Kresta Munkholt Sørensen

Research and development areas

I am an associate professor at University College Copenhagen, Department of Social Work Education. I have been employed here since 2016, when I also completed my PhD at Aalborg University, Department of Sociology and Social Work. The four articles in my PhD thesis combine qualitative and quantitative data to understand how social workers utilise social work methods.

Prior to my PhD studies, I worked as a research assistant at SFI - The National Research Centre for Welfare, where I prepared research reports and conducted data collection in several municipalities with a strong focus on impact studies. I have a basic education as a social worker, which has given me first-hand experience of the challenges and cultures of working in the field of child welfare. Through the knowledge of both the scientific work and the actual practice I have been able to utilise a focus on relevant issues and communication at eye level with professionals.

My current research at University College Copenhagen focuses, among other things, on including children's perspectives in the research project ‘Me and My Foster Family’ (MOMP), risk assessments with a special focus on referrals in the research project ‘Using validated Screening Tools for Assessing Referrals’ (STAR) and research in foster parents' and professionals' experiences of interventions in the research project ‘Holding a foster child’s Mind in Mind’. In this regard, I have created an overview of possible interventions for children placed in care and for foster parents, designed qualitative data collection and organised children's panels.

My work has been published in international journals and publishers such as British Journal of Social Work, European Journal of Social Work, Research on Social Work Practice, European Social Work Research, BMC Psychology, Child & Family Social Work, SAGE and Nordic publishers such as Nordic Social Work Research, Uden for Nummer and Fontene Forskning.