Professor Claire Monks is Professor of Developmental Psychology and Deputy Head (Research and Enterprise) in the School of Human Sciences and Centre Lead for Centre for Vulnerable Children, Young People and Families.
Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals:
Claire's work supports SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being and SDG 4 - Quality Education.
Development of positive relationships in childhood
Prof Monks’ research concerns Developmental Psychology, in particular the developmental origins of aggressive and bullying behaviour among young children when they first enter school. Her work has also examined cyberbullying among primary school aged pupils and dating aggression among adolescents. She is interested in applying diverse approaches to the study of peer-relations among young people and has employed advanced methods such as social network analysis to furthering our understanding of the aggressive and defending relations between children. She is also interested in the development of social cognition in relation to behaviour and has published on hot and cool executive functions and theory of mind as predictors of aggression and prosocial behaviour and within populations of young people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Claire has an interest in modelling developmental trajectories and examining longitudinal relations.
Prof Monks’ research on bullying has impacted policy for vulnerable youth globally, via use by international organizations including UNICEF. She has strong collaborative links with colleagues nationally and internationally from different universities, as well as working with stakeholder groups, NGOs and local government. She is currently working on a project on domestic abuse perpetration with external partners. She is also working with colleagues on the development and testing of evidence-informed materials for the new Relationships Education Curriculum in England with a focus on Caring Friendships.
