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The purpose of this study is to examine the effect gender has on the public perceptions of offenders with mental health issues. The authors aim to understand how offenders with mental illness are viewed by the public so future information and practices can be implemented to further educate on the topic of mental illness. Research has shown that mental health education can be a pivotal part of reducing risk and crime among the mentally ill population.

This study applies a quantitative design using vignettes. There were four scenarios, two as controls, and two experimental variables to examine how responses differed depending on gender and mental health. Twenty statements then followed each vignette and participants were asked to share how much they aligned their opinions with each statement on a five-point Likert scale. The sample was comprised of 80 participants.

The findings of this study largely support the relevant literature on the topic of gender and mental illness in offenders. Overall, the public was the least supportive of female offenders with mental illness, followed by male offenders with mental illness, then male offenders and lastly the most support was directed towards female offenders. Therefore, the present study’s initial hypotheses are also supported in that female offenders will garner a more sympathetic reaction than their male counterparts. However, if female offenders have mental health issues, they are viewed more negatively than males.

For future replication of this study, the authors consider that a larger and more gender-balanced sample size would increase the ecological validity of the findings. Despite this, the findings of this study do fall in line with the relevant literature. Therefore, suggesting perhaps that the gender of the sample does not affect the overall outcome of the results.

Education regarding mental health for the public should be implemented as research has found this effective in de-stigmatising and helping to create protective factors to reduce offending. More training is needed for professionals within the criminal justice system, including police personnel, to ensure they are better equipped to consider the needs and behaviours of mentally ill individuals. The authors suggest that mental health awareness should be taught as part of the education system in the UK to help de-stigmatise and share helpful resources. The prison system in the UK needs to be able to provide better treatment programmes for inmates with mental health issues as research shows this is the most effective form of treatment at reducing recidivism.

The social implications of this study are that it aims to understand perceptions of mental illness, gender and offending and, therefore, use the conclusions drawn to inform what is needed to improve perceptions if necessary. De-stigmatising and acknowledging mental illness can allow for better access to appropriate treatment. Facilitating reintegration back into society, and, therefore, increasing peer support which has been shown to reduce reoffending rates within the mentally ill population.

There are very few research studies looking at the impact of both gender and mental illness on how offenders are perceived. Most relevant research tends to either pick one or the other and therefore the present study is unique. In addition, most established research looks at the perception of a specific population. Whereas the present study has used a small but broad UK participant sample which is likely to be more generalisable. Finally, the results of this research have been able to both meet the aims of the study and accept the proposed hypotheses.

Discrimination and bullying contribute to mental ill-health in the workplace. At face value, they would seem linked but are often dealt with by different legislations. Workplace studies generally focus on bullying and population studies on discrimination. The authors aimed to evaluate the prevalence and relationship of discrimination and bullying in a male-dominated workforce, associated factors and relative impact on mental ill-health.

An online cohort survey was conducted amongst employees of an Australian mining company, measuring discrimination, bullying, demographics and workplace and health factors over two months. Cross-sectional and prospective analyses assessed the prevalence of each, their association and their effects on depression and anxiety.

A total of 580 employees (82% male) participated. There was no association between workplace bullying (n = 56, 9.7%) and discrimination (n = 160, 27.6%). Discrimination, but not bullying, was associated with higher depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation and lower well-being and resilience. After controlling for demographic, workplace and health and well-being factors, depression had the main effect on discrimination ß = 0.39, p = 0.003. Discrimination predicted an increase in depression scores at follow-up F (1, 129) = 4.88, p = 0.029.

In this male-dominated industry, discrimination was more prevalent than bullying. Discrimination, but not bullying, was associated with poorer mental health both cross sectionally and prospectively. Supporting the need to assess and manage discrimination and bullying in the workplace independently and the need for interventions to reduce a broader range of adverse interpersonal behaviours.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of health on wages of Australian workers, with a focus on gender differences and the role of macroeconomic conditions in the effects.

The first 15 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey are used to estimate a wage model that accounts for the endogeneity of health, unobserved heterogeneity and sample selection bias.

The results show that, after accounting for the endogeneity of health, unobserved heterogeneity and sample selection bias, better health increases wages for Australian male workers, but not for female workers. The results also show that accounting for the endogeneity of health, unobserved heterogeneity and potential sample selection bias is important in estimating the effects of health on wages. In particular, a simple ordinary least squares estimator would underestimate the effect of health on wages for males, while overestimate it for females, and simply addressing the endogeneity of health using instrumental variables could overestimate the effect for both genders. It is also found that the effects of health on wages fall under depressed macroeconomic conditions, perhaps due to reduced job mobility and increased presentism during a recession.

This study adds to the international literature on the effects of health on wages by providing empirical evidence from Australia. The model applied to estimate the effects takes advantage of a panel dataset to address the bias resulting potentially from all the sources of the endogeneity of health, unobserved heterogeneity and sample selection. The results indeed show that failing to address these issues would substantially bias the estimated effects of health on wages.

Wellbeing evaluation using ordered categorical response data is hazardous given the scale dependent nature of most measures of wellbeing and inequality. Here, scale independent instruments for measuring levels of wellbeing and inequalities between groups in multidimensional ordered categorical environments are introduced and applied in a study of health and consumption wellbeing and the aging process in twenty‐first century China. Urban/rural location, gender, age and the availability of welfare support were considered circumstances in what is in essence a study of equality of opportunity in the acquisition of health and consumption wellbeing in Chinas’ aging population. Older populations are found to experience diminished and increasingly diverse wellbeing outcomes that are, to some extent, ameliorated by welfare support.

