Profile
Biography
My research interests include social security policy, stigma, poverty, class and gender inequalities and participatory research. I was awarded a PhD in Health from the Edge Hill University in 2021. My research was a psycho-social exploration of the impacts of claiming social security benefits for men experiencing mental distress, during a period of unprecedented welfare reform. Before this I trained as a social worker and gained experience working with refugees, people seeking asylum and people within the criminal justice system.
I have worked as a Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, across a range of research projects focusing on harm reduction in Northern Ireland. This has included exploring the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme, the use of wearable technology for opioid users and using community theatre to explore complex topics with marginalised communities.
Currently, I work as a research associate on the Changing Realities Project, working with parents and carers on low incomes to document their experiences of the benefit system, develop policy recommendations, and push for change.
Research
Overview
I am currently a research associate on the Changing Realities Project, working with parents and carers on low incomes to document their experiences of the benefit system, develop policy recommendations, and push for change. In this context I am particularly interested in using participatory, longitudinal research methods, and working with experts with experience to develop ways to improve the accessibility and adequacy of the social security system.
Key Research Interests:
- Poverty, social security & welfare reform
- Representations, discourses and lived experiences of ‘welfare’
- Adopting co-produced and participatory methodologies
- The stigma of benefits and poverty
- Devolution and ‘welfare’
Publications
Full publications list
Journal Articles
Jordan, U. & Sage, D. 2023. A constant threat? A narrative exploration of the relationship between benefit receipt, mental distress and the threat of homelessness. Critical Social Policy
Campbell, A., Millen, S., Guo, L., Jordan., U, et al., 2023. Reducing opioid related deaths for individuals who are at high risk of death from overdose: a co-production study with people housed within prison and hostel accommodation during Covid-19. Frontiers of Public Health.
Jordan, U. 2023. A visual investigation of resilience from the perspective of social work students in the UK. Social Work Education.
Jordan, U. 2022. ‘“I feel like I’m useful. I’m not useless, you know?”: Exploring volunteering as resistance to stigma for men who experience mental illness’, Social Policy and Society.
Books
Jordan, U. ‘You’re a number, you’re not a person’: welfare protocols for men experiencing mental distress. In Tarrant, A., Ladlow, L. and Way, L. eds., 2022. Men and Welfare. Oxon: Routledge.
Public Briefings
Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR): Working together: Towards a new public employment service. Authors: Wilkes, M. Parkes, H., Patrick, R., Jordan, U.
Changing Realities: ‘Terrified for this winter’: Why the cost of living crisis is far from over for families on a low income. Authors: Patrick, R., Jordan, U., Power, M., Kaufman, J., et al.
Changing Realities: Employment support that works: the importance of relationships, flexibility and removing barriers. Authors: Jordan, U., Kaufman, J., Rochow, T., Wilkes, M., Parkes, H., Statham, R., Power, M., Powers, V., Pybus, K., & Patrick, R.
Changing Realities: Where’s the Credit? - Single Parents, Universal Credit and Mental Health. Authors: Power, M., Pybus, K., Jordan, U., Tominey, E., Kaufman, J., et al.,
Changing Realities: Keeping Warm This Winter. Authors: Kaufman, J., Patrick, R., Aldridge, H., Jordan, U.. Pybus, K. & Power, M.
