ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5767-0545
Current Organisations
Southern Cross University
,
University of Adelaide
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Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 26-02-2014
Abstract: The theory of psychological essentialism provides an account of how and why some social groups are represented as if they possessed an inhering, immutable and group-defining ‘essence’. Whilst much of the empirical and theoretical work on essentialism has attended to characterising its cognitive components through the utilisation of survey measures, this article, adopting a synthetic discursive psychological approach, examines naturally-occurring conversations on talkback radio. We demonstrate how speakers attribute Sudanese refugees with essentialised cultural or tribal properties. These qualities were employed to account for the violent behaviour of Sudanese refugees, both in Sudan and in Australia, as relatively invariant and collectively shared attributes. Although participants recurrently depicted Sudanese refugees as sharing a cultural essence, these latent propensities were constructed to only manifest in the behaviour of some group members. We contend that essentialist ontologies can be established on implicit lay theories, causally linking culture to behaviour, and acting ideologically as rationalisations for illiberal and racist ends. We discuss how a discursive approach affords insights into the nuanced practice of psychological essentialism in everyday talk.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-2011
Abstract: Complaining about humanitarian refugees is rarely an unequivocal activity for society members. Their talk appears dilemmatic: ‘sympathy talk’, comprising rhetorical displays of ‘care’, tolerance and aesthetic evaluations, is woven together with more pejorative messages. In this article we investigate how ‘sympathy talk’ functions as a discursive resource in talk-in-interaction when people give accounts of minority group in iduals. A ‘synthetic’ discursive psychological approach was employed to analyse a corpus of 12 talkback radio calls to an evening ‘shock jock’ radio personality in Adelaide, Australia, after the stabbing death of a Sudanese-Australian refugee. Analysis shows how host and callers dialogically negotiate and orientate to various sympathetic and humanitarian descriptions/evaluations. We contend that sympathetic talk advances the activity of conversation, softening complaints that could be made accountable as prejudiced. Sympathy talk also functions as a counter-argument to perceived punitive or ‘racist’ complaints. Moreover, this article proposes that such rhetoric shares an ideological thread that potentially undermines Sudanese refugees’ social positioning. Dialogue that deploys sympathetic formulations may be an element in the increasingly varied and subtle activity of ‘new racism’. We discuss how sympathetic accounts contain, within their semantic structure, their own antithesis for their deployment in anti-racist practice for the development of counter discourses fundamental to the disruption of pervasive ideological representations and the construction of alternative refugee identities.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 06-03-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-04-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41370-019-0138-1
Abstract: Heatwaves have potential health and safety implications for many workers, and heatwaves are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity with climate change. There is currently a lack of comparative evidence for the effects of heatwaves on workers' health and safety in different climates (sub-tropical and temperate). This study examined the relationship between heatwave severity (as defined by the Excess Heat Factor) and workers' compensation claims, to define impacts and identify workers at higher risk. Workers' compensation claims data from Australian cities with temperate (Melbourne and Perth) and subtropical (Brisbane) climates for the years 2006-2016 were analysed in relation to heatwave severity categories (low and moderate/high severity) using time-stratified case-crossover models. Consistent impacts of heatwaves were observed in each city with either a protective or null effect during heatwaves of low-intensity while claims increased during moderate/high-severity heatwaves compared with non-heatwave days. The highest effect during moderate/high-severity heatwaves was in Brisbane (RR 1.45, 95% CI: 1.42-1.48). Vulnerable worker subgroups identified across the three cities included: males, workers aged under 34 years, apprentice/trainee workers, labour hire workers, those employed in medium and heavy strength occupations, and workers from outdoor and indoor industrial sectors. These findings show that work-related injuries and illnesses increase during moderate/high-severity heatwaves in both sub-tropical and temperate climates. Heatwave forecasts should signal the need for heightened heat awareness and preventive measures to minimise the risks to workers.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2012
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: 25-05-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVRES.2018.12.024
