Neil Aaron Thompson
Biographic Data
| ID | 5790052 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Neil Aaron Thompson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Neil Aaron |
| FAMILY NAME | Thompson |
| SIGNATURE | THOMPSON N A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8689-5287 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 43 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 38 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 43 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Untangling the Affective Practices of Entrepreneurial Networking
Despite the importance of networks in entrepreneurship, their affective dimension has still been neglected by existing research studies. Meanwhile, organizational scholars investigating the role of affect in network theory do not solve the theoretical and practical challenge of understanding affect as a distributed, emergent, multiple and complex phenomenon. Drawing from affective practice theory and a multi‐sited ethnography, we explain how dime…
Theorizing the processes and practices of entrepreneuring at work
As the boundaries of ‘work’ extend to include work that adapts to or brings about new organization, social value and alternative futures, it intersects with entrepreneurship studies in intriguing yet under-developed ways. This special issue focuses on developing this intersection by advancing process and practice theory research on entrepreneuring. Entrepreneuring is a concept that captures the processuality and relationality of entrepreneurship,…
The dynamic construction of an incubation context: A practice theory perspective
To deepen theory on the interplay between entrepreneurship and context, recent scholarship calls for more understanding on how entrepreneurs and stakeholders collectively do “contexts.” In this study, we examine how a dynamic and flexible incubation context is constructed by joint efforts between entrepreneurs and incubator management. Findings from a 4-month ethnography point to four practices—onboarding, gathering, lunching, and feedbacking—thr…
‘How might we?’: Studying new venture ideation in and through practices
Recent scholarship focuses on new venture ideation—the process of generating and developing new venture ideas—separately from venture development, as the creation of new ventures begins with new venture ideas. In this study, we ask which practices are being enacted to carry out new venture ideation, and how and why are they constituted by aspiring entrepreneurs. By conducting a video ethnography, we find that aspiring entrepreneurs utilize six pr…
Managing Death: International Perspectives
Australian Aboriginal Peoples
Death and Dying: Sociological Perspectives
Key Sociological Concepts
Isn’t It Time to Start “Theorising Practice” Rather than Trying to “Apply Theory to Practice”: Reconsidering our Approach to the Relationship between Theory and Practice
The idea of “applying theory to practice” is one of the core beliefs at the heart of social work education. It now informs an extensive literature and underpins teaching on theory and methods courses in university qualifying programs in the UK, much of Europe, Australasia and North America. It implies that we start with theory and then fit theoretical concepts and knowledge into practice situations. However, students and early career practitioner…
Promoting Well-Being: Crisis, Loss, and Alcohol
Well-being is a concept which can connect together a number of important ideas that have a strong resonance for professional education and practice across the human services. This can critically include considerations of illness, crisis, and loss. Such acute moments in individuals’ lives can be examined through their precipitating events, coping mechanisms, and responses. This article explores some of the dimensions of well-being and how they fac…
Critical Explorations of Marginalized Grief
Hey DJ, don’t stop the music: Institutional work and record pooling practices in the United States’ music industry
Heeding calls to generate a creative synthesis between business history and organisation studies, this article analyses the emergence, institutionalisation and digitalisation of record pooling practices through the lens of institutional work. By developing an ‘analytically structured history’, this article contributes to the field of business history by demonstrating the value of practice and boundary work as organising categories. Practice and b…
Promoting Well-Being
The topic of well-being is one that is receiving increasing attention in a number of academic fields and professional disciplines. It is a concept that can be used as a unifying theme to link together a number of important concepts that have significant implications for professional education and practice across the human services. This article explores different aspects of well-being, differentiates well-being from the now-stigmatized term of we…
Mental Health and Well-being: Alternatives to the Medical Model
Mental Health and Well-Being provides a sound foundation for understanding alternatives to the medical model of mental health. Students and professionals alike will find an easy to understand overview of critiques of the dominant medical model of mental health and well-being, both longstanding and more recent, and will come away from the book with a more theoretically sound, holistic conception of mental health and well-being. Written by an exper…
Applied Sociology
Sociology offers fascinating insights into social life that tell us so much about people and society. But what can we do with those insights? How can we put them to good use? That is exactly what this book is all about. It explores the practical value of sociology, how sociological understanding can be of help in a variety of settings. Neil Thompson’s wealth of experience in using sociology in practice comes shining through in this clearly writte…
Michel Foucault
