Profile

Areas of interest

• Unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people
• Refugee and Migrant youth
• Care leavers

Academic biography

Having dropped out of my first university degree I returned to education as a mature student and finally completed a BA in Social Work. Following this, I completed both my MRES and PhD at the University of York. My PhD research centred on the experiences of unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people as they transition to adulthood. This research developed creative visual methods for engaging young people from a diverse range of backgrounds in the research process.

On completing my thesis I spent two years lecturing in Childhood and Youth studies at York St John University before returning to the University of York in September 2018.

Publications

Recent publications

Devenney, K (forthcoming) “My own Blood”: The family relationships of asylum seeking young people in the UK, Families, Relationships and Societies

Devenney, K (2017) Pathway planning with unaccompanied young people leaving care: Biographical narratives of past, present and future, Child & Family Social Work 22:3 1313-1321

Professional activities

Professional activities

• Founding Co-editor and Advisory Board Member- York Policy Review
• Member- Community of Researchers in transition (CORIT)an international group of researchers interested in young people’s transitions from care.
• Member- Social Policy Association
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Degree programmes and modules

• MA Social Work
• Integrated Masters Social Work

Research and PhD supervision

Supervision interests

• Childhood & Youth
• Young People and transition to adulthood
• Migration and Immigration