Abstract: The thermal environment can directly affect workers' occupational health and safety, and act as a contributing factor to injury or illness. However, the literature addressing risks posed by varying temperatures on work-related injuries and illnesses is limited. To examine the occupational injury and illness risk profiles for hot and cold conditions. Daily numbers of workers' compensation claims in Adelaide, South Australia from 2003 to 2013 (n = 224,631) were sourced together with daily weather data. The impacts of maximum daily temperature on the risk of work-related injuries and illnesses was assessed using a time-stratified case-crossover study design combined with a distributed lag non-linear model. The minimum number of workers' compensation claims occurred when the maximum daily temperature was 25 °C. Compared with this optimal temperature, extremely hot temperatures (99th percentile) were associated with an increase in overall claims (RR: 1.30, 95%CI: 1.18-1.44) whereas a non-significant increase was observed with extremely cold temperatures (1st percentile, RR: 1.10 (95%CI: 0.99-1.21). Heat exposure had an acute effect on workers' injuries whereas cold conditions resulted in delayed effects. Moderate temperatures were associated with a greater injury burden than extreme temperatures. Days of very high temperatures were associated with the greatest risks of occupational injuries whereas moderate temperatures, which occur more commonly, have the greatest burden. These findings suggest that the broader range of thermal conditions should be considered in workplace injury and illness prevention strategies.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 07-09-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-12-2017
DOI: 10.1111/ZPH.12335
Abstract: Zoonotic diseases transmitted by arthropods and rodents are a major public health concern in China. However, interventions in recent decades have helped lower the incidence of several diseases despite the country's large, frequently mobile population and socio-economic challenges. Increasing globalization, rapid urbanization and a warming climate now add to the complexity of disease control and prevention and could challenge China's capacity to respond to threats of emerging and re-emerging zoonoses. To investigate this notion, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 30 infectious disease experts in four cities in China. The case study diseases under discussion were malaria, dengue fever and haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, all of which may be influenced by changing meteorological conditions. Data were analysed using standard qualitative techniques. The study participants viewed the current disease prevention and control system favourably and were optimistic about China's capacity to manage climate-sensitive diseases in the future. Several recommendations emerged from the data including the need to improve health literacy in the population regarding the transmission of infectious diseases and raising awareness of the health impacts of climate change amongst policymakers and health professionals. Participants thought that research capacity could be strengthened and human resources issues for front-line staff should be addressed. It was considered important that authorities are well prepared in advance for outbreaks such as dengue fever in populous subtropical areas, and a prompt and coordinated response is required when outbreaks occur. Furthermore, health professionals need to remain skilled in the identification of diseases for which incidence is declining, so that re-emerging or emerging trends can be rapidly identified. Recommendations such as these may be useful in formulating adaptation plans and capacity building for the future control and prevention of climate-sensitive zoonotic diseases in China and neighbouring countries.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-03-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGPO.2018.02.023
Abstract: In Australia, recent years have seen a rise in the popularity of temporary abstinence c aigns, in which people pledge to abstain from alcohol for a month while raising funds for charity. In addition to their fundraising aims, such initiatives have been viewed as tools for broader behavioural and cultural change around alcohol, encouraging participants to reflect on their drinking and make longer-term changes to their behaviour. The extent to which these initiatives promote enduring change may depend on how they portray the experience of temporarily abstaining from alcohol, and how they position participants. We conducted a thematic discourse analysis of e-mails and website content from the 2016 editions of Dry July™ and Ocsober™, two Australian temporary abstinence c aigns. Both c aigns featured an overarching portrayal of participation as a hero's journey through sobriety, with participants embarking on a quest to fundraise for their cause, and returning from their experience transformed. However, the c aigns differed in the way they positioned participants. Dry July™ consistently positioned participants as heroes, promoting both fundraising and reflection on longer-term behaviour changes. In contrast, Ocsober™ offered varied and inconsistent positions which were less likely to engage participants or prompt enduring changes in behaviour, for ex le positioning participants as alcohol abusers or on a detox. Our findings emphasise the need to attend to how c aigns materials position participants in order to strengthen the effectiveness of such c aigns as health promotion tools.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.JIPH.2018.12.010