The medicalization thesis derives from a classic theme in the field of medical sociology. It addresses the broader issue of the power of medicine – as a culture and as a profession – to define and regulate social behavior. This issue was introduced into sociology 50 years ago by Talcott Parsons (1951) who suggested that medicine was a social institution that regulated the kind of deviance for which the individual was not held morally responsible and for which a medical diagnosis could be found. The agent of social control was the medical profession, an institutionalized structure in society that had been given the mandate to restore the health of the sick so that they could resume their expected role obligations. Inherent in this view of medicine was the functionalist perspective on the workings of society: the basic function of medicine was to maintain the established division of labor, a state that guaranteed the optimum working of society. For 20 years, the Parsonian interpretation of how medicine worked – including sick-role theory and the theory of the profession of medicine – dominated the bourgeoning field of medical sociology.

This paper seeks to assess the oral health status and behaviour of a sample of the Mauritian population visiting private dental clinics.

Oral health status was determined using the World Health Organization (Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT) index indicating the prevalence of caries, and factors associated with oral health behaviour were investigated. Cross‐sectional data on oral health behaviour and demographic characteristics were collected through a structured 22‐item self‐designed survey questionnaire administered to a randomly selected sample of 250 Mauritians visiting private dental clinics. The data were statistically analysed to examine associations between oral health variables.

Analyses revealed significant correlations between DMFT scores, age and socioeconomic status. Over 80 per cent of the children below the age of 11 had DMFT scores higher than the acceptable WHO value of 3, and most adults older than 45 years had DMFT scores higher than 7. A large majority (85 per cent) reported using both fluoride toothpaste and tongue scrapers, but none reported using dental floss. Those who brushed teeth only once daily had high DMFT scores. Among males, smokers had significantly higher mean DMFT than non‐smokers. Females demonstrated better rates of good oral health behaviour than males. Respondents from higher socioeconomic classes were between three to five times more likely to visit dental clinics than those from lower classes.

This study reveals the need for intervention programmes to raise awareness of good oral health practices among the Mauritian people.

The results identified the high risk groups and highlighted the need for dental education, taking into consideration socioeconomic status and sociodemographics in order to enable Mauritians to become oral‐hygiene‐conscious and active partners for the management of oral health and prevention of systemic diseases.

School counselors are committed to serving students' social-emotional, postsecondary, and academic needs while they navigate primary and secondary school (American School Counselor Association, 2019). Much has been said about the ways in which school counselors can impact postsecondary outcomes and social emotional health. It is important that we also address the ways school counselors can impact positive academic outcomes as it is intertwined in postsecondary options and success. For Black males, academic success has traditionally been met with systemic barriers (i.e., school-to-prison pipeline, lower graduation rates, lower incomes, higher unemployment rates, and lower college going rates (National Center for Edcuation Statisitics, 2019a, 2019b, 2020a, 2020b) and low expectations. School counselors are charged to be leaders and change agents for social justice and equity in our schools by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2019) and can impact systemic change. This chapter will explore ways in which school counselors can impact positive academic outcomes for Black males. School counselors as change agents and advocates are positioned to make a real impact for Black male academic success. The authors will also provide some recommendations and best practices for elementary, middle, and high school counselors as they work with students, teachers, and families from an anti-deficit model as outlined by Harper (2012).

In a health survey of Finnish prisoners in 2006, the authors aimed to study frequency and gender differences in childhood physical and sexual abuse, and the connections of maltreatment in childhood to substance abuse and mental health among female and male prisoners.

The sample consisted of 101 female prisoners, with 309 male prisoners for comparison. The subjects participated in a comprehensive field study consisting of several questionnaires, interviews, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Axis I and II Disorders (SCID I, II) and a clinical medical examination including ICD‐10 diagnoses.

Both forms of abuse were more common among females than males (childhood physical abuse 25 per cent versus 15 per cent and childhood sexual abuse 32 per cent versus 7 per cent). Associations of childhood abuse with substance abuse and mental health were different among males and females. Family integrity was important only for males and in connection with drug dependence and antisocial personality disorder. The gender differences did not concur with those reported in studies on general populations.

This is a part of the first comprehensive health survey of Finnish prisoners.

We assessed the differential effects of social expenditures on males and females by establishing the impact of public expenditures on education and health on gender parity in primary and secondary enrollment and on gender parity in life expectancy for Nigeria given age dependency ratio, annual population growth rate, and GDP per capita growth rate. We found that increased social spending on health and education increased female education enrollment which was hitherto lower than male enrollment. Again, increased social expenditure on health and education improved male life expectancy which was hitherto lower than female life expectancy. We established the importance of increased social expenditure on health and education; gender budgeting and gender-sensitive budgets; and implementation of inclusive growth policies in engendering gender parity in Nigeria.

The construction industry (CI) is known for heavy workloads and long working hours. Consequently, quantity surveyors (QSs) find it difficult to integrate work with life. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify the causes and consequences of poor life management (LM) in both female and male QSs working for contractors at construction sites and strategies that would improve the LM of the QSs.

The study adopted a mixed research approach by conducting semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey to identify the significant causes and consequences of poor LM in QSs and strategies that would improve the LM of the QSs. Manual content analysis and mean weighted rating (MWR) were used to analyze the collected data.

Heavy workloads are the most significant cause of poor LM in QSs. The study found that male QSs are highly addicted to substance use and that female QSs lose sleep because of poor LM. Teamwork is the most significant strategy that would enhance the LM of both female and male QSs working at sites.

The traditional work–life balance refers to the harmony between work and non-work lives of an individual. LM is associated with five spheres of life: work, family life, health, social life and spiritual life. Given that, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous studies have focused on LM, this study becomes significant because it identifies the causes and consequences of poor LM of QSs working in the CI and the strategies that would enhance the LM of the QSs.