framework of shared parenthood knowledge by 1) theorizing the concept of shared parenthood from a holistic family resemblance approach and 2) empirically examining the different ways in which all various actors in voluntary foster care trajectories involved actually negotiate, perceive and fulfil their (parenting)role in the long run.
PhD in Educational Sciences
Promoter(s): Lieselot De Wilde
Periode of time: October 2021 - October 2025

PhD student: Dries Cautreels
Summary: De-institutionalization (DI) is framed and recognized internationally as a lever for the realisation of inclusion for citizens with disabilities. In research, policy and practice, DI has historically been framed as the dismantling of residential care to pursue the creation of community-based living, housing, and working environments. Nevertheless, the circulation of a controlling and oppressive culture and institutional logics in a variety of settings remains and a lack of inclusive social relationships still prevails in many situations. DI thus refers not only to the location and nature of the architectural and spatial embedding, but also to autonomy, an institutional culture and… professionalism. In my research, I will therefore focus on processes of ‘professionalisation’ to reconsider ‘institutional professional cultures and logics’ as a central theme and conceptualise a de-institutionalised (individual and collective) professional orientation as a vital prerequisite to realise DI.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Griet Roets , Rudi Roose
Periode of time: March 2022 - March 2026

PhD student: Tom De Bois
Summary: Deinstitutionalisation in healthcare settings has been a complex issue for decades. In order for institutions to function in a humane, democratic and responsive manner as healthcare providers, we can distinguish between two variables of control: an governance regime (Foucault) and a social pedagogical orientation. These two variables do both have their legitimacy. However, they cannot be traced back to one another and are based on opposing logics. These logics, in turn, rely on ontologies that are incommensurable. We investigate how the way in which these logics relate to each other contributes to the creation of (un)liveable care environments.
PhD in Educational Sciences
Promoter(s): Griet Roets, Laura Van Beveren (Department Social Work and Social Pedagogy)
Periode of time: February 2025 - February 2029

PhD student: Gretl Dons
Summary: The last decades, transparency in social work became a guiding framework. Both in social policy and social work practices. Transparency is a complex and multidimensional concept that takes on different meanings depending on who it is about, who is using it, or the context in which it is used. In this action research, together with practitioners in the various sectors of youth care, the focus is on what pedagogy is being developed in social work practices when it comes to transparency as in the interactions between professionals and service users. We want to explore how child and family social workers make transparency as a basic attitude explicit in their daily practice and what dilemmas they face in this context. The aim is to change practice itself. The setup is a change process in collaboration with those involved with the purpose of theory building.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Rudi Roose, Jan Naert (Social Work, Ghent University)
Periode of time: October 2020 - January 2025

PhD student: Aimee Kelley
Summary: My research is focused on wellbeing support for newcomer adolescents in Danish and English schools. I am interested in how these students are supported at school and by whom; how wellbeing and academics are prioritized by school staff; and newcomers' experiences of wellbeing at school. By examining what wellbeing support is (or is not) provided, as well as the perspectives of newcomers and school staff, recommendations for best practices and sustainability are possible.
PhD in Educational Sciences
Promoter(s): Ilse Derluyn, An Verelst
Periode of time: October 2021 - October 2027

PhD student: Marie-Lou Libbrecht
Summary: The reintegration of prisoners is an ongoing social problem. From the academic discipline of Social Work, knowledge gaps emerge; such as the lack of knowledge from an insider's perspective; lack of knowledge about a variety of life domains deemed meaningful by the person in question, such as sports; lack of research beyond the functionalist approach to reintegration, reducing integration to prevention of recidivism, etc. Within this research, the expressive dimension of reintegration is foregrounded. Through case studies of sports programmes in different prisons across Flanders and Brussels, a programme theory on the meaning and working mechanisms of sports for (ex-)prisoners is developed on the basis of participatory observations, interviews with (ex-)prisoners and actors involved in the implementation of the sports programmes, as well as longitudinal follow-up interviews with ex-prisoners.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Rudi Roose, Pascal Delheye (Faculty Of Political And Social Sciences, Ghent University)
Periode of time: November 2021 - October 2025

PhD student: Maud Martens
Summary: By drawing on ethnographic research in Northern France, this study examines the legal challenges faced by migrants in European transit zones and the various strategies they use to navigate them. It explores diverse forms of socio-legal support offered by a broad range of actors, including government agencies, civil society organisations, and migrants along with their informal social networks. Through this analysis, the research emphasises the heterogeneity and fluidity of migrants' legal statuses and trajectories, as well as the variety of responses to the legal obstacles encountered by migrants in transit.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Robin Vandevoordt, Ellen Desmet (European, Public And International Law)
Periode of time: February 2022 - February 2026

