How do scientific ideas travel through government policy? A case study of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) theory in Wales.

This project is an analysis of the circulation of the scientific theory of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in Welsh policy circles. ACE is an influential, but much contested, theory of the relationship between early life and adult outcomes. This project uses qualitative and desk-based methods to ask for whom, and for what reason, the theory circulates in Welsh policy circles - and with what effects. From this case study, and as a contribution to wider debates on evidence-based policymaking, it also aims at a more general account of the movement of scientific ideas into political debates.