Michael Little, Ph.D. is Co-Director of The Social Research Unit, an independent research centre based in Dartington in the UK. He also holds visiting appointments at the universities of Bath, Chicago and Exeter. His primary research interest is the relationship between science, policy and practice, particularly with respect to children’s and child development. His work has been used in some way in over 20 countries in four continents. His work is reflected in:

• Over 150 publications, including 13 books examining: parental involvement for children in state care; the balance between family support and child protection; prevention and early intervention for children in need; secure accommodation for extremely difficult and disturbed young people; the re-unification of separated children; the identity of anti-social young people; and residential services for children in need.

• Strong application to policy, with research cited in or used to structure legislation on early years prevention, early intervention, other services for children in need, including protection and secure accommodation, as well as improved standards of evidence and use of cost-benefit models.

• A methodology for applying ideas that underpin research to improve practice on behalf of children in need, reflected in practice tools that have been applied in eight European and three US states.

• The development several research, dissemination, practice development, information design and publishing organisations in England, Spain and the United States.

• Training of doctoral students in skills relevant to the improving the relationship between science, policy and practice.

born: Liverpool, UK, 28th August 1958

current positions: Co-Director: The Social Research Unit

other roles: Visiting Professor Universities of Bath and Exeter; Fellow of the Centre for Social Policy: Warren House; Visiting Fellow at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

qualifications: B.A. (Hons) Sociology (1980); Ph.D. Social Psychology (1988)

other service: Co-Editor of Journal of Children's Services; Executive Editor of Prevention Action; Reviewer for several journals including Adoption and Fostering; Child and Adolescent Mental Health; Prevention Science; Journal of Adolescence; Journal of Child and Family Social Work; Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry; Developmental Psychology; British Journal of Social Work.

previous positions: Lecturer, City of Birmingham Polytechnic; Senior Research Fellow, School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol

other service (completed): Trustee for ChildHope UK; Expert Faculty, ISPCAN; Trustee, Michael Sieff Foundation; Member of the Child Protection, Family Law and Justice Committee of the Nuffield Foundation; Member of the Youth Justice Board Panel on Secure Estate; Member of the South-West NHS Executive Research and Development Executive Committee on the Interface between Personal Social Services and Health; Friend of RPS/Rainer Foundation; Evaluator for Oak Foundation, Geneva; Expert Evidence in UK High Court (Family Division)

publications: To date 159 publications including 13 books, 7 practice tools to help implement research findings, 39 chapters in books, 18 published research monographs, 27 articles in refereed journals, 25 articles in professional journals and 12 unpublished research monographs; Editor of three book series - Living Away from Home: Studies in Residential Care, John Wiley and Sons, (with Davies, C., Archer, L. and Hicks, L.), Dartington Social Research Series, Ashgate Publishing, (with Mount K.), International Library of Child Development and Children in Need, Ashgate