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Iceland University of Education
Reykjavík, Iceland

Welcome to this English version of my homepage.

I am professor at School of Education , University of Iceland and Associate Fellow in the School of Health and Social Studies, University of Warwick, England.
I am currently leading the research project Children's perspectives on domestic violence funded by The Icelandic Research Fund. We seek partcipants in an interview study.My teaching areas are qualitative research methodology, child protection, children's rights and children´s social conditions from the perspectives of social work and sociology. I am also working on a study on the development of teacher education institutions.

I am member of a Nordic network researching Children exposed to domestic violence.

I am chair of the Centre of Childhood and Youth Studies at the School of Education and a former chair and founding member of of the Icelandic Social Work Research Association (founded in 2002).http://stofnanir.hi.is/baer/

Also board member of the The Research Institute of Ármann Snævarr on Family Affairs.

I am a board member of Barnaheill Save the Children Iceland.

Main research interests relate to the area of childhood and childhood studies, child care and child protection. I am now especially focused on researching children´s own views of different social aspects of thei lives.

	Main research in progress is the research project Children's Perspectives on Violence in the Home. Short presentation.
	Recent research has been in the area of child foster care, children´s concerns and social conditions. Iin 2004 I finished a study called Children's and young people's experiences of long term foster care. The study was initiated and partially financed by the Child Protection Agency in Iceland. I made an effort to conduct it in the spirit of participatory research. A book presenting findings in Icelandic was published in 2004, an abstract in Icelandic and English. An article in English was published in the Jn. of Child and Youth Care Work, Vol 19, 2004, pp. 146 - 158. As well as several articles and book chapters for different audiences in Icelandic.
	A project was the Traditions and Transitions of Teacher Education study conducted in cooperation with professor M. Allyson Macdonald, Director of MA/PhD studies at IUE, Gunnar Börkur Jónasson, M.Ed. and research teams in Sweden and Canada. Two articles by me and Macdonald (see below) were published in a special issue of the Jn of Research Teacher Education Univ. of Umea, Sweden, No. 3 - 4, 2003, eds. Sandra Acker and Gaby Weiner,.
	Writings about child care and child protection for students and professionals. The text in current preliminary version is being useful for teaching.
	The term "child protection case". was a project I headed inn a group comparing definitions of the term child protection case and child welfare cases in neighbouring countries (Nordic countries and England/Wales) to Iceland. The work resulted in a report in Icelandic, main results not showing any major differences in definitions applied between countries but some differences in age groups targeted and shaping of legislation.

I have earlier researched the development and professionalization of child care and child protection services here in Iceland and also ten-year olds competence and social conditions in five of the Nordic countries together with Nordic colleagues a project headed by Elisabeth Backe-Hansen, currently at NOVA in Oslo . My writings include gender aspects of employment and career and cooperative practices in child care from the perspectives of mothers and children. For both areas see list of publications below. I have worked in feminist movements and projects over the years and look upon gender issues as vital to understanding of any involvement.

Academic posts
2002 Professor at Iceland University of Education (IUE).
From 1997 Associate Professor at IUE.
1991 - 1993 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Social Welfare at the University of Umeå in Sweden
1991: PhD from the Dept. of Social Welfare at the University of Umeå in Sweden.
Prior academic teaching assistant at the Univ. of Iceland in Social Work and Eduaction.
Ed. background:
1973: Social work degree: the School of Social Work, Odense, Denmark.
1966: Elementary school teacher from the Iceland College of Education, Reykjavík, Iceland.

Acreditations:
2001: Accredited specialist by Dept. of Health in social work within the areas social services and school counseling.
1975: Accredited Social Worker by Dept. of Health, Iceland.

Practice prior to academic teaching:
1994 - 1997: Continuing education administrator (whole school-based programmes) and acting Head of the Dept. of Continuing Education at IUE.
1979 - 1986: For eight years the Head of Child and Family services at the Social Services in Reykjavík, Iceland.
1973 - 1978: Social worker in child psychiatry, school counseling services.
1966 - 70:Elementary school teacher in Iceland and Denmark..

Selected list of publications (in Icelandic and other languages, (needs up-dating):

Mörg íslensk börn hafa vitneskjuna: Umþekking og skilning barna a ofbeldi á heimilum
Kristinsdóttir, Guðrún og Harðardóttir, Ingibjörg H. Tímarit hjúkrunarfræðinga, 2008, 5,46-54.[Many children in Iceland are familiar with violence in the home. On children's knowledge and understanding .Journal of The Icelandic Nurse's Association, 2008,5, 46-54].http://www.hjukrun.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=2451

Áhrif „ómenntaðrar alþýðukonu“ og kynnin af stöðu barnaverndar. Í Kristín Aðalsteinsdóttir. (Ritstj). Leitin lifandi. Reykjavík; Háskólaútgáfan. Í[The influence of a "uneducated working class woman" and the acquaintance with child protection. A book chapter in Kristín Aðalsteinsdóttir. (ed.). The incessant search. Reykjavík; Iceland Univ. Press].

Það er ljótt að meiða. Helstu niðurstöður könnunar. Skýrsla. Reykjavík: Kennaraháskóli Íslands. Guðrún Kristinsdóttir (Ritstj..). 2007. Meðhöfundar Ingibjörg. H. Harðardóttir, Margrét Ólafsdóttir og Steinunn Gestsdóttir. 67 bls. [It is bad to hurt other people. Main results of a survey. Guðrún Kristinsdóttir (ed.).2007. Co-authors: Ingibjörg. H. Harðardóttir, Margrét Ólafsdóttir og Steinunn Gestsdóttir].