Abstract: Dengue is a significant climate-sensitive disease. Public health professionals play an important role in prevention and control of the disease. This study aimed to explore dengue control and prevention in the context of climate change in China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 630 public health professionals in 2015. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression were performed. More than 80% of participants from southwest and central China believed climate change would affect dengue. However, participants from northeast China were less likely to believe so (65%). Sixty-nine percent of participants in Yunnan perceived that dengue had emerged/re-emerged in recent years, compared with 40.6% in Henan and 23.8% in Liaoning. Less than 60% of participants thought current prevention and control programs had been effective. Participants believed mosquitoes in high abundance, imported cases and climate change were main risk factors for dengue in China. There were varying views of dengue in China. Professionals in areas susceptible to dengue were more likely to be concerned about climate change and dengue. Current prevention and control strategies need to be improved. Providing more information for staff in lower levels of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may help in containing a possible increase of dengue.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 28-11-2019
Abstract: Despite the strong influence our significant others have on health behaviors such as alcohol consumption, little is known about when they are willing to provide support for changing such behaviors. We conducted interviews with 13 Australian adults who had a partner, friend, or family member who stopped or significantly reduced their alcohol consumption within the past 2 years, to understand how these significant others accounted for providing support for this behavior change as reasonable. Through thematic discourse analysis, we identified three types of accounts: (a) deontological, referring to duty or obligation to support others (b) consequentialist, where costs for providing support were minimized or balanced and (c) relational, attending to the importance of maintaining relationships. By identifying the principles people draw on to justify supporting a significant other who changes their alcohol consumption, this study enhances our understanding about when significant others are likely to support health behavior changes.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2019.06.098
Abstract: The thermal working environment can have direct and in-direct effects on health and safety. Ambient temperatures have been associated with an increased risk of occupational injuries but it is unknown how the relationship can vary by weather, location and climate. To examine the relationship between ambient temperatures and work-related injury and illness compensation claims in three Australian cities: Melbourne and Perth (temperate climate) and Brisbane (subtropical climate) in order to determine how hot and cold weather influences the risk of occupational injury in Australia. Workers' compensation claims from each city for the period 2005 to 2016 were merged with local daily weather data. A time-stratified case-crossover design combined with a distributed lag non-linear model was used to quantify the impacts of daily maximum temperature (T Compared to the median maximum temperature (T The relationship between injury and ambient temperature appears to be variable depending on location and climate. In general, work-related injuries and illnesses appear to be more common at higher temperatures than lower temperatures. Adopting adaptation and prevention measures could reduce the social and economic burden of injury, and formulating effective measures for dealing with high temperatures should be prioritised given the predicted increase in the frequency and intensity of hot weather.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVRES.2016.11.009
Abstract: This study aims to (1) investigate the associations between climatic factors and dengue and (2) identify the susceptible subgroups. De-identified daily dengue cases in Guangzhou for 2005-2014 were obtained from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Weather data were downloaded from the China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System. Distributed lag non-linear models (DLNM) were used to graphically demonstrate the three-dimensional temperature-dengue association. Generalised estimating equation models (GEE) with piecewise linear spline functions were used to quantify the temperature-dengue associations. Threshold values were estimated using a broken-stick model. Middle-aged and older people, people undertaking household duties, retirees, and those unemployed were at high risk of dengue. Reversed U-shaped non-linear associations were found between ambient temperature, relative humidity, extreme wind velocity, and dengue. The optimal maximum temperature (T
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 05-2010
