Research Guides: Sociology: Life Issues

Protests & Free Speech @ UCI

Rights of Free Speech and Academic Freedom @ UCI
Freedom of speech is a bedrock value of our constitutional system and is at the core of UCI’s mission. FAQ's and policy information, in addition to other relevant resources.

Resources Across Research Guides

Intro

Life Issues come at us in different shapes and sizes, whether it's an internal or external narrative, try to understand these phenomenon; whether your topic encompasses mental health broadly, or the topics of suicide, homelessness, addiction, bullying.

How to research these themes: Research state guidelines. Research the federal and international policies in place. Research the historical reaction to mental health. Research regional differences. Research careers in the field. Research mental health funding.

Mental Health Resources

Facts & Statistics | American Association of Suicidology
The American Association of Suicidology makes available a summary of national suicide statistics as soon as they become available from the National Center for Health Statistics. The most current statistics are from the year 2019. All documents below are in PDF format.
Suicide Rates Among Active Duty Service Members Compared with Civilian Counterparts, 2005–2014
The objective of this study was to compare military suicide rates with civilian suicide rates, adjusting for age and sex differences that exist between the two populations. The number of active component (AC) service members whose manner of death was certified as suicide was determined for specific age and sex groups for each year from 2005 to 2014.
Mental Health Statistics | National Alliance on Mental Illness
This source provides some facts about the prevalence and impact of mental illness.
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Published in 2019.
Mental Health | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The reports and other products in this section can serve as resources to public health officials and other health professionals who need up-to-date statistics and data sources around mental health and mental illness.
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This source categorizes the information by mental health risks and the different types of mental health issues.

Suicide Rates in the United States Continue to Increase by National Center for Health Statistics; Holly Hedegarrd (Author); Sally C. Curtin (Author); Margaret Warner (Author)
Publication Date: 2018
suicide rates within the United States which are increasingly seeming.

Archives of Suicide Research : Official Journal of the International Academy for Suicide Research by International Academy for Suicide Research
Publication Date: 1995-Present
This journal has annual publications about suicide ranging from different demographics from age, gender, sexualities, career paths, nationalities, socioeconomic status and living conditions. (This source has been publishing articles since 1995 is currently up to date.)
Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior by American Association of Suicidology
Publication Date: 1971-Present
Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior keeps professionals abreast of the latest research, theories, and intervention approaches for suicide and life-threatening behaviors. The journal publishes scientific research on suicidal and other life-threatening behaviors, including research from biological, psychological, and sociological approaches.
Journal of Mental Health Counseling by American Mental Health Counselors Association
Publication Date: 1997-Present
The official publication of the American Mental Health Counselors Association. (Formerly the AMHCA Journal.) Articles on mental health issues, practice, theory, editorials.
School Shootings and Student Mental Health : Roles of the School Counselor in Mitigating Violence by Allison Paolini
Publication Date: 2015
American Counseling Association's VISTAS Online article will provide an overview of the pervasiveness of gun violence in school settings within the United States.

Suicide and Mental Health Books

European Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing in the 21st Century : A Person-Centered Evidence-Based Approach by José Carlos Santos (Editor); John R. Cutcliffe (Editor)
ISBN: 9783319317724
Publication Date: 2017-06-19
This book consists of international state-of-the-art of P/MH nursing in Europe so that it can be transferred to and implemented by P/MH nurses and the broader mental health care community around the globe. As such, it will be the first genuinely 21st century European Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing book.
Suicidal : Why We Kill Ourselves by Jesse Bering
Call Number: HV6545 .B425 2018
ISBN: 9780226463322
Publication Date: 2018-10-30
In Suicidal, Bering takes us through the science and psychology of suicide, revealing its cognitive secrets and the subtle tricks our minds play on us when we're easy emotional prey.
LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care : Empowering Approaches for an Inclusive System of Care by Adam Mccormick; Kathryn Schmidt
ISBN: 9781315717159
Publication Date: 2018-06-26
Representing an often overlooked population in social work literature, this book explores the experiences of LGBTQ youth as they navigate the child welfare system. Adam McCormick examines the entirety of a youth’s experience, from referral into care and challenges to obtaining permanency to aging out or leaving care.
A Clinician's Guide to Suicide Risk Assessment and Management by Joseph Sadek
ISBN: 9783319777726
Publication Date: 2018-11-29
This book offers mental health clinicians a comprehensive guide to assessing and managing suicide risk. Suicide has now come to be understood as a multidimensionally determined outcome, which stems from the complex interaction of biological, genetic, psychological, sociological and environmental factors.
The Routledge Handbook of International Development, Mental Health and Wellbeing by Laura Davidson (Editor)
ISBN: 9780429397844
Nowhere in the world does mental health enjoy parity with physical health. Notwithstanding astonishing medical advancements in treatments for physical illnesses, mental disorder continues to have a startlingly high mortality rate. However, despite its widespread neglect, there is now an emerging international imperative to improve global mental health and wellbeing.
The Scandalous Neglect of Children's Mental Health by James M. Kauffman; Jeanmarie Badar
ISBN: 9781351165808
Children with mental health needs are under-identified and under-served by schools and other agencies. Better understand the nature of children’s mental health needs and the need for expanded services for children in schools and communities.

