Dr Eden Thain
Lecturer
Optimisation and Stabilisation
Integration Management Office
I have studied psychology since high school, always interested in the question "Why do people do what they do?"
I loved the brain and physics and wanted to work with fMRI machines (nearly did radiology). The brain would explain why people do what they do!
But throughout my studies, I found that people do what they do with other people. So, I focus my work on exploring the messy complexity of social relationships - particularly how people talk with one another (that's what we do most of the time, including right now!).
I have a broad range of interests, and I am always eager to jump into a new topic and see how my perspective can help any project.
That said, my interests are:
Contextualisation of Social Decision Making / Governance (hierarchy, bureaucracy, adhocracy, holacracy, sociocracy, etc.)
Economic Intersections of Social Relationships
Complex Trauma
LGBTQIA+ Discourses and Identity Constructions (inter- and intra-group discursive community separations)
My teaching focus areas include:
Community Psychology
Qualitative Methods in Psychology (e.g. interviews through to action research and ethnography)
Critical Psychology (and critical history of psych)
Discursive Psychology
I care not only about learning what social science has to offer but also about constantly remaining critical, curious, and open in research and teaching.
My research and teaching are driven by values that reward effort over outcome, invest in community voice over authority, and move with passion over metrics.
How can I help?
Photo Credit to Catherine Leo Photography
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Thain, E. (2025). Trans youth in the media: discursive constructions. In C. Nelson, D. Buiten, & J. Death (Eds.), Source details - Title: The Public Child Media Power, Strategic Silencing, and Children’s Rights in Australia (Vol. Part F1021, pp. 221-239). Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Finding out about the contexts for emotions. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 123-126). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Thain, E. (2024). The Experiences of Poverty. In Reimagining Poverty through Social Contextual Analyses (pp. 70-96). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Some general questions to understand someone's contexts: Resource-social relationship exchanges. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 65-69). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Finding out about group and cultural contexts. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 94-99). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Thain, E. (2024). Psychology of Poverty. In Reimagining Poverty through Social Contextual Analyses (pp. 33-47). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Thain, E. (2024). Discourses in Poverty. In Reimagining Poverty through Social Contextual Analyses (pp. 119-143). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Finding out about the contexts for thinking. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 116-122). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Introduction: What is research and what is context?. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 3-11). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Finding out about language histories and communities. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 108-115). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Finding out about the contexts for secrecy and monitoring. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 70-80). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). The basics of social contextual analyses and their advantages. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 12-21). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Finding out about social relationships. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 100-107). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Social policy and context. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 151-160). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Thain, E. (2024). Pathways in Poverty. In Reimagining Poverty through Social Contextual Analyses (pp. 97-118). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Researching biographies and autobiographies: What do you need to know about your own context?. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 149-150). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Putting current research methodologies into context. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 50-62). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Contextual research for detective and intelligence operations. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 161-168). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Thain, E. (2024). The Contexts of Poverty. In Reimagining Poverty through Social Contextual Analyses (pp. 48-69). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Contextual research in sensitive and difficult situations. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 169-178). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Finding out about societal contexts which shape behaviour, talk and experience. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 81-93). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Thain, E. (2024). What Is Poverty?. In Reimagining Poverty through Social Contextual Analyses (pp. 11-32). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Analyzing “strange” or “odd-looking” behaviours. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 144-148). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Best practices and methods for gathering contextual material. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 22-40). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Thain, E. (2024). How to Help Those in Poverty. In Reimagining Poverty through Social Contextual Analyses (pp. 1-10). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). What do we do with our contextual data? Analysis, answers and action. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 41-49). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Guerin, B., Thain, E., Stevens, K., Richards, A. C., & Leugi, G. B. (2024). Exploring the outcomes of bad life contexts. In Conducting Contextual Research (pp. 129-143). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Thain, E. (2024). Why We Have Not Solved Poverty. In Reimagining Poverty through Social Contextual Analyses (pp. 144-151). Routledge. DOI |
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Understanding the experiences of child sexual abuse disclosure in Australia in the wake of the Royal Commission, National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse - Competitive Grant, 23/11/2023 - 30/11/2025
Courses I teach
- BEHL 1003 Psychology 1A (2025)
- BEHL 1022 Counselling Foundations (2025)
- BEHL 3023 Language, Context and Social Behaviour (2025)
- BEHL 3037 Exploring the History and Foundations of Psychology (2025)
- BEHL 1022 Counselling Foundations (2024)
- BEHL 3037 Exploring the History and Foundations of Psychology (2024)
Available For Media Comment.