Abstract: The words of political elites have the potential to play a significant role in the constitution and proliferation of racist discourse, especially when this discourse has the nuanced linguistic characteristics of ‘new racism’. This article examines the political rhetoric deployed in the articulation and defence of contentious government policy on Sudanese humanitarian refugee quotas in media interviews. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, we analyse a corpus of seven political interviews and identify a number of pervasive discursive features. These include descriptions, categories and multidimensional causal narratives that characterize the Sudanese as young, violent (i.e. gang members) and uneducated the construction of ‘culture as cause’ narrative and the differential orientation to the term race. Through our analysis, we show how causal inference and category description function multifariously in political discourse, contending with situated issues of policy justification, accusations of racism and the allocation of blame which exclusively rests with African refugees. The role of causal formulations in racist discourse is discussed.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-10-2018
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 17-12-2018
DOI: 10.1017/S0950268817002254
Abstract: This study aims to investigate the climate–malaria associations in nine cities selected from malaria high-risk areas in China. Daily reports of malaria cases in Anhui, Henan, and Yunnan Provinces for 2005–2012 were obtained from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Generalized estimating equation models were used to quantify the city-specific climate–malaria associations. Multivariate random-effects meta-regression analyses were used to pool the city-specific effects. An inverted-U-shaped curve relationship was observed between temperatures, average relative humidity, and malaria. A 1 °C increase of maximum temperature ( T max ) resulted in 6·7% (95% CI 4·6–8·8%) to 15·8% (95% CI 14·1–17·4%) increase of malaria, with corresponding lags ranging from 7 to 45 days. For minimum temperature ( T min ), the effect estimates peaked at lag 0 to 40 days, ranging from 5·3% (95% CI 4·4–6·2%) to 17·9% (95% CI 15·6–20·1%). Malaria is more sensitive to T min in cool climates and T max in warm climates. The duration of lag effect in a cool climate zone is longer than that in a warm climate zone. Lagged effects did not vanish after an epidemic season but waned gradually in the following 2–3 warm seasons. A warming climate may potentially increase the risk of malaria resurgence in China.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVRES.2016.03.043
Abstract: Dengue fever is an important climate-sensitive mosquito-borne viral disease that poses a risk to half the world's population. The disease is a major public health issue in China where in 2014 a major outbreak occurred in Guangdong Province. This study aims to gauge health professionals' perceptions about the capacity of infectious disease control and prevention to meet the challenge of dengue fever in the face of climate change in Guangdong Province, China. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered among staff in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs) in Guangdong Province. Data analysis was undertaken using descriptive methods and logistic regression. In total, 260 questionnaires were completed. Most participants (80.7%) thought climate change would have a negative effect on population health, and 98.4% of participants reported dengue fever had emerged or re-emerged in China in recent years. Additionally, 74.9% of them indicated that the capability of the CDCs to detect infectious disease outbreak/epidemic at an early stage was excellent 86.3% indicated laboratories could provide diagnostic support rapidly and 83.1% believed levels of current staff would be adequate in the event of a major outbreak. Logistic regression analysis showed higher levels of CDCs were perceived to have better capacity for infectious disease control and prevention. Only 26.8% of participants thought they had a good understanding of climate change, and most (85.4%) thought they needed more information about the health impacts of climate change. Most surveyed staff suggested the following strategies to curb the public health impact of infectious diseases in relation to climate change: primary prevention measures, strengthening the monitoring of infectious diseases, the ability to actively forecast disease outbreaks by early warning systems, and more funding for public health education programs. Vigilant disease and vector surveillance, preventive practice and health promotion programs will likely be significant in addressing the threat of dengue fever in the future. Further efforts are needed to strengthen the awareness of climate change among health professionals, and to promote relevant actions to minimize the health burden of infectious diseases in a changing climate. Results will be critical for policy makers facing the current and future challenges associated with infectious disease prevention and control in China.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 11-02-2015
