The Centre of Social Issues Research

The centre brings together Faculty and students interested in how social roles, systems and processes impact on well-being and behaviour. It places particular emphasis on the role of social and political contexts on differences and division in society, particularly in terms of lived experience. For this reason we are interested in issues such as social support, social inclusion and exclusion, prejudice and discrimination and their relationship to health and well-being. We are also interested in factors that promote social responsibility and pro-social behaviour. The centre is a diverse group of researchers brought together by an interest in understanding and tackling contemporary social problems. Various strands of research focus on the health consequences associated with social roles, in particular related to social support and care-giving, the relationship of these roles to decision making, cognition and emotion, and how these process may facilitate adjustment and well being. Our centre includes researchers with a wide range of expertise from traditional experimental and psychometric survey methods through to critical qualitative methodology. We use a vibrant and collaborative research approach to seek convergent evidence to enhance understanding of contemporary social ills and gains.