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Dr. Paula Mayock

Associate Prof in Youth Research (Social Studies)
Associate Prof in Youth Research (Sch Office - Social Work & Social Policy)
Associate Prof in Youth Research (Children's Research Centre)
      
Profile Photo

Dr. Paula Mayock

Associate Prof in Youth Research (Social Studies)

 

Associate Prof in Youth Research (Sch Office - Social Work & Social Policy)

Associate Prof in Youth Research (Children's Research Centre)

Dr. Paula Mayock is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin. She is a qualitative methodologist with a particular interest in biographical and qualitative longitudinal research methods. Paula is currently Director of the BA in Sociology and Social Policy. Previously, she was Director of Teaching and Learning Postgraduate (2018-2022) and Course Director of the Masters in Applied Social Research (2010-2018). Paula's research focuses primarily on the lives and experiences of marginalised youth, covering areas including homelessness, drug use and drug problems, sexuality, risk behaviour, and mental health. Since 2004, she has worked to build a programme of research on homelessness. She has been the Principal Investigator of three studies of homeless youth, one of them a 6-year qualitative longitudinal study of homeless young people in Dublin. More recently, Paula has undertaken a biographical study of homeless women in Ireland and she is currently Principal Investigator of an all-Ireland study of homeless young people and their families. Paula is the recipient of numerous research awards from statutory and voluntary agencies (e.g. Crisis Pregnancy Agency; Department of Education and Skills; Department of Children and Youth Affairs; Dublin Region Homeless Executive; Focus Ireland, Health Service Executive; Housing Agency; National Office for Suicide Prevention). She is a NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) INVEST Post-doctoral Fellow (2006-07) and an IRC (Irish Research Council) Research Fellow (2009-10). She was also the recipient of an IRC 'New Ideas' Award (2012), which has supported a range of research initiatives aimed on fostering international collaborative research on women's homelessness. She is the founder and Chairperson of the Women's Homelessness in Europe Network (WHEN), which currently has sixteen members representing twelve European countries. Paula is the author of numerous articles, chapters and research reports and is Assistant Editor to the international journal Addiction.
Project Title
 Homeless Young People and their Families
From
April 2013
To
June 2014
Summary
This biographical study aims to examine young people's paths to homelessness or housing instability and trace their 'journeys' through homelessness. The study also aims to include a family member of the homeless young person (sibling, parent, carer) and to gain their perspectives on the young person's current living situation.
Funding Agency
Focus Ireland
Project Type
Qualtiative Research
Project Title
 Mapping Services for Homeless Women in Dublin
From
December 2012
To
April 2013
Summary
This mapping exercise was designed to support the commitment on the part of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive to conduct a review of service provision for homeless women. It primarily aimed to collect comprehensive information on the range of accommodation services currently available to women in the Dublin region in order to develop a clearer and more nuanced understanding of the nature of current provision for female service users women. It additionally aimed to gain service providers' perspectives on the adequacy of existing services for homeless women.
Funding Agency
Dublin Region Homeless Executive
Project Type
Quantitative Research
Project Title
 Women and Homelessness: A Biographical Pathways Analysis
From
November 2009
To
October 2010
Summary
The core aim of this research was to conduct an in-depth investigation of the lives and experiences of homeless women in Ireland with specific attention to their homeless 'pathways', that is, their entry routes to homelessness, the homeless experience itself and, possibly, their exit routes from homelessness. The study, which integrated biographical interviewing and ethnographic observation,aimed to contextualises and locate women's homelessness within a continuum of precipitating, perpetuating and/or enabling factors, crossing both structural and individual factors, that help to explain their homeless/ housing 'careers'.
Funding Agency
Irish Research Council Research Fellowship Scheme, 2009-10
Project Type
Biographical/Ethnographic research
Project Title
 The Process of Youth Homelessness: A Six-year Qualitative Longitudinal Study
From
October 2004
To
May 2011
Summary
This study set out to conduct an in-depth examination of the lives and experiences of homeless young people in the Dublin region. A core aim was to understand transition and change in their lives with a specific focus on their trajectories into, through and out of homelessness. The term 'homeless' was defined and operationalised to include young people who were 'roofless' or sleeping rough as well as those living in homeless hostels or other emergency or temporary accommodation types. It also included a small number of young people who had recently experienced homelessness. The study design was underpinned by a pathways approach, a conceptualisation which recognises the fluid and changeable nature of homelessness and the experiences that surround homelessness. Thus, homelessness is not viewed as static or fixed, but rather is an evolving status that is continually subject to change.
Funding Agency
Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Dublin Region Homeless Executive
Project Type
Qualitative Longitudinal Research
Project Title
 A Study of Cocaine Use in Northern Ireland
From
June 2008
To
August 2009
Summary
The aim of the study was to provide DHSSPS and treatment service providers with a better understanding of cocaine use in Northern Ireland by using qualitative research methods to explore patterns of drug use and the lifestyles of cocaine users. The research incorporated the following: 1.An assessment of drug use patterns and lifestyles of cocaine users in Northern Ireland; and 2.Information prevention treatment options and information needs about cocaine use.
Funding Agency
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS), Northern Ireland
Project Type
Qualitative Research