Abstract: Representations of climate change have been a recurrent motif in media and political domains spanning over 20 years. However, relatively scant scholarly work has addressed how laypeople make sense of this phenomenon in talk. The current study, employing a discursive approach, demonstrates how the salience of climate change, as a social issue, is accounted for and made contingent on social, financial, and political factors. Moreover, the issue of climate change was accounted for as an intergenerational issue, and moral considerations were mobilized in arguing for why the issue should be provided increased attention. We argue that science communication research could fruitfully examine the discursive building blocks underpinning taken-for-granted ways of talking about climate change, informing the design of alternative discourses.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-03-2017
DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2017.1300260
Abstract: Limiting alcohol consumption is beneficial for health, but can be challenging given the role alcohol plays in the rituals of many social occasions. We examined how people who stopped or reduced their alcohol consumption incorporated this change within their social rituals. We conducted 16 semi-structured one-on-one interviews with adults aged 25-65 years, who lived in Australia and had stopped or significantly reduced their alcohol consumption in the previous year. Through thematic analysis, we identified four approaches to adapting drinking rituals: replacing alcohol with other drinks, replacing drinking with other social activities, changing the meaning of drinking rituals and replacing drinking occasions with activities that achieve different goals. These approaches varied in the extent to which they reflected a low or high change in the meanings and/or behaviours attached to the ritual. Approaches involving little change, such as using alternative drinks, were more readily accepted by participants' social companions than approaches involving more substantial changes such as replacing drinking with activities achieving different goals. Considering both the role and meaning alcohol carries in social interactions, and how else these might be achieved, may assist people to stop or reduce their drinking, without sacrificing their social lives.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2009
DOI: 10.1002/CASP.1010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2018.04.407
Abstract: This study aims to investigate the associations between meteorological factors and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in 19 cities selected from HFRS high risk areas across different climate zones in three Provinces of China. De-identified daily reports of HFRS in Anhui, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning Provinces for 2005-2014 were obtained from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Daily weather data from each study location were obtained from the China meteorological Data Sharing Service System. Generalised estimating equation models (GEE) were used to quantify the city-specific HFRS-weather associations. Multivariate random-effects meta-regression models were used to pool the city-specific HFRS-weather effect estimates. HFRS showed an overall downward trend during the study period with a slight rebound after 2010. Meteorological factors were significantly associated with HFRS incidence. HFRS was relatively more sensitive to weather variability in subtropical regions (Anhui Province) than in temperate regions (Heilongjiang and Liaoning Provinces). The size of effect estimates and the duration of lagged effects varied by locations. Pooled results of the 19 cities showed that a 1 °C increase in maximum temperature (T
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-06-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-11-2019
DOI: 10.1007/S00420-018-1376-6
Abstract: Heatwaves, or extended periods of extreme heat, are predicted to increase in frequency, intensity and duration with climate change, but their impact on occupational injury has not been extensively studied. We examined the relationship between heatwaves of varying severity and work-related injuries and illnesses. We used a newly proposed metric of heatwave severity, the Excess Heat Factor (EHF), which accounts for local climate characteristics and acclimatization and compared it with heatwaves defined by daily maximum temperature. Work-related injuries and illnesses were identified from two administrative data sources: workers' compensation claims and work-related ambulance call-outs for the years 2003-2013 in Adelaide, Australia. The EHF metrics were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. A time-stratified case-crossover regression model was used to examine associations between heatwaves of three levels of severity, workers' compensation claims, and work-related ambulance call-outs. There was an increase in work-related ambulance call-outs and compensation claims during low and moderately severe heatwaves as defined using the EHF, and a non-significant decline during high-severity heatwaves. Positive associations were observed during moderate heatwaves in compensation claims made by new workers (RR 1.31, 95% CI 1.10-1.55), workers in medium-sized enterprises (RR 1.15, 95% CI 1.01-1.30), indoor industries (RR 1.09, 95% CI 1.01-1.17), males (RR 1.13, 95% CI 1.03-1.23) and laborers (RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.04-1.39). Workers should adopt appropriate precautions during moderately severe heatwaves, when the risks of work-related injuries and illnesses are increased. Workplace policies and guidelines need to consider the health and safety of workers during heatwaves with relevant prevention and adaptation measures.
No related grants have been discovered for Scott Hanson-Easey.