UCD School of Applied Social Science

Dr. Mary Allen graduated in Social Science from University College Cork. She initially worked with Community Development and Social Empowerment projects in Zambia, Kenya and Brazil. Returning to Dublin, she studied for a postgraduate qualification in social work in University College Dublin and then worked as a Senior Medical Social Worker and Deputy Head of Department in St. James Hospital. This practice experience led to her research interests in both Suicidal Behaviour and Intimate Partner Violence. From St James Hospital she was seconded by the Eastern Health Board to the Training Unit of Women's Aid, where she was both a manager and trainer.

Dr. Allen is currently the Chairwoman of Women's Aid and is a member of the Board of the Women's Therapy Centre. She is UCD's nominee on the  Board of the National Social Work Qualifications Board. She is a former member of the Board of Threshold, HAIL (Housing Association for Integrated Living) and the National Womern's Council. She represented the NWC on the Eastern Region Committee on Violence Against Women, and on the Department of Health and Children's Consultative Forum on the Review of Family Support Services.  
Her research interests, which have grown out of her practice experiences both in Ireland and abroad, include qualitative studies into the experiences of women experiencing intimate partner violence, the links between abuse of companion animals and domestic violence, evidence based social work practice in situations of domestic violence, strategies for recovery for women who have experienced systematic rape in the West African Civil Wars, non fatal suicidal behaviour, and the dilemma of gender in suicide. She has carried out research into Domestic Violence patterns and responses in Ireland and Liberia, and in conjunction with Dr.Muireann NiRaghallaigh has competed research into Violence Against Women in Ethiopia.