This chapter focuses on how Michel Foucault&s;s innovative approach has shaped much sociological thinking and how his insights can be applied to death, grief, and bereavement. Given the limitations of space, the chapter also focuses on power; discourses and regimes of truth; normalization; and technologies of the self. Foucault saw power in positive terms, in the sense that, while the misuse or abuse of power is a major factor in discrimination a…
Culturally Competent Practice
This chapter focuses on the notion of "cultural competence", partly to clarify its significance and partly to evaluate its usefulness as a concept that can cast light on sociological aspects of death, grief, and bereavement. In a sense, cultural competence is the modern equivalent of ethnically sensitive practice. In a context of cultural diversity there will be many cultural issues that could have a significant bearing on the situation, how it i…
Existentialism
Existentialism draws its explanatory power from two areas of intellectual inquiry: phenomenology and ontology. Both of these are relevant to sociology, and both have implications for death, grief, and bereavement. To many people existentialism is a philosophy of individualism, and therefore far removed from sociology with its wider social focus. A key aspect of existentialist thought is the recognition that each individual is located in the wider…
The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Grieving
This chapter explores a range of important issues relating to religion and spirituality and their relationship to death, grief, and bereavement. It focuses on how a sociological understanding of religion and spirituality can cast significant light on the existential challenges involved in grieving significant losses. However, it is also important to note that religious faith does not have a monopoly on spirituality. Those people who are not engag…
Towards a Sociology of Terrorism
This chapter considers what is meant by the term "terrorism" before exploring the importance of viewing terrorism from a sociological perspective; the tactics terrorists use; factors associated with addressing terrorism; and how terrorism relates to death, grief, and bereavement. The terrorism is an approach, a method or a tactic that involves creating fear and intimidation to seek the compliance of individuals, societies, governments or religiou…
Marxism
This chapter provides an introduction to some of the key elements of Karl Marx&s;s approach to sociology. It begins by highlighting Marx as a sociologist. The chapter explores his theoretical framework (dialectical materialism), before considering, in turn, what he got right and what he got wrong. It talks about what his work can tell us about death, grief, and bereavement. Denise Bevan comments on the significance of poverty in relation to death…
Disenfranchised Grief
This chapter focuses on highlighting and exploring the sociological nature of disenfranchised grief. The notion of disenfranchised grief has become very well established in the professional literature relating to death, grief, and bereavement and is widely used by practitioners, educators, and researchers. The chapter offers a brief overview of some of the practice applications of the sociological concept of disenfranchised grief. Having seen how…
The Sociological Imagination
Handbook of the Sociology of Death, Grief, and Bereavement: A Guide to Theory and Practice
Social Problems and Social Justice
The case for a sociology of dying, death, and bereavement
Dying, death, and bereavement do not occur in a social vacuum. How individuals and groups experience these phenomena will be largely influenced by the social context in which they occur. To develop an adequate understanding of dying, death, and bereavement we therefore need to incorporate a sociological perspective into our analysis. This article examines why a sociological perspective is necessary and explores various ways in which sociology can…
Hey DJ, don’t stop the music: Institutional work and record pooling practices in the United States’ music industry
Heeding calls to generate a creative synthesis between business history and organisation studies, this article analyses the emergence, institutionalisation and digitalisation of record pooling practices through the lens of institutional work. By developing an ‘analytically structured history’, this article contributes to the field of business history by demonstrating the value of practice and boundary work as organising categories. Practice and b…
Isn’t It Time to Start “Theorising Practice” Rather than Trying to “Apply Theory to Practice”: Reconsidering our Approach to the Relationship between Theory and Practice
The idea of “applying theory to practice” is one of the core beliefs at the heart of social work education. It now informs an extensive literature and underpins teaching on theory and methods courses in university qualifying programs in the UK, much of Europe, Australasia and North America. It implies that we start with theory and then fit theoretical concepts and knowledge into practice situations. However, students and early career practitioner…
Death and the Workplace
It is well known that bereavement presents major challenges of adjustment to the individuals so affected, but what is much less well recognized is the major challenges bereavement can present to organizations in general and their managers and human resources professionals in particular. This article explores the significance of death for the workplace and argues that organization that fail to give adequate attention to such matters will be poorly…
Older People, Crisis, and Loss
Older people are no less prone to experiences of crisis and loss than any other age cohort. Indeed, it could be argued that this group is even more prone to such experiences, although both the therapeutic literature on crisis intervention and the thanatological literature on loss and grief pay relatively little heed to the needs and circumstances of older people. This article therefore seeks to go some way toward redressing the balance by explori…
