Posted 9:33 a.m. Monday, Sept. 19, 2016
UWL Professor uses in-depth interviews to offer insight into the experience of losing a job.
A job is a big part of a person’s identity. When someone is fired, that identity can become unclear leaving a person sometimes lost and confused.
Dawn Norris, UWL assistant professor of sociology, wrote a book — a collection of extensive, real-life interviews — that shines a light on experiences of unemployed, middle class professional men and women. Her book, “Job Loss, Identity, and Mental Health,” published in June, shows how job loss can affect both identity and mental health. Norris hopes her book shows readers that when people lose their jobs, it is not just money loss that stresses them out.
[caption id="attachment_46821" align="alignleft" width="251"]
Dawn Norris, UWL assistant professor of sociology.[/caption]
Norris says the topic of her book was especially relevant in the aftermath of The Great Recession when many people lost their jobs unexpectedly. She began working on the book because she wanted to explore how leaving a role affected identity and how identity affected mental health.
“I also had a personal experience with someone I care about who had lost their job and who had felt very depressed after ‘not knowing who they were anymore,’” says Norris. “I wanted to find out how that worked, why it occurred and how people can cope with it.”
Norris, who earned a doctorate in sociology from University of Maryland-College Park, teaches UWL courses on the “Sociology of Mental Illness” and the “Sociology of Work.” She has also authored a peer-reviewed article and a Psychology Today blog on identity related to job loss. Read her blog post "The Next Step: Finding a Way Forward After Job Loss" at https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-next-step.
Norris will discuss her book live on “Central Time” on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Purchase the book online
Rutgers University Press http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/product/Job-Loss-Identity-and-Mental-Health,5898.aspx
Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Job-Loss-Identity-Mental-Health/dp/0813573831/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473988491&sr=8-1&keywords=job+loss+identity
Her book will also soon be available at Pearl Street Books, 323 Pearl St., La Crosse.
Dawn Norris, UWL assistant professor of sociology.[/caption]
Norris says the topic of her book was especially relevant in the aftermath of The Great Recession when many people lost their jobs unexpectedly. She began working on the book because she wanted to explore how leaving a role affected identity and how identity affected mental health.
“I also had a personal experience with someone I care about who had lost their job and who had felt very depressed after ‘not knowing who they were anymore,’” says Norris. “I wanted to find out how that worked, why it occurred and how people can cope with it.”
Norris, who earned a doctorate in sociology from University of Maryland-College Park, teaches UWL courses on the “Sociology of Mental Illness” and the “Sociology of Work.” She has also authored a peer-reviewed article and a Psychology Today blog on identity related to job loss. Read her blog post "The Next Step: Finding a Way Forward After Job Loss" at https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-next-step.
Norris will discuss her book live on “Central Time” on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Purchase the book online
Rutgers University Press http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/product/Job-Loss-Identity-and-Mental-Health,5898.aspx
Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Job-Loss-Identity-Mental-Health/dp/0813573831/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473988491&sr=8-1&keywords=job+loss+identity
Her book will also soon be available at Pearl Street Books, 323 Pearl St., La Crosse.