Dorien Claessen is a PhD researcher at the Access to Justice department of the Research centre for Social Innovation, as well as a lecturer in Social Work. She focuses on human rights and social work at the level of municipalities.
Her PhD research ‘Human Rights and Social Work: Challenges of local professionals at the frontline’ explores how professionals in social district teams can contribute to human rights realization in the context of decentralization and how well social work education prepares students for a human rights perspective.
Fields of expertise
- Human rights and social work
- Legal capabilities of social work practitioners
- Universal accessibility of social care services in the context of decentralisation
Publications
- Social Workers as Local Human Rights Actors? Their Response to Barriers in Access to Care and Support in the Netherlands
- Social Support and Access to Justice at the Kitchen Table? An Assessment of the Legal Capabilities of Community Social Care Professionals in the Netherlands