Rate My Professor Fiona Buchanan

Fiona Buchanan, PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the School of Society and Culture within the College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences at Adelaide University. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a social worker in community health and non-government agencies in the United Kingdom and Australia. Her professional practice, informed by an empowerment perspective, included counselling, group work, community development, and agency management. She joined the University of South Australia as a full-time lecturer in January 2012 and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2017. Following the integration into Adelaide University, she continues her role, leading research initiatives and supervising postgraduate students.

Buchanan's doctoral research, titled "The Effects of Domestic Violence on the Relationships between Women and their Babies: Beyond Attachment Theory," culminated in the publication of the book Mothering Babies in Domestic Violence: Beyond Attachment Theory by Routledge in 2018. Her research specializations encompass child wellbeing, mothering practices, the impacts of domestic violence on women and children, experiences of young people exposed to violence, effects of sexual abuse, gender issues, childhood trauma, and innovative teaching methods incorporating arts-based research. Currently, she leads a funded project investigating what enables young adults who grew up in domestic violence households to create healthy relationships. She also participates as a chief investigator in research on emotional abuse of children. Notable publications include "Gender and Sexuality in Childhood Emotional Abuse: An Exploration of Victim-survivor Experiences in Australia" (Moulding et al., 2026, Journal of Family Violence), "Imposed and Self-Imposed Isolation Among Children and Young People Who Have Grown Up in Domestic Abuse" (Buchanan et al., 2025, Child and Family Social Work), "Progress Across Ecological Systems Countering Intergenerational Transmission of Intimate Partner Violence" (Buchanan & Borgkvist, 2024, Journal of Gender-Based Violence), "What Helps Young People in Australia Create Healthy Relationships After Growing Up in Domestic Violence?" (Buchanan et al., 2023, Journal of Family Violence), "Mothering During Domestic Abuse: Protective Agency as a Force for Change" (Buchanan & Moulding, 2021, Qualitative Social Work), and the co-edited volume Intersections of Mothering: Feminist Accounts (Zufferey & Buchanan, 2020, Routledge). Buchanan is eligible to supervise Masters and PhD students and currently co-supervises doctoral research on sibling relationships following childhood emotional abuse.