PhD student: Eveline Meylemans
Summary: This research focusses on the place of children in society and in research. The study suggests a social-pedagogical approach to scrutinize young children’s (9-12 years) actual (lived) citizenship experiences in relation to their social, cultural, economic and spatial environments through a qualitative child-driven approach, in which children are enabled as co-researchers throughout the whole research design. In doing so, this study will contribute to (1) the international body of empirical and theoretical knowledge on young children’s actual citizenship; and to (2) the emerging academic field of participatory research with children as co-researchers, aiming to deepen the methodological and ethical dimensions of this approach.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Lieve Bradt, Lieselot De Wilde
Periode of time: November 2021 - November 2025

PhD student: Luc Notredame
Summary: The objective of the project is the elaboration of a critical theory of social work, based on the assumption of the realization of social rights as a prominent mission of social work. As a principle of social justice, social rights are set off against other principles, such as (basic) needs and merit. Methodologically, we use the triadic approach as a knowledge and action strategy. The background for the elaboration of the theory of social work is the development and functioning of the Belgian welfare state since the Second World War, and the relation between the public and private sector. Empirical references are two key moments: the Organic Act of 8 July 1976 on the Public Social Welfare Centres (1976) and the First Flemish congress on well-being (1990).
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Maria De Bie, Rudi Roose (Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy, Ghent University)
Starting date: July 2014

PhD student: Dieter Oorlynck
Summary: An important pillar of Child Welfare & Protection (CWP) is the knowledge base that underpins these practices. It provides practitioners with theoretical frameworks, research and practical skills necessary to adequately address the challenges faced by individuals, families and communities. Historically and currently, CWP has been significantly shaped by clinical, psychological and individual approaches, which risk narrowing the focus to individual behavior and order thinking. This tendency is reinforced by neoliberalism, Evidence-Based Practice, treatment concepts and risk thinking. However, this approach has proven inadequate for addressing the many challenges and issues encountered in practice, leading to the potential marginalization of broader social concerns and ambiguity. This doctoral research seeks to explore which theoretical social-pedagogical knowledge base can serve as an inspiration for CWP practices.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Rudi Roose
Periode of time: November 2023 - November 2029

PhD student: Matthias Remmery
Summary: To improve the inclusion and citizenship of youngsters in residential youth care in society, recent research focuses on the development of a positive living group climate. However, this concept limits itself to interpersonal rather than socio-spatial relations and socio-spatial relations and treatment motivation rather than capacity to aspire of youngsters. Therefore, the of the research project is to acquire theoretical and empirical knowledge on the development of a socio-spatial citizenship climate. A socio-spatial lifeworld orientation theory is used to examine how youngsters experience and shape their freedom of movement and their capacity to aspire, related to the question how residential youth care can hinder or enable them to reveal this. A qualitative research approach is used, combining ethnography, mental mapping, biographical interviews and focus groups.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Griet Roets, Rudi Roose (Department Of Social Work And Social Pedagogy, Ghent University)
Periode of time: November 2021 - October 2025

PhD student: Marina Rota
Summary: This study is part of the ERC CHILDMOVE project and takes place in Greece which is, along with Italy, one of the main entry points in the EU. The research focuses on Unaccompanied Minors who have entered EU via Greece only to find themselves stranded in the country or in a continued effort to leave for other EU countries using different paths. The mixed methods collection of information has as a main goal to increase knowledge of the impact of experiences the children face while on flight on their psychological wellbeing. Their stories are being collected in various points in time and space in order to demonstrate the evolution of their efforts in order to find a place they can call home.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Ilse Derluyn, Ine Lietaert (Department Social Work and Social Pedagogy, University Of Ghent)
Periode of time: April 2017 - April 2021

PhD student: Sevinj Samadzade
Summary: This research investigates the ways in which social work practices both reflect and reinforce geopolitical dynamics, focusing on the interplay between global and local influences in social welfare provision. Specifically, it examines the social services provided by Georgian civil society organizations that support women. The study aims to map the landscape of global and local actors, funding sources, gender and feminized labor discourses, and target groups involved in these services. Through direct observation and participation in the daily operations of selected Georgian civil society organizations, the research seeks to gain first-hand insights into these dynamics.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Ine Lietaert, Fabienne Bossuyt (Political Science )
Periode of time: March 2024 - March 2028

