Department of Social Policy and Intervention

The Department of Social Policy and Intervention is a multidisciplinary centre of excellence for research and teaching in social policy, the development and systematic evaluation of social interventions, and population studies. It carries out both applied and basic research and is home to a global community of academics and researchers with a range of disciplinary backgrounds, including social policy, sociology, demography, political science, geography and psychology. Our graduate students are engaged in the study of comparative social policy - exploring welfare systems and policy developments across a range of different countries; and of evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation - learning about the development and evaluation of interventions to address social and public health problems. At undergraduate level, we teach an option course on Social Policy within the PPE and Modern History degrees. We also teach Demography on the Human Sciences degree. The department’s research is international in outlook. We have contributed to academic debate and our work has had a significant impact on policy and practice, from the way in which government funds are allocated to the delivery of local programmes. Our two main research clusters are the Oxford Institute of Social Policy (OISP) and the Centre for Evidence-Based Social Intervention (CEBI). In addition, we host the interdepartmental Centre for AIDS Interdisciplinary Research at Oxford (CAIRO).

All episodes

Title	Description	People	Date
Who are we? Contesting and transforming racialised histories and futures in the Carolean era	This talk draws on the ways racialisation features in contemporary society and raise basic, but vexed questions about identities and the stories we tell to account for ourselves and contemporary social relations.	Ann Phoenix	15 November, 2022
S2E3: Thinking Futures	This episode’s discussion with three African writers and cultural practitioners asks how we imagine the future in situations where we may lack resources or feel cut off from opportunities.	Aleya Kassam, Mako Muzenda, Jonny Steinberg, Elleke Boehmer	1 February, 2022
S2E2: Employment as Accelerator	This episode’s conversation explores the practical ways in which jobs can be created as an intervention for young people on the African continent.	Lukas Hensel, Kebba-Omar Jagne, Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah, Elleke Boehmer	1 February, 2022
S2E1: Narrative, intervention, motivation	This episode is a conversation about how storytelling works in empowering ways in in situations of intervention in African contexts.	Alude Mahali, Robert Muponde, Tamsen Rochat, Elleke Boehmer	1 February, 2022
S1E4: Adolescence, narrative and storytelling	This episode hosts a discussion reflecting on the meeting points between narrative and adolescence.	Elleke Boehmer, Oluwafemi Oyebode, Caroline Adjimi, Hermann Wittenberg	6 February, 2020
S1E3: Performance and Adolescence	This episode explores the relationship between performance and selfhood in adolescent lives.	Elleke Boehmer, Alude Mahali, Alexandra Georgakopoulou, Kopano Ratele	6 February, 2020
S1E2: Adolescence and Care	This epsiode addresses the role of care in adolescence in African contexts.	Chris Desmond, Olayinka Omigbodun, Cindi Katz, Lucie Cluver	6 February, 2020
S1E1: Violence and Adolescence	This episode explores the impact of violence in the lives of young people, both in African contexts and beyond.	Elleke Boehmer, Diana Walters, Patricia Daley, Heidi Stöckl	6 February, 2020
Results from the INCLUSIVE trial of a whole-school health intervention: outcomes, mediators and processes	The intervention targeted secondary schools and consisted of training for teachers in restorative practice, setting up action groups in schools, and a student social and emotional skills curriculum.	Chris Bonell	16 January, 2019
Robust Research - A practical guide	A look at the Robust Research Initiative at the University of Oxford	Verena Heise	16 January, 2019
What Next for Social Policy	Professor Fiona Williams explores how contemporary social movements – especially those around gender, race, migration, disability, austerity and the environment – pose material, political and ethical questions as to how we are to live our lives.	Fiona Williams	9 November, 2018
Children and Social Policy in Europe	A lecture given for the Meeting Minds Alumni Weekend 2018.	Mary Daly	20 September, 2018
When and why do (survey) experimental treatment effects generalise?	Part of the 'Methodological Developments in Social Policy and Intervention' series, Trinity 2018	Thomas Leeper	13 June, 2018
What should we do about social care, and why?	Part of the 'Perspectives on Social Policy at Oxford' series, Hilary Term 2018	Andrew Dilnot	11 June, 2018
