Bio
Dr. Alana Griffith is a Lecturer in Sociology specialising in Social Policy. She attended and graduated from the UWI St. Augustine, Mona and Cave Hill Campuses. In 2004, she began tutoring at The UWI Cave Hill in Sociology and would later lecture part-time at Cave Hill while working as a Research Officer in the Prime Minister’s Office, Government of Barbados. She joined the Faculty as a full-time member later in 2005 and was awarded the Best Female Lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences for academic year 2005/2006 by the Social Sciences Society. She left the UWI to pursue a PhD in Social Policy at the University of Kent (UK) in 2008. Upon completion of her PhD in 2011, she took up a post at Kent as an Assistant Lecturer. As a true regionalist, she returned to the UWI in 2012. In June 2018, Dr. Griffith received a UWI Guild of Students/CETL Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning and more recently, along with Dr. Damian Cohall, the 2018/2019 Campus Award for Best Applied Research. She is the recipient of the The Principal’s Award for Excellence for Outstanding Teaching for 2018-2019. Dr. Griffith has served as a Commissioner on the CARICOM Commission on Marijuana and has undertaken consultancies with several National and Sub-regional agencies.
Qualifications
BSc, MSc, PGCert (UWI) PhD (University of Kent)
Research Areas
- Social Policy,
- Drug Policy,
- Social justice,
- Welfare systems in developing countries
Teaching Areas
Undergraduate:
SOCI3012 Social Planning
SOCI3013 Caribbean Social Policy
SOCI3033 Drugs & Society
SOCI3035 Caribbean Social Problems
SOCI3037 Social Dimensions of Inequality & Marginalisation
Select Publications
Griffith, A. and Jackman, M. Barriers to the Right to HIV Prevention Healthcare for Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) in Barbados: An Examination of Anti-gay Prejudice. Accepted by international Journal Human Rights in Healthcare Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. February 2nd, 2022. DOI: 10.1108/IJHRH-03-2021-0077
Griffith, A. and Jackman, M. and Wickham, P. Fully Legal or Only Medical and Religious Purposes? Public Support for Cannabis Policies in the Eastern Caribbean. Drugs and Alcohol Today. Early Cite, December 1st, 2021. DOI: 10.1108/DAT-03-2021-0015
Griffith, A. and Jackman, M. Peers or Parents?: An Examination of Risk and Protective Factors Influencing Use of and Curiosity about Marijuana Among Adolescents in the Caribbean Island of Barbados. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Online May 2020. DOI: 10.1080/1067828X.2020.1763884
Griffith, A. and Moore, W. A Comparative Analysis of Approaches to Integrating Sustainability into the Curriculum at a University in a Small Island Developing State in the Caribbean. In ‘Integrating Sustainable Development into Curriculum’ edited by P. Blessinger and E. Kapur Book Series: Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning (HETL) by Emerald Group Publishing. Published March 18th, 2020.
Griffith, A. and Cohall, D. An Exploration of Shifting Adolescent Use, Access and Risk Perception of Marijuana in the Caribbean Island of Barbados in 2006 and 2013. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, Published online October 18th, 2019. DOI: 10.1080/1067828X.2019.1679310
Oshi, SN, Abel, W, Brown, KA, Campbell-Williams, K, Whitehorne-Smith, P, Agu, CF, Griffith, A and Oshi, DC. Is Sense of Belonging at School Associated with Cannabis Use Among Secondary School Students in Barbados. Psychology, Health and Medicine, Published online October 9th, 2019. DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2019.1672878
Cohall, Damian and Griffith, Alana. Old Herb, “New” Purpose: A Preliminary Analysis of Marijuana as a Medicine in Barbados. Accepted in the West Indian Medical Journal, Vol. 68, No. 1, 2019: 53-58 DOI: 10.7727wimj.2018.136. Journal Impact Factor 0.170
Griffith, Alana and Cohall, Damian. Towards Conceptualising a Policy Framework for the Implementation of Medical Marijuana in a Small Island State in the Caribbean. Drug Science, Policy and Law, September 2018. DOI: 10.1177/2050324518796349
Griffith, Alana and Wickham, Peter. Tolerance, Acceptance or Ambivalence?: Changing Expressions of Attitudes Towards Homosexuals in Barbados. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2019: 58-69, Online First 2018, DOI: 10.1007/s13178-018-0329. Journal
Griffith, Alana. The Feasibility of Flipping: An Exploratory Analysis of the Flipped Class in Caribbean Sociology. Journal of Effective Teaching, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2017: 72-89
Griffith, Alana and Rock, Letnie. The Development of Social Policy in Barbados. In Pathways to Action: Social Policy in the Caribbean edited by Aldrie Henry-Lee. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2016: 42 – 60
Research in Progress:
- Cannabis in CARICOM: Controversies, Challenges and Changing Drug Policy
- Attitudes towards irregular Migration to Trinidad by Venezuelans
Additional Info
Professional Memberships
Dr Griffith is a founding member of the Caribbean Sociological Association, a member of the Social Policy Association and the Caribbean Studies Association. Director on the Board of the Barbados Medical Cannabis Licensing Authority.