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Christopher Taylor Brown

PhD Student in Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley
Chapter Member: Bay Area SSN
Areas of Expertise:

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About Christopher

Brown's research focuses on understanding and evaluating the U.S. social and eco-social safety nets. Overarching themes in Brown's writings include the relationship between poverty and climate change, the influence of climate change on social policy, and comparisons of U.S. social policy with that of other nations.

Publications

"Civic Education and Social Justice: Moving Toward a Pedagogy of Community Organizing and Community-Based Participatory Methods." (with R. White, A. Pevits, and J. Martin), in Transformative Civic Education in Democratic Societies, edited by Tetyana Hoggan-Kloubert, Paul E. Mabrey III, & Chad Hoggan (Michigan State University Press, 2023).

Discusses implementing principles from community organizing and community-based participatory research into pedagogies of civic education.

"Widowhood and Mental Health: Social Predictors of Mental Health Disorders Among Widows" (with Jordan Harrold). Illness, Crisis & Loss 31, no. 2 (2023): 288-305.

Examines the relationship between three common mental health disorders—anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder—in the first year of spousal bereavement and a myriad of social factors—including the security of health insurance and the presence of children at home—among those who have been widowed. Findings elucidate the need for health and mental health providers to be attuned to the unique psychosocial needs of widows, especially among the first year of widowhood.

"The Politics of Child Welfare: Are Child Welfare Policies, Budgets and Functioning a Red/Blue Issue?" (with Maria Gandarilla Ocampo and Brett Drake). Children and Youth Services Review 132 (2022).

Examines the extent that state-level partisanship is associated with variation in child welfare policy. Findings show little to no evidence of a relationship between partisanship and most child welfare policy.