Doctoral Dissertation Research: Changing Perceptions of Social Withdrawal in Quarantine
- Funded by National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Total publications:0 publications
Grant number: 2116159
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Key facts
Disease
COVID-19Start & end year
20212022Known Financial Commitments (USD)
$3,780Funder
National Science Foundation (NSF)Principal Investigator
Joseph HankinsResearch Location
United States of AmericaLead Research Institution
University of California-San DiegoResearch Priority Alignment
N/A
Research Category
Policies for public health, disease control & community resilience
Research Subcategory
Approaches to public health interventions
Special Interest Tags
N/A
Study Type
Non-Clinical
Clinical Trial Details
N/A
Broad Policy Alignment
Pending
Age Group
Unspecified
Vulnerable Population
Unspecified
Occupations of Interest
Unspecified
Abstract
This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).
As of the summer of 2021, the global COVID-19 pandemic is well into its second year, with fresh waves of infection and uncertainty driven by local variants and uneven global handling of the virus. Communities have struggled to adjust to life in full- and partial- quarantine. This doctoral dissertation research project contributes to efforts to address mental health issues brought to light during quarantine, by considering the specific ways that attitudes toward mental health in quarantine have been reconceptualized. In addition to providing funding for the training of a graduate student in anthropology in the methods of empirical, scientific data collection and analysis, this project d disseminates findings and data to further public education about science and the scientific method, and leverages collaborative networks to build the capacity to conduct future research on mental health. The project also broadens the participation of groups historically underrepresented in science. Additionally, attention to how quarantined people address their lonely experiences inform initiatives to address the putative "loneliness epidemic" striking the U.S, even after the pandemic.
This dissertation research project examines how constructions and conceptions of mental health and illness are transformed during periods of social upheaval. The research explores shifts in perceptions and experiences of a group of long-term stay-at-home social recluses, due to widespread quarantines in response to COVID-19. While the study population has historically experienced stigma for their potential mental health issues, quarantine forced a shift in public sentiment, and caused the public to ask what they might learn from a population that lives in isolation. In return, the shift in sentiment has prompted potentially permanent changes in their experiences. Through interviews, participant observation, and surveys this ethnographic study offers insight into the changed views of self-imposed isolation, changes in conceptions of mental health, and the experiences of quarantine. The intellectual findings contribute to anthropological theories of the constructions of illness, and science and technology studies on the relationship of society and psychiatric categories.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
As of the summer of 2021, the global COVID-19 pandemic is well into its second year, with fresh waves of infection and uncertainty driven by local variants and uneven global handling of the virus. Communities have struggled to adjust to life in full- and partial- quarantine. This doctoral dissertation research project contributes to efforts to address mental health issues brought to light during quarantine, by considering the specific ways that attitudes toward mental health in quarantine have been reconceptualized. In addition to providing funding for the training of a graduate student in anthropology in the methods of empirical, scientific data collection and analysis, this project d disseminates findings and data to further public education about science and the scientific method, and leverages collaborative networks to build the capacity to conduct future research on mental health. The project also broadens the participation of groups historically underrepresented in science. Additionally, attention to how quarantined people address their lonely experiences inform initiatives to address the putative "loneliness epidemic" striking the U.S, even after the pandemic.
This dissertation research project examines how constructions and conceptions of mental health and illness are transformed during periods of social upheaval. The research explores shifts in perceptions and experiences of a group of long-term stay-at-home social recluses, due to widespread quarantines in response to COVID-19. While the study population has historically experienced stigma for their potential mental health issues, quarantine forced a shift in public sentiment, and caused the public to ask what they might learn from a population that lives in isolation. In return, the shift in sentiment has prompted potentially permanent changes in their experiences. Through interviews, participant observation, and surveys this ethnographic study offers insight into the changed views of self-imposed isolation, changes in conceptions of mental health, and the experiences of quarantine. The intellectual findings contribute to anthropological theories of the constructions of illness, and science and technology studies on the relationship of society and psychiatric categories.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.