Social Problems and Social Justice
Existentialist Ethics: From Nietzsche to Sartre and Beyond
Ethics are, of course, a fundamental part of professional practice. There are different philosophical schools of thought relating to ethics and, although there are often degrees of overlap, they are characterized more by difference than harmony. Among these philosophical schools, one school that has received relatively little attention in the professional literature (and a waning level of interest in the philosophical literature) is that of exist…
Focusing on Outcomes: Developing Systematic Practice
We have witnessed in recent times an increasing emphasis on the need to identify outcomes. This paper explores the significance of this development and relates it to previous work on the subject, notably the long-standing concept of systematic practice. Possible objections to the use of systematic practice (and therefore, by extension, outcome-focused practice) are identified and addressed. Some key implications for practice are identified. The p…
Children, death and ageism
The position of children in the social order can be seen as an ambiguous one. On the one hand, they are highly valued, at a rhetorical level at least, as the basis of the future generation. On the other hand, however, they can be seen to be marginalized and disenfranchised, protected from more aspects of social life than is strictly necessary. This paper explores some of the important issues relating to children’s disenfranchised social position,…
The ontology of disaster
The considerable number of major disasters in the last decade have had a significant impact on very many children. Some have been victims, some bereaved, others just generally anxious and frightened by their proximity to, or awareness of such disasters. Additionally, many personal disasters-accidents, illness, family breakdown, and, of course, child abuse-befall children and their caregivers, producing a traumatic, crisis-torn existence for large…
Children, death and ageism
The position of children in the social order can be seen as an ambiguous one. On the one hand, they are highly valued, at a rhetorical level at least, as the basis of the future generation. On the other hand, however, they can be seen to be marginalized and disenfranchised, protected from more aspects of social life than is strictly necessary. This paper explores some of the important issues relating to children’s disenfranchised social position,…
Promoting Equality
Building on the success of Anti-Discriminatory Practice, Neil Thompson provides a scholarly yet practical account of the significance of discrimination and oppression in the human services, such as so
Older People, Crisis, and Loss
Older people are no less prone to experiences of crisis and loss than any other age cohort. Indeed, it could be argued that this group is even more prone to such experiences, although both the therapeutic literature on crisis intervention and the thanatological literature on loss and grief pay relatively little heed to the needs and circumstances of older people. This article therefore seeks to go some way toward redressing the balance by explori…
Inception Rates of Deliberate Self-Harm among Adolescents in West London
Background: Studies have suggested that inception rates of deliberate self-harm among different ethnic group adolescents are broadly similar. Aims: We set out to study the rates of adolescent self-harm over a calendar year in Ealing - part of West London. Methods: All cases of deliberate self-harm presenting to the A&E department and paediatrics were identified and socio-cultural factors studied. Ethnicity was obtained using self-ascription. Resu…
Workplace Well-Being: An Occupational Social Work Approach
In recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on employee welfare or, as it is being referred to with increasing frequency, “workplace well-being.” Traditional approaches to such issues have tended to be either medicalized (via occupational health interventions) or individualized (for example, through employee assistance programs—EAPs). This article proposes a broader approach based on the problem-solving perspective of occupational socia…
Spirituality: An Existentialist Perspective
Existentialism as a school of philosophy raises important questions about meaning and purpose and other such factors traditionally associated with spirituality. It also raises important questions about death and dying and the finite nature of human existence. As such, it provides a useful platform for developing our understanding of how spirituality relates to experiences of crisis, loss, and grief. This article explores some key existentialist i…
Existentialist Ethics: From Nietzsche to Sartre and Beyond
Ethics are, of course, a fundamental part of professional practice. There are different philosophical schools of thought relating to ethics and, although there are often degrees of overlap, they are characterized more by difference than harmony. Among these philosophical schools, one school that has received relatively little attention in the professional literature (and a waning level of interest in the philosophical literature) is that of exist…
Focusing on Outcomes: Developing Systematic Practice
We have witnessed in recent times an increasing emphasis on the need to identify outcomes. This paper explores the significance of this development and relates it to previous work on the subject, notably the long-standing concept of systematic practice. Possible objections to the use of systematic practice (and therefore, by extension, outcome-focused practice) are identified and addressed. Some key implications for practice are identified. The p…
Theorizing Social Work Practice
Group dynamics and intergroup relations
Reflective practice: An existentialist perspective
