In 2018, I heard about a thing called “conservatorship,” checked google scholar and discovered there was virtually nothing scholarly written on it for decades, and launched into a slow-moving, part-time research project on it. Fast forward three years, and Britney Spears’ conservatorship (no, it’s not the same kind) is trending on twitter and a few… Continue reading Misadventures in ‘Public’ Sociology
In 2017, Republicans had a chance to “repeal and replace” Obamacare and quickly realized that they were going to have to replace it with either a) something terrible or b) something that looked a lot like Obamacare. In 2021, some advocates are talking about repealing and replacing the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act—the “Magna Carta” for the mentally… Continue reading Repeal and Replace LPS?
Thanks to a wave of recent publicity, the “Free Britney Spears” movement is creating momentum to free some of the 1.3 million Americans under legal guardianship. Guardianships—or “conservatorships” in California—allow a court to designate a third party to control someone’s finances, make medical decisions on their behalf, and decide where they live; the ACLU calls the “greatest deprivation of… Continue reading Free Britney? Better to Reform Conservatorship for Everyone.
NYU just gave our students 48 hours to clear out of the dorms and head “home” (with a “high bar” for “exceptions”) and I, somehow, decided this was the right time to send out an e-mail laying out my plans for the rest of the semester. Perhaps naively, I told my students that my goal… Continue reading Teaching in the Time of Corona
The debate over SB 1045 could use more research and data beyond a few much-cited statistics (like the number of people leaving PES without a referral or the lack of spots in intensive case management). This brief is based on research conducted over 18 months on long-term care and conservatorship in California. With a group… Continue reading Brief on SB 1045
Thank god for scientology. Or, more specifically, the “Commission des Citoyens pour les Droits de l’Hommes,” a front organization for the church dedicated to denouncing the “human rights violations” of French psychiatry. Their broad-brush condemnation of medication is probably unhelpful. But they are, as far as I can tell, the only group that has put… Continue reading The Shame(lessness) of the States
The title of this blog post is a reference to Mario Small’s oft-cited paper, “How Many Cases Do I Need?”, on sampling in qualitative research. His title, I think, is a play on the fact that most qualitative researchers don’t actually want to think about sampling in qualitative research. As such, we usually respond in… Continue reading “How many black authors do I need?”
My twitter and facebook feeds are lighting up: if you need help, call 1-800-273-8255 (The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline). Reach out—you’d be amazed how many people have struggled too. And, in time, get (professional) help—it helps. That last bit should come with an asterix. I’ve been struck lately by the narratives I’ve read—from this piece… Continue reading Getting Help
I was Vladimir Lenin for Halloween in 2002. I have absolutely no recollection as to why—I’m pretty sure I leaned liberal democrat at the time, of the sort that Lenin might call a “petty bourgeois philistine”, and not revolutionary communist. But it seems important because, apparently, I knew who Vladimir Lenin was when I was… Continue reading Vladimir
My students are anxious, and they’re not making it up. A meta-analysis of surveys found that one-third of college students met criteria for a mood disorder, with higher rates among women, first generation college students, and racial minorities. Since many of my students are all three, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that a half-dozen… Continue reading TA (Teaching Anxiety)