How does social progress in Britain since 1950 compare with that in “peer” countries?	Part of the 'Perspectives on Social Policy at Oxford' series, Hilary Term 2018	Anthony Heath	11 June, 2018
Social Policy, Interdisciplinary Area Studies and Oxford University: lessons from the study of Japan	Part of the 'Perspectives on Social Policy at Oxford' series, Hilary Term 2018	Roger Goodman	11 June, 2018
Political philosophy and social policy: the concept of poverty	Part of the 'Perspectives on Social Policy at Oxford' series, Hilary Term 2018	Jonathan Wolff	11 June, 2018
Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage	The role of area-based interventions in tackling child poverty.	Jane Barlow	29 November, 2017
Why should we have trust in numbers? Making evidence more reliable, and empowering people to check it	Professor David Spiegelhalter, , Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge delivers the annual Sidney Ball lecture at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford	David Spiegelhalter	2 November, 2017
Britain, Europe and Social Policy	For the 2016 Sidney Ball Memorial Lecture, Professor Colin Crouch, Vice-President for Social Sciences, gives a talk on European social policies.	Colin Crouch	11 November, 2016
Inside the 'Black Box' of the Family	The family is often seen as one unit, sharing resources equally, with money being neutral whatever its origin or purpose. But research by Fran Bennett suggests this is too simple.	Fran Bennett	19 September, 2016
Anti-Deinstitutionalization and Anti-Institutionalization for Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses: Finding Common Ground	The 2015 Sidney Ball Memorial Lecture, Anti-Deinstitutionalization and Anti-Institutionalization for Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses: Finding Common Ground, delivered by Dr Phyllis Solomon, University of Pennsylvania.	Phyllis Solomon	18 December, 2015
Parenting then and now: Has support policy and practice kept up with the evidence?	Stephen Scott, Institute of Psychiatry, King' College, London, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Hilary Term 2014, celebrating 100 years of social enquiry at Oxford University's Department of Social Policy and Intervention.	Stephen Scott	12 August, 2015
How to reduce global homicide rates by 70 percent: Learning from past successes to inform future policies	Manuel Eisner, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Hilary Term 2014, celebrating 100 years of social enquiry at Oxford University's Department of Social Policy and Intervention.	Manuel Eisner	12 August, 2015
Recurring themes in the history of social work: where to now?	Ann Buchanan, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Hilary Term 2014, celebrating 100 years of social enquiry at Oxford University's Department of Social Policy and Intervention.	Ann Buchanan	12 August, 2015
The EU and national welfare: The shifting boundaries of solidarity	Maurizio Ferrera, Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Hilary Term 2014.	Maurizio Ferrera	3 June, 2015
Constructing unemployment: Historical perspectives	Noel Whiteside, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Hilary Term 2014, celebrating 100 years of social enquiry at Oxford University's Department of Social Policy and Intervention.	Noel Whiteside	3 June, 2015
Lessons from history? Charity, mutual aid and the origins of the 'Big Society	Bernard Harris, School of Applied Social Sciences, University of Strathclyde, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Michaelmas Term 2013.	Bernard Harris	3 June, 2015
It takes a village: Meeting the complex needs of poverty-impacted youth and their families, locally and globally	Mary McKay, Professor and Director, McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, New York University, delivered the Astor Visiting Lecture on 21 May 2015.	Mary McKay	27 May, 2015
Research, Policy, and Societal Perspectives on New Psychoactive Substances	Part four of the 'Interventional Perspectives on Substance Use and Misuse' seminar series which took place in Hilary Term 2014.	Harry Sumnall	19 May, 2015
Alcohol Policy and Its Societal impact	Part three of the 'Interventional Perspectives on Substance Use and Misuse' seminar series which took place in Hilary Term 2014.	Colin Drummond	19 May, 2015
Adolescent Substance Use: What Do We Think We Know, Should We Intervene and if so, When?	Part two of the 'Interventional Perspectives on Substance Use and Misuse' seminar series which took place in Hilary Term 2014.	Alex Sutherland	19 May, 2015
Drug Control, Human Rights and Bridging 'Parallel Universes'	Part one of the 'Interventional Perspectives on Substance Use and Misuse' seminar series which took place in Hilary Term 2014.	Rick Lines	19 May, 2015
The Major Assumptions of Evidence-Based Policy: Bringing Empirical Evidence to Bear	The Sidney Ball Memorial Lecture 2014 given by Professor Tom Cook.	Tom Cook	4 November, 2014