There has been an increasing interest in reflective practice in recent years, but the theory base underpinning it remains relatively underdeveloped. We have seen a move away from essentialist ‘technicalism’ to a more constructivist exploratory approach consistent with existentialist philosophy. This paper therefore explores how existentialism can be used as a more sophisticated and wide‐ranging theory base to underpin the future development of re…
Developing critically reflective practice
Reflective practice has become an influential concept in various forms of professional education, for example, in nursing and social work. However, there has been a common tendency for it to be oversimplified in practice, and, furthermore, dominant understandings of reflective practice can themselves be criticised for lacking theoretical sophistication in some respects – particularly in relation to the social and political dimensions of learning …
Death in the Congo: Murdering Patrice Lumumba. By Emmanuel Gerard and Bruce Kuklick
Death in the Congo captures a striking portrait of an international crisis in the early Cold War caused by one post-colonial nationalist's rise to power. It meticulously details the way Patrice Lumumba was subsequently ousted and how his murder was encouraged by western powers. In many ways, it is a character study of the political leaders who instigated and backed Lumumba's murder and the men in the lower ranks who carried it out. The surprising…
Death and the Workplace
It is well known that bereavement presents major challenges of adjustment to the individuals so affected, but what is much less well recognized is the major challenges bereavement can present to organizations in general and their managers and human resources professionals in particular. This article explores the significance of death for the workplace and argues that organization that fail to give adequate attention to such matters will be poorly…
Anti-Discriminatory Practice
Equality, Diversity and Social Justice
The case for a sociology of dying, death, and bereavement
Dying, death, and bereavement do not occur in a social vacuum. How individuals and groups experience these phenomena will be largely influenced by the social context in which they occur. To develop an adequate understanding of dying, death, and bereavement we therefore need to incorporate a sociological perspective into our analysis. This article examines why a sociological perspective is necessary and explores various ways in which sociology can…
Applied Sociology
Sociology offers fascinating insights into social life that tell us so much about people and society. But what can we do with those insights? How can we put them to good use? That is exactly what this book is all about. It explores the practical value of sociology, how sociological understanding can be of help in a variety of settings. Neil Thompson’s wealth of experience in using sociology in practice comes shining through in this clearly writte…
Michel Foucault
This chapter focuses on how Michel Foucault&s;s innovative approach has shaped much sociological thinking and how his insights can be applied to death, grief, and bereavement. Given the limitations of space, the chapter also focuses on power; discourses and regimes of truth; normalization; and technologies of the self. Foucault saw power in positive terms, in the sense that, while the misuse or abuse of power is a major factor in discrimination a…
Culturally Competent Practice
This chapter focuses on the notion of "cultural competence", partly to clarify its significance and partly to evaluate its usefulness as a concept that can cast light on sociological aspects of death, grief, and bereavement. In a sense, cultural competence is the modern equivalent of ethnically sensitive practice. In a context of cultural diversity there will be many cultural issues that could have a significant bearing on the situation, how it i…
Existentialism
Existentialism draws its explanatory power from two areas of intellectual inquiry: phenomenology and ontology. Both of these are relevant to sociology, and both have implications for death, grief, and bereavement. To many people existentialism is a philosophy of individualism, and therefore far removed from sociology with its wider social focus. A key aspect of existentialist thought is the recognition that each individual is located in the wider…
The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Grieving
This chapter explores a range of important issues relating to religion and spirituality and their relationship to death, grief, and bereavement. It focuses on how a sociological understanding of religion and spirituality can cast significant light on the existential challenges involved in grieving significant losses. However, it is also important to note that religious faith does not have a monopoly on spirituality. Those people who are not engag…
Towards a Sociology of Terrorism
This chapter considers what is meant by the term "terrorism" before exploring the importance of viewing terrorism from a sociological perspective; the tactics terrorists use; factors associated with addressing terrorism; and how terrorism relates to death, grief, and bereavement. The terrorism is an approach, a method or a tactic that involves creating fear and intimidation to seek the compliance of individuals, societies, governments or religiou…
Marxism
This chapter provides an introduction to some of the key elements of Karl Marx&s;s approach to sociology. It begins by highlighting Marx as a sociologist. The chapter explores his theoretical framework (dialectical materialism), before considering, in turn, what he got right and what he got wrong. It talks about what his work can tell us about death, grief, and bereavement. Denise Bevan comments on the significance of poverty in relation to death…
Sociology (30 works) · Psychology (26 works) · Political science (21 works) · Epistemology (12 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health (11 works) · Law (11 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Engineering ethics (9 works) · Public relations (9 works)