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Centre for Lifelong Learning

Dr Alan Dolan

Dr Alan Dolan

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Associate Professor, Social Work

WCE1.13, Centre for Lifelong Learning, Westwood Campus
A.Dolan@warwick.ac.uk

+44 (0)24 7657 3850

Alan is an Associate Professor, Admissions Tutor and Disability Liaison Tutor. He has worked and taught at the University of Warwick for the past 20 years, within Warwick Medical School and previously directing the MA Social Work. His research interests tend to focus on inequalities in health and men, masculinity, and health. He is also interested in the intersections between masculine and fathering identities and was awarded a grant from the ESRC to examine men’s experiences of infertility and infertility treatment.

For the past 5 years Alan has been Director of Social Work within CLL. He is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Masters in Social Work (MASW) programme and also responsible for overseeing the new Degree Apprenticeship in Social Work (DASW). He has taken responsibility for curriculum change within the MASW and is currently Module Lead for three modules on the MASW. Alan also teaches on the Undergraduate module in Social Work.

In addition, Alan is an experienced PhD supervisor and has supervised six students to successful completion of their thesis. He welcomes enquires from students interested in undertaking a PhD in relation to a variety of topic areas including men/masculinity, childbirth/fatherhood, health and social work. Alan has also acted as an internal and external PhD examiner across a range of HEIs. He has a wealth of experience as a reviewer for a number of international peer reviewed journals and as an external examiner within other HEIs, He also has extensive experience of HEI programme validation/revalidation in the UK and Ireland.

Alan’s research tends to focus on men, masculinity and health. For example, his research has examined the on-going debates between neo-materialist and psychosocial explanations for current patterns of health from a masculine/gendered perspective. This research also sought to examine the intersections of social class and masculinity for understanding current patterns of working class male health and working class men’s use of healthcare services. His research has also explored the experiences of first time fathers regarding childbirth and the views of health professionals working in this field. This work has highlighted the ways in which masculinity positions and is used to position men within this arena. In addition, he is interested in the intersections between masculine and fathering identities and has carried out research among a group of fathers attending a parenting programme. Alan has also been awarded a prestigious grant from the ESRC to examine men’s experiences of infertility and infertility treatment. This project is also interested in the views and experiences of health professionals working in the field of assisted reproduction. Alan has appeared on Radio Four on a number of occasions to discuss his research. He has published extensively within a range of international peer reviewed journals and his h-Index is 10.

PhD Supervision

Potential PhD candidates are welcome to contact him regarding research proposals related to one or more of the following topics:

  • Inequalities in health
  • Men, masculinity, infertility, childbirth, fatherhood

Recent publications

Dolan, A., Markham, W.A., Moore, G.F. (2021) A Sociological Framework to Reduce Aberrant Behaviour of School Students Through Increasing School Connectedness (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211031889)

    Idris, I.B., Barlow, J. and Dolan, A. (2019) A Longitudinal Study of Emotional and Behavioural Problems among Malaysian School Children. Annals of Global Health, 85(1), p.30. (DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.2336)

    Bollard, M., McLeod, E. and Dolan, A. (2018) 'Exploring the impact of health inequalities on the health of adults with intellectual disability from their perspective.' Disability and Society, (available online 24th April)

    Dolan, A., Lomas, T., Ghobara, T., and Hartshorne, G. (2017) ‘It’s like taking a bit of masculinity away from you’: towards a theoretical understanding of men’s experiences of infertility. Sociology of Health and Illness (Open Access http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9566.12548/epdf )

    Akhtar, S., Dolan., A., and Barlow, J. (2016) Understanding the Relationship Between State Forgiveness and Psychological Wellbeing: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Religion and Health (Open Access http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-016-0188-9 )

    Dolan, A. (2014) ‘Men give in to chips and beer too easily’: How working-class men make sense of gender differences in health. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, 18 (2): 146 – 162

    Dolan, A. (2014) ''I've learnt what a dad should do': the interaction of masculine and fathering identities among men who attended a 'dads only' parenting programme'. Sociology, 48 (4): 812 - 828

    Dolan, A., and Coe, C (2011) 'Men, masculine identities and childbirth' Sociology of Health and Illness, 33 (7): 1019-1034

    Dolan, A. (2011) '"You can't ask for a Dubonnet and Lemonade!": working class masculinity and men's health practices,' Sociology of Health and Illness, 33 (4): 586-601

    Dolan, A. (2007) ‘That’s just the cesspool where they dump all the trash’: Exploring working class men’s perceptions and experiences of social capital and health. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, 11 (4): 475-495

    Dolan, A. (2007) ‘Good luck to them if they can get it’: Exploring working class men’s understandings and experiences of income inequality and material standards. Sociology of Health and Illness. Vol. 29 (5): 1-19