PhD student: Uchendu Uchechukwu Ethelbert
Summary: Beginning from the precolonial via colonial to the present postcolonial eras, Nigeria is portrayed as blessed with a large number of women’s association imbued with strong social spaces in political participation and viewed as source of empowerment and collective affirmation. The research takes place in Igboland in Nigeria, a site that is particularly interesting to study emancipatory initiatives of women over time. Situating my research in the context of Nigeria’s new political openings since late 1990s, I want to explore and understand, by way of narrative methodology, in focus-group sessions, the emerging ‘social change processes’ associated with developmental activities by Igbo women in the context of their female social movement participation. This research is inspired by Southern feminist theorists, who, recently, are confronting global and historically rooted knowledge inequalities and hence offering new theoretical and conceptual approaches.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Vandenbroeck Michel, Griet Roets
Starting date: October 2013

PhD student: Lobke Van Lombergen
Summary: The importance of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) of good quality is growing in interest. In order to guarantee quality, there is an increasing consensus that ECEC should be based on a holistic view of children, as in an integrated system where learning and care are not separate. However, Flanders has a split system with separate institutions for children up to three years old, what we call 'child care', and for children from three to six years old, so called ‘preschool’. This often means a distinction between care and education and has problematic consequences: low accessibility and lack of places in care institution, abrupt transitions, high costs for parents, low qualifications... Through a multiple case study of different projects that aim at an integration between care and education, implications and challenges for the realisation of integrated systems in ECEC are revealed.
PhD in Educational Sciences
Promoter(s): Michel Vandenbroeck, Jochen Devlieghere (Social Work and Social Pedagogy, Ghent University)
Periode of time: February 2022 - February 2028

PhD student: Lena Van Bergen
Summary: Young carers are young people who provide care to another family member with a long-term illness, disability or addiction. Available research shows that this is both common and possibly problematic. Despite this, there is still a dearth in research about how to support young carers. The perspective of young carers themselves has also been neglected. They have been described as an invisible group due to the lack of awareness of young caring with professionals and volunteers in the social and educational sector. This is tied to young carers themselves seldomly identifying as a young carer. In this research project, we explore the lack of (self-)identification and awareness through the organization ZoJong!, a non-profit for and by young carers. We conduct participant observations during the activities of this organization, as well as conducting interviews and focus groups with different actors.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Rudi Roose, Stijn Vandevelde
Periode of time: October 2023 - September 2027

PhD student: Sander Van Thomme
Summary: The child friendly city (CFC) is generally seen as a practice of good urban planning in the best interest of the child. However, thorough debate on its actual pedagogical meaning is missing. To open up this debate, we will take on a social pedagogical perspective, focusing on how the CFC organises the relationship between children and young people and the society. As a result, the CFC will be approached as a pedagogical project shaping the pedagogical potential of the city. As such, this PhD-project aims to disentangle the hidden pedagogy of policy and practices in the CFC, to better understand the way the CFC acts as a socialising framework for children and young people and to collect empirical knowledge on the way CFC's embrace the various ways in which both children and young people are approached as citizens. This will contribute to the broader knowledge base on the position of children and young people in society and the way cities deal with urban transformations and challenges.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Lieve Bradt, Sven De Visscher (Eco-City, University College Ghent)
Periode of time: December 2022 - January 2028

PhD student: Hannah Grondelaers
Summary: Starting from Ukrainian women’s unique return trajectories between Belgium and Ukraine in the context of the EU’s Temporary Protection, this research project investigates how different scales produce imaginaries that shape the women’s trajectories in different ways. As an exceptional measure to offer protection throughout the EU to mainly Ukrainian women fleeing Russia’s war in Ukraine, Temporary Protection (TP) has introduced a legal framework that allows for a unique type of pendular return mobility between host states and Ukraine. Upon activation of TP, discourses of deservingness of protection based on gender and on belonging to a racialised Europeanness, laid bare particular imaginaries that spurred this act of solidarity. This research project investigates how imaginaries on different scales shape questions of both integration and return and in this way affect Ukrainian women’s return trajectories on the personal scale.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Ine Lietaert, Robin Vandevoordt (Unu-Cris Migration And Social Policy Cluster)
Periode of time: November 2024 - October 2028