Barnett House Centenary Reunion Weekend Keynote Lecture	Magdalena Sepulveda, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, gives the keynote lecture for the Department of Social Policy and intervention Barnet House Centenary Weekend.	Magdalena Sepulveda	14 July, 2014
Making a Difference: Policy, Practice and Human Rights	Jacqueline Bhabha gives a the centinary alumni lecture for the Department of Social Policy and Intervention on the challenges and successes of defending the human rights of refugees and immigrants	Jacqueline Bhabha	14 May, 2014
A brief history of randomised controlled trails in education (over the last 100 years)	Professor Carole Torgerson, Durham University, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Michaelmas Term 2013, celebrating 100 years of social enquiry at Oxford University's Department of Social Policy and Intervention.	Carole Torgerson	26 February, 2014
Warfare and the welfare state: causal mechanisms and effects	Professor Herbert Obinger, University of Bremen, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Michaelmas Term 2013, celebrating 100 years of social enquiry at Oxford University's Department of Social Policy and Intervention.	Herbert Obinger	26 February, 2014
Using social science research to influence policy: the case of the family justice system	Ceridwen Roberts, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Michaelmas Term 2013, celebrating 100 years of social enquiry at Oxford University's Department of Social Policy and Invervention.	Ceridwen Roberts	26 February, 2014
Knowledge and humility in social work: learning from past mistakes	Professor Eileen Munro, Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, gives a talk as part of the Centenary seminar series in Michaelmas Term 2013.	Eileen Munro	26 February, 2014
Barnett House: a hundred years of research policy and practice	George Smith, Teresa Smith, Liz Peretz, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, gave a lecture as part of the Centenary seminar series in Michaelmas Term 2013.	George Smith, Teresa Smith, Elizabeth Peretz	26 February, 2014
Speaking Truth to Power: Social Policy in Action - Sidney Ball Memorial Lecture 2013	The 2013 lecture 'Speaking Truth to Power: Social Policy in Action' delivered by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 4th of December 2013 in the Nissan Lecture Theatre, St. Antony's College.	Ruth Lister, Chris Patten	17 December, 2013
Department of Social Policy and Intervention Graduate Research Student Conference Keynote Speech 2	Prof Laurence Moore, Director of the Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement gives a talk for the Graduate Student Research Conference on 19 October 2012.	Laurence Moore	14 January, 2013
Department of Social Policy and Intervention Graduate Research Student Conference Keynote Speech 1	Dr Philip Davies, Deputy Director at the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, gives a keynote talk for the Department of Social Policy and Intervention Graduate Research Student Conference on October 19 2012.	Philip Davies	14 January, 2013
HIV and AIDS - Special lecture for Oxford AIDS Research Day 2012	Mark Heywood reflects on the impact of HIV and AIDS for the 4th Annual HIV / AIDS Student Research day.	Mark Heywood	27 November, 2012
The Reform of the Welfare State and the Dynamics of People's Lives - Sydney Ball Memorial Lecture 2012	The 2012 lecture 'The Reform of the Welfare State and the Dynamics of People's Lives' delivered by Professor John Hills (London School of Economics) on Wednesday, 31 October 2012 at 5 p.m. in the Nissan Lecture Theatre, St. Antony's College.	John Hills	21 November, 2012
02. Numbering the people: the Census, Vital Registration and Population Registers	Professor David Coleman gives the second lecture on Demographics, where he looks at different ways in which governments and demographers have collected population data.	David Coleman	26 October, 2012
01. Demographic Challenges for the 21st Century	Professor David Coleman gives the first lecture in his Demographic Trends and Problems of the Modern World series.	David Coleman	26 October, 2012
11. Does Government belong in the bedroom?	There are many examples, from the ancient world to Nazi Germany, of attempts to protect or to increase the birth rate and hence population size. Slides to accompany Prof David Coleman's talk on birth control from governments.	David Coleman	18 July, 2012
10. Who's afraid of population decline?	Fear of population decline has haunted states ever since states existed. Population size was the basis of the power, security and prosperity of any political entity. Slides to accompany Professor David Coleman's on the fear of population decline.	David Coleman	16 July, 2012