Glíman við vitneskjuna. Munur á þekkingu drengja og stúlkna á ofbeldi á heimilum. Í Gunnar Þ. Jóhannesson.(Ritstj.). Í Rannsóknir í félagsvísindum VIII. Félagsvísindadeild. Erindi flutt á ráðstefnu í desember 2007, 537 - 548. Reykjavík, Félagsvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands. [Wrestling with knowledge. Boys and girls knowledge of violence in the home compared. [In Gunnar Þ. Jóhannesson.(Ed..).Social Science Research VIII, 537- 548, conference publication Dec 2007. Reykjavik, University of Iceland].

Sept. 3. – 6. 2006: Guðrún Kristinsdóttir and Ingibjörg H. Harðardóttir. XVIth ISPCAN International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect. York, UK. Abstract

Aug. 18. – 20. 2006:Guðrún Kristinsdóttir. Paper at The biannual conference of the Nordic Sociological Association, Turku, Finland. More

9 – 11. February 2006: Guðrún Kristinsdóttir: Paper at FORSA Conference Helsinki: Social Work in the Information Era - Polarisations and New Paradigms in Knowledge Production. Helsinki, Finland. More

„Fjölskyldan sem ekki varð. Á mótum fósturheimilis og upprunafjölskyldu.” Í Ungir Íslendingar í ljósi vísindanna. Reykjavík, Umboðsmaður barna og Háskóli Íslands, bls.193 - 201. [The imaginary family. At the crossroads of foster home and family of origin. Reykjavík, The Children's Ombudsman and University of Iceland Press, 193 - 201].

Hvernig var í skólanum? Reynsla fósturbarna af skólagöngu. Glæður 1. tbl. 15. árg. 2005, bls.. 26 - 32. (How was school? Young people in care tell about their experience of schooling. In the Icelandic Jn. of Special Eduation Glæður, 1, 15, 2005, pp. 26 - 32.).

Reynsla af fóstri barna er mjög mismunandi. Ungt fólk segir frá. Birtist í Uppeldi, 2. tbl., vor 2005.

Glíman við rannsóknaráætlanir. Meðhöfundur Rúnar Sigþórsson, dósent. 2005 Netla 5.5. 2005.[Wrestling with the research proposal. Together with Rúnar Sigþórsson, Associate Professor, In Netla electronic Jn. of Iceland Univ. of Education.]

I have been very pleased being in foster care but...Young people’s experience of long-term foster care. Jn. of Child and Youth Care Work, Vol 19, 2004, pp. 146 - 158.

„Fjölbreytni í lífssögum ungs fólks um fóstur.” Í Rannsóknir í félagsvísindum V Félagsvísindadeild.Ritstj. Úlfar Hauksson, Reykjavík, Háskólaútgáfan 2004, 393 - 403. [Variety in life histories of young people in care, Social science research V, University of Iceland Press, 2004, 393-403].

Ég held það hafi bara tekist mjög vel en ...Dagleg umsjá og aðstæður í langtímafóstri. Félagsráðgjafablaðið (9), 1, 12 - 20. [ I think it turned out quite well but.... Daily care and conditions in long-term foster care, Icelandic Jn. of Social Work, 2004, (9),1,12-20.]

Guðrún Kristinsdóttir and M. Allyson Macdonald: Learning to teach in Iceland 1940–1962 Part 1: Transitions in society and teacher education. Tidskrift för lärarutbildning och forskning [Journal of Teacher Education and Research], 3-4, 2003. Meira

M. Allyson Macdonald and Guðrún Kristinsdóttir: Learning to teach in Iceland 1940–1962 Part 2: Traditions in teacher education. Tidskrift för lärarutbildning och forskning [Journal of Teacher Education and Research], 3-4, 2003. Meira

Andstæður og átök - í návígi við sköpunarkraftinn - Gerð rannsóknaráætlana - skipulag eða óreiða? Netla – Veftímarit um uppeldi og menntun, birt 10. september 2002. [Doing a research plan – structure or chaos? Contrasts and conflicts in the proximity of creativity In Netla electronic Jn. of Iceland Univ. of Education].In English.

Learning to teach in Iceland: The Iceland College of Education 1940-62. May 2002 M. Allyson Macdonald and Guðrún Kristinsdóttir. IUE. Óbirt skýrsla, 45 bls.(Unpublished report, 45 pp.)

Tíu ára börn standa vel að vígi. Athugun á færni, áhyggjum og lausnum barna. Uppeldi og menntun 9. árg. 2000, 77 - 94.

Var och en i sin värld, Tioåringar i Norden, Kompetanse, risiko og oppvekstmiljø. Nord 1998:3. København, Nordisk Ministerråd, 1998

Swedish women´s employment and the absence of career í J. Evetts; Women and Career,Themes and issues in industrialized societies. Longman, 1994..

Könsperspektiv på forskning i socialt arbete. Ásamt Larsson-Sjöberg (ritstj.). Umeå, Institutionen för socialt arbete. Umeå Universitet, Rapport nr. 35, 1992.

(Hur) kan barnfängelset undvikas? Bortom all förenkling, red. Mether & Nygren, Uddevalla, Daidalos, 1993.

Child Welfare and Professionalization, Umeå Social Work Studies 15, Univ. of Umeå, 1991, doktorsritgerð (PhD thesis)

Svår balansgång i isländsk proposition om barnavård. Retfœrd, nordisk juridisk tidskrift nr, 57 15 årg.1992, 66 - 84.