My review of this excellent book by Kimberly Sue — based on Boston area research — was just published. The book is a great companion volume to Can’t Catch a Break! In Getting Wrecked Kimberly Sue, an exciting young physician/anthropologist, traces the history of treatment of women drug users in Massachusetts, analyzes how today’s […]

Here’s a link to an interview with me on the Arlington local t.v. station. The show is called “Justice in the Balance”. I appreciate the opportunity to speak about diverse communities and populations disproportionately suffering during the pandemic. Justice in the Balance | Susan Sered, PhD

Olivia Canny write “We may care about having our own toilet paper, but we also care about our neighbors.” Canny juxtaposes my critique of the individualistic culture of medicalization with Anthony Williams’ wonderful insights into how people are organizing and coming together. https://fnewsapril.webflow.io/sociologists

I am very concerned that rationing guidelines in Massachusetts were crafted without input from some of the communities most impacted, especially in light of emerging evidence that people of color are getting sick and dying at much higher rates. This is what I wrote about these concerns: http://susan.sered.name/…/social-values-and-the-rationing-…/ And here is […]

According to the CDC, around 19% of the Covid-19 cases reported between mid-February and early April were health care workers. Almost three-quarters were female. In the (important and legitimate) public concern for doctors, it’s worth bearing in mind that the majority of people working close-up with patients are low-paid aides, typically […]

That’s a headline in Boston today. I have to ask: More than WHO anticipated? Everyone I know recognized the extreme vulnerability of people who stay in crowded shelters and on the street, most of whom have other health problems, none of whom have consistent access to places to wash hands, many […]

A solid study just came out that quantifies what we already knew intuitively, but it’s good to have the hard data to back our intuitions. Basically, the way the need for on-going care is calculated is based on how much already has been spent in the care of a particular […]

The Prison Policy Institute just put out an excellent report with these action steps that are critical during this pandemic: Release medically fragile and older adults. Stop charging medical co-pays in prison. Lower jail admissions to reduce “jail churn.” Reduce unnecessary parole and probation meetings. Eliminate parole and probation revocations […]

Residential institutions such as prisons are known to be pressure cookers for epidemics in that everyone is living in close quarters, often with air systems that recycle the same air over and over. Jails and prisons are particularly risky because such a high percentage of people in these institutions enter […]