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Dr. Cathal Ryan

Title:

Lecturer in Social Psychology

School/ Department:

School of Humanities - Law and Criminal Justice - College Street campus

Room Name/ Num:

C102 Convent Building

Campus:

College Street

OrcID Number:

0000-0003-0813-1139

My Blog/Website:

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My Biography

As part of my role I am responsible for the co-ordination and delivery of the Irish Prison Service-SETU joint programme, the Higher Certificate in Custodial Care (HCCC). This Certificate is delivered to all Recruit Prison Officers as part of their personal and professional development. It provides them with key practical, critical and reflective skills and familiarises them with the theories and practices they need to be effective in their workplace. In addition to project management, I deliver the module Social Psychology for Custodial Care in Semester Three of the programme. 

The aim of the Higher Certificate in Custodial Care is to develop the character and competence of Prison Officers so that they can act responsibly and ethically in order to effectively contribute to the safe, secure and humane custody of the people in their care, in accordance with the IPS mission, vision, values and strategic objectives. It is intended that the programme will:

  • Inculcate in prison officers a values-based approach in their interactions with prisoners;
  • Provide prison officers with the skills to operate ethically and effectively in their role;
  • Develop an understanding of the importance of the role of the prison officer in the care and rehabilitation of prisoners.

Admission to the HCCC is restricted solely to approved employees of the Irish Prison Service. Elements of the programme are delivered exclusively by the IPS, with most other elements delivered by SETU with IPS staff in partnership. 

Research

My PhD research focused on investigating issues of age and work-related stress as they relate to supporting health and social care workers through online work-stress management interventions

As part of my PhD, I managed the transfer of the DELAROSE online learning programme to the official part-time portfolio of courses delivered by SETU, and delivered and evaluated this unique online programme. In addition I conducted a targeted regional survey of work-related stress among health and social care workers in the South-East of Ireland, and published several journal papers relating to web-based interventions, work-related stress and international course development.

I have also been engaged in research activities exploring teaching and learning in prison officer education. I was a co-investigator on the ‘Every Contact Counts’ research project between 2018 – 2020, and have assisted on research on learning and feedback practice in the custodial care educational context. I have lead-authored ten publications in peer-reviewed journals, presented a number of papers at international conferences, and continue to deliver workshops on work-related stress to various stakeholders. 

Teaching

2019 – Current  Lecturer in Social Psychology

Department of Law & Criminal Justice Studies,

School of Humanities, SETU Waterford.

As part of this role, I am responsible for the co-ordination of the Irish Prison Service – SETU joint programme, the Higher Certificate in Custodial Care (HCCC). This Certificate is delivered to all Recruit Prison Officers as part of their personal and professional development.   

I am also programme leader of the BA Employee Support and Wellbeing. 

                                             

Higher Certificate in Custodial Care                           

Social Psychology for Custodial Care; Learning to Learn

BA Employee Support and Wellbing

Managing Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace

BA Applied Social Studies in Social Care           

Psychology of Human Behaviour; Individual Difference and Abnormal Psychology; Introduction to Therapeutic Interventions; Psychology, Adjustment and Alternative Views.

Professional

2018 – 2019 Project Manager Higher Certificate in Custodial Care

Department of Law & Criminal Justice Studies,

School of Humanities, Waterford Institute of Technology

 

2018 Assistant Lecturer in Psychology (Full Time)

School of Humanities, Waterford Institute of Technology

BA Business with Legal Studies                                

Human Resource Management

BA Psychology/BA Arts                                            

Abnormal Psychology; Social Psychology; Health Psychology; Interdisciplinary Seminars

BA Applied Social Studies in Social Care               

Psychology of Human Behaviour; Individual Difference and Abnormal Psychology; Introduction to Therapeutic Interventions

MSc Cognitive Behaviour Therapy                             

Qualitative Research for Practice.    

 

2016 – 2019 Assistant Lecturer in Psychology (Part-Time)

Department of Nursing and Healthcare

Department of Applied Arts

Waterford Institute of Technology

 

2015  Principal Research Assistant DELAROSE Project

School of Health Sciences

Waterford Institute of Technology

 

2014 Assistant Research Psychologist

‘Neuro Enhancement for Independent Living’ NEIL Memory Research Unit,

Trinity College Dublin

Publications

Ryan, C., Brennan, F., McNeill, S., & O’Keeffe, R. (2022). Prison officer training and education: a scoping review of the published literature. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 33(1), 110-138.

Ryan, C., & Bergin, M. (2022). Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Prisons: A Review of Extant Empirical Literature. Criminal Justice and Behavior. 

Ryan, C., Bergin, M., & Wells, J. S. (2019). Work-related stress and well-being of direct care workers in intellectual disability services: a scoping review of the literature. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 1-22.

Ryan, C., Bergin, M., White, M., & Wells, J.SG. (2018). Ageing in the Nursing Workforce – A Global Challenge Experienced within an Irish Context. International Nursing Review, 00 1-8.

Ryan, C., Bergin, M., Titze, S., Ruf, W., Kunz, S., Wells, J.S.G. (2017) ECVET and ECTS credit equivalency in higher education – a bridge too far? European Journal of Education 

Ryan, C., Bergin, M., & Wells, J. S. (2017). Theoretical perspectives of adherence to web-based interventions: a scoping review. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 1-13.         

Ryan, C., Bergin, M., & Wells, J. S. (2017). Valuable yet vulnerable—a review of the  challenges        encountered by older nurses in the workplace. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 72,42-52.

Ryan, C., Bergin, M., Chalder, T., & Wells, J. S. (2017). Web-based interventions for the management of stress in the workplace: focus, form, and efficacy. Journal of Occupational Health, 59 (3), 215-236.

Ryan, C., Bergin, M., Titze, S., Ruf, W., Kunz, S., Mazza, R., ... & Wells, J. S. (2017). Managing the process of international collaboration in online course development: a case example involving higher education institutions in Ireland, Switzerland, Austria and the  United Kingdom. Innovative Higher Education, 1-12.

Mazza, R., Kunz, S., Ryan, C., & Wells, J.S.G. (2016) DELAROSE - E-learning accreditation to reduce occupational stress in employment. Italian Journal of Educational Technology (IJET). 24(1), 61-64

Wells, J.S.G., Bergin, M., & Ryan, C. (2016). DELAROSE: A case example of the value of embedded course content and assessment in the workplace. HEA’d 16 International Conference on Higher Education Advances, Universitat Politècnica de València, València.  DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/HEAd16.2016.2844  

Wells, J.S.G., Bergin, M., & Ryan, C. (2016). Technical Report: The DELAROSE Project – A  short  report on the feasibility of credit equivalency between ECVET and ECTS. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.1.2959.0804

Ryan., C., Bergin, M., & Wells, J.S.G. (2015, October). ‘The DELAROSE project: Recognising the management of work-related stress through ECVET/ECTS’. ECVET Magazine, 23, 14-16.

Wells, J.S.G., Ryan, C., & Bergin, M. (2015). ‘ROSE to DELAROSE: Developing and transitioning a web-based pan-European self-help programme for the management of work-related stress’. HEA’d 15 International Conference on Higher Education Advances, Universitat Politècnica de València, València DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/HEAd15.2015.390