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Russell Turner

Senior Lecturer

Department of Social Work
Telephone
+46 31-786 15 94
Mail
russell.turner@socwork.gu.se
Visiting address
Sprängkullsgatan 25
41123 Göteborg
Postal address
Box 720
40530 Göteborg

About Russell Turner

Overview I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Work, specialising in research on youth, drugs, and crime. My main interests are the development of alcohol and drug use and criminal behaviour in the teenage years, and societal responses to and interventions for these issues. I explore these topics using both quantitative and qualitative methods, drawing on social psychology, criminology, social work theory, and sociology.

I am also interested in adolescent development more broadly and research on topics such as mental health, bullying, and adolescent social media use. My other key research focus is intervention models and responses for youth drug use and crime, in particular how schools and social work assess need and plan interventions.

Current research projects

  • Assessing adolescent substance use - a co-produced study investigating how social workers and high-school counsellors respond to and assess concern around young people's alcohol and/or drug use

  • "Entering the heated zone" (PI Kristina Alstam) - examining gang-related shootings in Sweden 2018-2023 and exploring professionals' views of intervention models in four European countries

  • "GamePsy" (PI Sevtap Gurdal) - investigating links between adolescent gaming, social media use, and mental health

Teaching commitments (selection)

  • Course leader for final year Philosophy of Science and Methods course, Bachelor in Social Work

  • Course leader for Substance Use & Addictions course, Bachelor in Social Work

  • Course leader for Scientific Methods course, Master in Social Work

  • Course leader for Quantitative Methods, Doctoral programme in Social Work

  • Lecture on youth development, youth crime, intervention methods and models

PhD Supervision

  • Stephanie Rost - Food Security in Sweden: Individual Adaptive Capacity and Social Work's Role Amid Climate Change (Principal supervisor)

  • Emma Rådemo - School background and psychosocial functioning (Secondary supervisor)

Additional commitments

  • Member of the Department of Social Work's committee for doctoral education

  • Member of the strategic advisory group for University of Gothenburg's Center for Education and Research on Addiction (CERA)

  • Member of the editorial board for the Swedish Social Science Journal (Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift)