How does social science help improve life expectancy? By examining health risks amongst vulnerable populations and addressing inequalities that impact wellbeing.
Continue reading “Improving Health and Life Expectancy”
A look back at Australia’s enduring class struggle for power and how billionaires appeal to working-class ideals.
Continue reading “Sociology of Class and Australian Politics”
Indigenous communities in remote areas face problems of access and relevance when it comes to mental health services. In areas such as Darwin and Alice Springs, where mental health practitioners are so far away that they need to be flown in, mental health delivery is costly.
Continue reading “Culturally Relevant Mental Health Services for Indigenous Youth”
I’m going to start doing shorter blog posts along with my usual longer analyses. These quick posts will be part of my Social Science Snack series, which will show how research can improve business, the community sector and social media. My aim is to write about social science research in a way that makes the academic language and ideas more widely accessible. I also focus on providing solutions to specific organisational problems.
Today’s Social Science Snack is about how community health services might empower patients.
Continue reading “How to Empower Patients”
Social policy makers need ongoing research into the social behaviour of crowds. This is partly about urban planning, such as management of landscapes, improving infrastructure, decreasing traffic congestion and so on. Governments also need to understand crowd behaviour because local communities need to improve social service delivery.
Continue reading “Social Science of Crowds”
CNN reports that in response to the neglect of elderly family members, the Chinese government amended The “Law of Protection of Rights and Interests of the Aged” in December. The new legislation addressed cases of neglect of elderly parents, such as one reported case where an elderly family member was kept in a pigsty. This is an interesting case that I will explore in comparison to the management of aged care in various societies, including China, Sweden, Japan, the UK and Australia.
Continue reading “Impact of Aged Care and Social Policy on Families”
On Sociology at Work, a not-for-profit that I run, Scott Burrows writes about his work addressing youth unemployment in picturesque Illawara, in regional New South Wales, Australia. Scott works a sociologist and research consultant for private industry.
Continue reading “Research Consultancy to Improve Civic Participation”
Societies make many negative assumptions about the types of young people who are forced into criminal activity, and why this might occur. Yet, as Sociology professor Randy Blazak points out, youth voices are often missing from these discussions. Professor Blazak talks about the problem of labelling at-risk youth “gang members.” He notes that not listening to these youth’s experiences can become a “self-fulling prophecy.” He explains: “People don’t get better when you focus on the bad stuff.” In sociology, we know this as labelling theory.
Continue reading “Including Youth in Community Consulting”
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