Author: Haley McNiff

Opinion / Population & Demography / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Organizations & Work

The Most Taxing Job in the World? How Nurses Get and Stay Motivated

Those of us who have done work that involves taking care of others – of children, the elderly, and especially the sick – know that this type of work is both emotionally and physically draining. This has never been more true than over the past few years, with the COVID-19 pandemic putting unprecedented amounts of pressure on care workers across the world. Nurses, in particular, have been at the most intense frontlines of the pandemic. In addition to being exposed...

Class & Stratification / Opinion / Research Brief / Sociology of Children / Sociology of the Family

UK Secondary Education Social Mobility and Links to the PATA Theory

Financial disadvantage for children and families in the UK is a historical, persistent, and increasing issue, which affects young people’s long-term future well-being and life chances (The Equality Trust, 2022; Social Mobility Commission, 2014). For students in secondary education the achievement gap between those from low socio-economic (SES) households and their more affluent peers continues to increase, amplifying inequalities and disrupting opportunities for progression (HM Government, 2015; 2017, 2021).  Social mobility in an educational context focuses on how best to...

Applied Sociology / Opinion / Research Brief / Science & Technology / Sociology of Health & Illness

What is Medical AI Good For?

The use of artificial intelligence has grown rapidly, especially in the field of medicine, with the promise of offering advances ranging from more efficient diagnoses to safer treatments. Yet, this promise overlooks the fact that artificial intelligence still faces some pretty serious limitations, you know, the kind of limitations that prevent the machine from operating like we see in television and movies. Simply stated, artificial intelligence is still not yet that intelligent. Yes, artificial intelligence can do well at particular...

Black man raising fist in protest amidst crowd

Opinion / Peace, War & Social Conflict / Research Brief / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Tweeting Abolition in an Age of Mass Incarceration and Social Unrest, Part II: From the Margins to the Mainstream

Abolition, from police abolition to prison abolition, is largely thought about as being a pretty radical theory. Even amongst critical criminologists who argue against mass incarceration, the torture of solitary confinement, or the racist nature of the over surveillance, policing, and sentencing of Black and Latinx folks, abolition is often seen as an extremist or unrealistic response to a broken system. Identifying concrete ways of fixing problematic aspects of the system is for many preferable than wanting to tear the...

Opinion / Peace, War & Social Conflict / Research Brief / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Tweeting Abolition in an Age of Mass Incarceration and Social Unrest, Part I: What is Abolition?

For many people in the United States and the world over, 2020 was a pivotal year for learning about and engaging in radical protests against extrajudicial killings of Black and Latinx people by police officers. It was a year that brought a lot of attention to the now common slogan “defund the police,” especially after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd. As the world had also come to a screeching halt because of the global Coronavirus pandemic, with...