09. Bringing down the birth rate - family planning in the developing world	Traditionally, high birth rates were high. But as they were balanced by high death rates, population growth rates were usually very low. Prof David Coleman looks at family planning in the developing world.	David Coleman	12 July, 2012
08. After the demographic transition in the developing world	Fertility in all but 12 countries in the world is now falling. Where will it stop? In this talk, Prof David Coleman looks at the demographic transition in the developing world.	David Coleman	10 July, 2012
Will the U.S. Health Reform Survive and Flourish?	Theda Skocpol delivers a talk at the Oxford Institute of Social Policy, based in part on her new book with Larry Jacobs, "Health Care Reform and American Politics".	Theda Skocpol	9 July, 2012
07. 'Old Europe' - pensions, taxes and alternatives	Professor David Coleman from Dept of Social Policy, University of Oxford, gives a talk from his "Demographic Trends and Problems of the Modern World" series talking about the issue of population ageing.	David Coleman	27 April, 2012
06. Demographic behaviour of immigrant and minority populations	Professor David Coleman from Dept of Social Policy, University of Oxford, gives a talk from his "Demographic Trends and Problems of the Modern World" series talking about immigrant and minority populations.	David Coleman	27 April, 2012
05. International migration: guest workers, dependents, asylum and others	Professor David Coleman from Dept of Social Policy, University of Oxford, gives a talk from his "Demographic Trends and Problems of the Modern World" series talking about international migration.	David Coleman	27 April, 2012
04. The retreat of mortality - 20th and 21st century trends	Professor David Coleman from Dept of Social Policy, University of Oxford, gives a talk from his "Demographic Trends and Problems of the Modern World" series talking about trends in mortality.	David Coleman	27 April, 2012
03. The 'Second Demographic Transition' - new forms of family	Professor David Coleman from Dept of Social Policy, University of Oxford, gives a talk from his "Demographic Trends and Problems of the Modern World" series talking about the 'Second Demographic Transition'.	David Coleman	26 April, 2012
Conclusion	Professor Martin Seeleib-Kaiser concludes the ESRC/OISP Workshop on Comparative Methods.	Martin Seeleib-Kaiser	12 March, 2012
Merging Macro and Micro Data?	Session 6 of the ESRC/OISP Workshop on Comparative Methods - Merging Macro and Micro Data? with Dr Mark Tomlinson.	Mark Tomlinson	12 March, 2012
An Introduction to Structural Equation Modelling in Comparative Social Analysis	Session 5 of the ESRC/OISP Workshop on Comparative Methods: An Introduction to Structural Equation Modelling in comparative Social Analysis - Dr Mark Tomlinson.	Mark Tomlinson	12 March, 2012
Challenges and Limits of Macro-Quantitative Analysis	Session 4 of the ESRC/OISP workshop on Comparative Methods: Challenges and Limits of Macro-Quantitative Analysis with Dr Emanuele Ferragina.	Emanuele Ferragina	12 March, 2012
Ideal Types and Welfare Regimes: An Application	Session three of the ESRC/OISP Workshop in Comparative Methods. Ideal Types and Welfare Regimes: An Application.	Emanuele Ferragina	12 March, 2012
Introduction to Comparative Analysis (part 2)	Professor Martin Seeleib-Kaiser gives the second part of his introduction to Comparative Methods.	Martin Seeleib-Kaiser	12 March, 2012
Introduction to Comparative Analysis (part 1)	Professor Martin Seeleib-Kaiser gave an introduction to what comparative analysis is.	Martin Seeleib-Kaiser	12 March, 2012
Welcome to the ESRC/OISP Workshop in Comparative Methods	Professor Martin Seeleib-Kaiser introduces the ESRC/OISP Workshop in Comparative Methods, held on 12-14th January 2012.	Martin Seeleib-Kaiser	12 March, 2012
Evidence-based Interventions in Juvenile Justice: Concepts, Research, Practice, and Frontiers	Professor Mark Lipsey (Peabody Research Institute, Vanderbilt University) delivers the 2011 Sidney Ball Memorial Lecture.	Mark Lipsey	24 November, 2011
Life Chances and Early Childhood Investments	2010 Sidney Ball memorial Lecture given by Professor Gøsta Esping-Andersen at St Antony's College.	Gøsta Esping-Andersen	8 November, 2010
Early Childhood Poverty and Adult Attainment	Professor Greg Duncan discusses the connections between poverty and child development, and suggests social policy strategies to improve the welfare of children in poverty.	Greg Duncan	14 April, 2009

Department of Social Policy and Intervention

Related

Series in this collection

Understanding Adolescence in African Contexts

Department of Social Policy 2013-14 Centenary Lectures

Department of Social Policy and Intervention

Demographic Trends and Problems of the Modern World

Comparative Methods Workshop

Sidney Ball Memorial Lectures

All episodes