Dr Bernadette Saunders

Lecturer

Co-ordinator Distance Education Regional & Interstate Fieldwork

Profile

Prior to working at Monash, Dr Saunders worked in the field of Medical Social Work, particularly in the areas of cancer and terminal illness. As part of her MSW at Monash, she conducted and wrote a report on a program evaluation at a foster care agency, and she published a non-commercial book on child abuse risk assessment.

In 1996, she was invited to join the Child Abuse & Family Violence Research Unit at Monash University (now known as the National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse - NRCPCA) as a researcher, and the Social Work department as a sessional teacher. The Australian Research Council funded research project in which she participated explored risk assessment in child protection practice and the response of community professionals to mandatory reporting legislation. This, and subsequent, research in the NRCPCA resulted in publications in both national and international refereed journals on child abuse risk assessment; language and children’s rights; child abuse and the media; and the physical punishment of children. She also co-authored, with Chris Goddard, a chapter on child sexual abuse and the media, as part of a Queensland Crime Commission inquiry: Project Axis.

Bernadette has completed her PhD, which was funded by the Australian Research Council and The Australian Childhood Foundation as part of an Australian Post-Graduate Award (Industry). Her PhD research focused on legally sanctioned physical punishment of children, children’s rights, and the intergenerational transmission of family violence. Her most recent publication is a chapter on the physical punishment of children, co-authored with Chris Goddard, in a Jessica Kingsley book, Mason, J. and Fattore, T. (Eds), ‘Children Taken Seriously’.