Page 1 of 3
Details Date
Founder and Co-Director, Women's Homelessness in Europe Network (WHEN) January 2012-present
Assistant Editor, International Journal Addiction 2011 - present
Management Team Member, Growing Up in Ireland (National Longitudinal Study of Children in Ireland) 2013 - 2015
Member, Research Advisory Group, 'Changing Generations': A Study of Intergenerational Solidarity in Ireland (Trinity College Dublin) 2011-2012
International Mentor, Four-country Study of Street Children (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosove), European University of Tirana, Albania July 2012-2014
Independent Advisor to Review of the Youth Homelessness Strategy, Department of Children and Youth Affairs & Centre for Effective Services 2012-13
Member of Board of Directors (Vice Chair for a period of one year), EPIC (Empowering Young People in Care) 2009-2013
Member, International Expert Reference Group to support the development of the Youth Policy Framework, Department of Children and Youth Affairs May 2011-2015
Member, Clinical Advisory Group, Coolmine Therapeutic Community 2010-2014
Editorial Board Member, Youth Studies Ireland 2007-2012
Details Date From Date To
Women's Homelessness in Europe Network (WHEN) 2012 Present
European Society for Social Drugs Research (ESSD) 2000 present
Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development (ACJRD) 2009 present
Children's Research Network 2012 Present
Irish Social Policy Association (IAPA) 2010 present
Homelessness and Substance Use in, editor(s)Bretherton, J. & Pleace, N. , The Routledge Handbook of Homelessness, London, Routledge, 2023, pp244 - 255, [Mayock, P. & O'Shaughnessy, B.], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Youth in, editor(s)Bretherton, J. & Pleace, N. , The Routledge Handbook of Homelessness, London, Routledge, 2023, pp169 - 179, [Mayock, P. & Parker, S.], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Durand, L., Keenan, E., Boland, F., Harnedy, N., Delargy, Í., Scully, M., Mayock, P. ... Cousins, G., Consensus recommendations for opioid agonist treatment following the introduction of emergency clinical guidelines in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic: A national Delphi Study, International Journal of Drug Policy, 106, 2022, p1 - 8, Notes: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103768], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Stapleton, A. & Mayock, P., Structured ethical reflection as a tool to recognise and address power: A participatory action research study with separated young people in France, Educational Action Research, 2022, p1 - 21, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Finn, M. & Mayock, P., The Housing Experiences of Immigrants in a 'New Immigrant Gateway': An Exploration of Process in an Era of 'Super-Diversity', International Journal of Housing Policy, 22, (3), 2022, p174 - 197, Journal Article, ACCEPTED  DOI
Mayock, P. & Butler, S., "I'm always hiding and ducking and diving": The stigma of growing older on methadone, Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 29, (2), 2022, p139 - 149, Notes: [https://doi.org/10.1080/09687637.2021.1886253], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Glynn, N. & Mayock, P., Housing after care: Understanding security and stability in the transition out of care through the lenses of liminality, recognition and precarity, Journal of Youth Studies, 2021, pDOI: 10.1080/13676261.2021.198 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Mayock, P. & Neary, F., Domestic Violence and Family Homelessness, Dublin, Focus Ireland, 2021, Report, PUBLISHED  URL
Bretherton, J. & Mayock, P., Women's Homelessness: European Evidence Review, Brussels, FEANTSA, 2021, Report, PUBLISHED  URL
Mayock, P., & Butler, S. , Pathways to 'recovery' and social reintegration: The experiences of long-term clients of methadone maintenance treatment in an Irish drug treatment setting., International Journal of Drug Policy, 90, 2021, p10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.103092 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
  

Page 1 of 8
Mayock, P., Women's Homlessness and Domestic Violence, Childlinks: The Journal of Barnardos, (3), 2016, p12 - 17, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Mayock, P. & Sheridan, S. , Women and Long-term Homelessness, Homeless in Europe, Summer 2016, 2016, p4 - 5, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Mayock, P. & Sheridan, S., Migrant Women and Homelessness: Key Findings from a Biographical Study of Homeless Women in Ireland, Dublin, School of Social Work and Social Policy & Children's Research Centre, 2012, Report, PUBLISHED
Mayock, P. & Sheridan, S., Women's Homeless 'Journeys': Key Findings from a Biographical Study of Homeless Women in Ireland, Dublin, School of Social Work and Social Policy & Children's Research Centre, 2012, Report, PUBLISHED
McCrystal, P., Mayock, P. & Hannaford, S. , A Study of Cocaine Use in Northern Ireland, 2009, Belfast, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2010, Report, PUBLISHED
Mayock, P., O'Sullivan, E. & Corr, M.L., Young people's pathways through homelessness, Homeless in Europe, Autumn 2010, 2010, p4 - 6, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Mayock, P. & Carr, N., Not Just Homelessness ... A Study of 'Out of Home' Young People in Cork, Cork, Health Service Executive, 2008, Report, PUBLISHED
Mayock, P. , A 'career' in youth homelessness?, Cornerstone - the magazine of the Homeless Agency, 30, 2007, p20 - 22, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Mayock, P., Young people and drugs: the need to target 'high risk' groups, Drug Network News, 2, (1), 2000, p1 - 2, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Sinead Tobin, Young People's Experiences of Foster Placement Breakdown: A Qualitative Study, Masters in Applied Social Research, 2013, Thesis, APPROVED

  


Award Date
Provost's Project Award 2017
Irish Research Council (formerly IRCHSS) 'New Ideas' Award 2011
Irish Research Council (formerly IRCHSS) Senior Research Fellowship Award 2009
NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA, INVEST POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP Award 2006
Government of Ireland Scholar, Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences 2001
Marginalised youth, youth homelessness, women's homelessness, drug use, adolescent sexuality, LGBT mental health, qualitative research methods, biographical research, qualitative longitudinal research