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Lindsey Richardson

 

  • 2009 Trudeau Scholar

    lindsey.richardson@trudeaufoundation.net

    Current Research

    D.Phil. Sociology, University of Oxford

    When Work is much more than a Job: Predicting Employment and its impacts among Injection Drug Users

    Profile

    Born and raised in Olds, a small town on the Albertan prairie, Lindsey is dedicated to understanding and raising barriers to participation for systematically excluded populations. After an undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia, she moved to Ottawa to participate in the Parliamentary Internship Program. Legislative work on poverty, immigration and disability issues firmly entrenched her passion for politics, social policy and Canada.

    Lindsey then had the privilege to work as a research assistant in the Office of the Prime Minister. Files that crossed Lindsey's desk ranged from health care reform, gay marriage and the expansion of the parks system to urban social development and drug policy. These last two figured heavily in her work at her next post as a policy analyst for the City of Vancouver.

    Lindsey's policy and development experience have led her to the conclusion that the consequences of moral stereotyping, or stigma, can be socially, economically and culturally devastating. She reflects, "stigma causes individuals to be classified as behaviours, not as people."

    Lindsey's post-graduate research is rooted in this guiding conviction. Her doctoral work at the University of Oxford on the participation of injection drug users (IDU) in the labour market challenges conventional assumptions about the social and economic functioning of a highly stigmatized population. This research seeks to understand the real and perceived barriers to labour market participation for IDU and the role of employment in the well-being of people who inject drugs. In so doing, Lindsey hopes her research will help uncover the capacity of social and economic activity to improve the physical health, quality of life and rehabilitation outcomes of IDU. Lindsey seeks to identify areas for policy and social interventions that may help reduce the spread of infectious disease, disruption of public order and systemic impoverishment of IDU, aims to which she is committed to bringing sound policy and robust research long past the completion of her doctorate.

    Trudeau Foundation Themes

    Human Rights and Social Justice »
    Responsible Citizenship »

  • Current Residence

    Oxford, United Kingdom

    Languages

    English, French, Spanish

    Degrees

    • Master of Philosophy in Sociology, University of Oxford
    • Bachelor of Arts (double major) in English Honours and International Relations, University of British Columbia

    Current Research

    When Work is much more than a Job: Predicting Employment and its Impacts among Injection Drug Users

    The role of employment in social processes related to drug use, well-being and health risk among Injection Drug Users (IDU) is poorly understood and sparsely studied. By bringing a new social perspective to existing long-term epidemiological data on IDU in Vancouver, Lindsey Richardson’s research seeks to identify (a) Which factors have the greatest impact on transitions into employment among IDU? (b) How do different configurations of social disadvantage influence the employment outcomes of IDU? (c) Is there a typology of social pathways that lead to different outcomes for IDU, and what role does employment play in these pathways? (d) What impact does employment have on the drug use patterns and general risk behavior of IDU?; and (e) Does formal employment limit HIV risk behaviour and thereby lower HIV incidence rates? Given the magnitude of the human, community and economic costs of injection drug use, Lindsey’s doctoral research will identify areas for public policy and social interventions for IDU that may reduce the spread of infectious disease, disruption of public order and systemic impoverishment of IDU.

    Past Research

    • Drugs, Demography, Risk and Health: Predicting Transitions to Employment among Injection Drug Users, University of Oxford
    • Modelling the impacts of anonymous syringe sharing on HIV diffusion, Nuffield College, University of Oxford
    • Employment among Users of a Medically Supervised Safer Injection Facility, B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
    • Preventing Harm from Psychoactive Substance Use, City of Vancouver

    Awards

    • Canada Graduate Scholarship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
    • Nuffield College Studentship, Nuffield College, University of Oxford
    • Clarendon Scholarship, University of Oxford
    • John Alexander MacDonald Scholarship in the Humanities, University of British Columbia
    • Roy Daniels Memorial Prize, Department of English , University of British Columbia

    Social Engagement

    • Vice President (Welfare), St. Antony's College, University of Oxford
    • Staff member, Youth Excellence Society, British Columbia Cooperatives Association
    • Member, Independent Advice Panel, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
    • Steering Committee Member, Equal Voice British Columbia
    • President, Parliamentary Internship Program Alumni Association

    Work Experience

    • Assistant Dean, St. Anne's College, University of Oxford
    • Teaching Assistant, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford
    • Policy Analyst, Offices of the City Manager and City Clerk, City of Vancouver
    • Research Assistant, Policy and Research branch, Office of the Prime Minister
    • Parliamentary Intern, Canadian House of Commons

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