Food Insecurity

1 in 8 households in America do not have enough to eat.

They experience food insecurity.

They live life in fear of hunger.

Photographer Brenda Ann Kenneally, in a photo essay for The Times Magazine captures hunger during the 2020 pandemic.

Bullying

A Global Perspective of Young Adolescents' Peer Aggression and Well-Being
ISBN: 0429426798
Publication Date: 2019-07-19
Reporting on the findings from a study of young people across 11 different world locations. Dive into the poorly understood nexus of peer aggression and bullying through the use of statistical data from questionnaires, as well as the students' own words and illustrations.

Anti-Defamation League - Orange County
Known for 'No Place for Hate' education programming, defense of the region’s Jewish population and willingness to fight for justice for all people. Actively collects occurrences of hate in Orange County and Long Beach. Report for more support.

Formerly Incarcerated & Reentry

Journal of Prisoners on Prisons
A prisoner written, academically oriented and peer reviewed, open access, non-profit journal, based on the tradition of the penal press. Also @ jpp.org
Punishment & Society
International research dealing with punishment, penal institutions and penal control, focus intersects with historical and contemporary analyses of race, class, gender, and ethnicity.
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation
Presents empirical research and critical analyses of criminal justice program policies, practices, and services.

Halfway house : prisoner reentry and the shadow of carceral care by Martin, Liam
ISBN: 9781479800711
Martin asks us to rethink the possibilities--and pitfalls--of using halfway houses to manage the worst excesses of mass incarceration. A portrait of life in the long shadow of the carceral state, Halfway House lets us see the struggles of reentry through the eyes of former prisoners.

Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC)
Provides a support network, comprehensive reentry services, and opportunities to advocate for policy change to transform the criminal justice system .
Underground Scholars
Creates a pathway for incarcerated, formerly incarcerated and system impacted individuals into higher education.

Unhoused

PolicyMap
PolicyMap is a data and mapping tool that covers a range of information regarding thing such as homelessness and demographics data within North America.

Homelessness among US Veterans : Critical Perspectives by Jack Tsai (Editor)
ISBN: 9780190695132
Publication Date: 2018-12-13
Jack Tsai's newly published book covers the effects of homelessness on veterans suffering from mental illnesses, substance abuse, lack of primary care, and other collective issues that have surfaced over the years.
Encyclopedia of Homelessness by David Levinson (Editor)
Call Number: HV4493 .E53 2004
ISBN: 9780761927518
Publication Date: 2004-06-21
The Encyclopedia of Homelessness is the first systematic effort to organize and summarize what we know about this complex topic which impacts not only the homeless but all of society.
Containment and Condemnation by David Ray Papke
ISBN: 9781609175887
Publication Date: 2019-01-01
This online book describes the oppressive experiences that the urban poor experience within our American Society.
A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty by Suzanne Le Menestrel (Editor); Greg Duncan (Editor)
ISBN: 9780309483988
Publication Date: 2019-11-28
A wealth of evidence suggests that a lack of adequate economic resources for families with children compromises these children’s ability to grow and achieve adult success, hurting them and the broader society.