About

Mathew Coleman is a Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Geography at The Ohio State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California at Los Angeles, an M.A. in Political Economy from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and two B.A. degrees in Political Science from Carleton University and the Université d’Ottawa. His research focuses on geopolitics, immigration, and the geography of law, with particular attention to issues related to the U.S.-Mexico border, interior immigration enforcement, critical geopolitics, political geography, states and statecraft, and geographies of power and resistance. Coleman teaches courses on political geography, geopolitics, the history of geographical thought, research design, and seminars on theory of political geography. His scholarly work includes examining immigration law and politics, devolution of immigration enforcement, and the geopolitical and legal borders in the US, especially in the context of immigrant insecurity and post-9/11 policies.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Political Science
• Medicine
• Social Science
• Environmental health
• Psychology
• Computer Science
• Medical education
• Applied psychology
• Nursing
• Engineering
• Business
• Family medicine
• Medical emergency
• Psychiatry

Selected publications

• The experience of stage one psychiatry trainees in rural Australia: A qualitative study of a national sample

  Australasian Psychiatry · 2026-02-17

  article

  ObjectiveDespite recent efforts to promote rural training opportunities, little is known about contemporary trainees' experiences. The study aimed to explore the experiences of stage one psychiatry trainees in rural Australia, focussing on development across CanMEDs competencies.MethodTwelve RANZCP trainees who completed stage one training in rural settings across Australia were recruited. The study used a qualitative, phenomenological approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, which were analysed through thematic analysis.ResultsData revealed three primary themes. First, the interconnectedness of rural communities created an expanded sense of professional identity. Second, resource scarcity represented a duality of challenges and opportunities, which framed the development of generalist competencies. Third, progression through training highlighted challenges related to supervision and trainees' approach to their learning.ConclusionRural psychiatry training presents a unique interplay of challenges and opportunities that shape trainee development across multiple competency domains, providing a rich platform for professional education and growth. Our results may inform current efforts to enhance the quality of rural psychiatry training.

  PublisherDOI

• Implementing Cultural Safety in Research Methodology: The Co‐Design Process of a Brief Therapeutic Intervention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Young People Who Engage in Self‐Harm and/or Suicidal Behaviours

  Australian Journal of Rural Health · 2026-02-01

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples share rich cultural traditions unrivalled across the world; however, the continued impact of colonisation led to sustained, profound trauma that has spanned generations. With Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people presenting to hospital emergency departments (ED) for self-harm and suicidal behaviours at a rate 2.9 times higher than non-Indigenous people, there is a need to develop culturally appropriate interventions to address this growing problem. OBJECTIVE: This paper sought to describe the co-design process of culturally adapting a brief therapeutic intervention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people who display self-harm and/or suicidal behaviours. The adaptation focus was Therapeutic Assessment (TA), a brief intervention provided to young people who present to the ED with self-harm. SETTING: The process was split into two phases located in Geraldton and Meekatharra, two communities in the Mid-west of Western Australia. PARTICIPANTS: In phase one, three male Aboriginal young people (aged between 16 and 19 years old) and eight Aboriginal Elders participated in two yarning circles run on one day. In phase two, 26 Aboriginal young people (aged between 12 and 25 years old), five Aboriginal senior members of the community and one Aboriginal carer participated in a combination of small yarning circles and/or single interviews. RESULTS: This paper describes the elements of the culturally safe process of adapting a brief intervention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people experiencing self-harm and/or suicidal behaviours. CONCLUSION: Two points are important to note. The first is that implementing a culturally safe process can be an outcome in itself, and second, that the principles supporting cultural safety can assist in evaluating how non-Indigenous researchers implement this process.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mapping Aboriginal Mental Health Journeys Through Psychiatric Care Systems

  JAMA Network Open · 2026-05-20

  articleOpen access

  Importance: Mental health services fail to provide culturally safe care for Aboriginal peoples, contributing to persistent health disparities. Understanding how psychiatric care is organized, alongside lived experiences of care, may identify leverage points for service redesign. Objective: To examine Aboriginal mental health care pathways using integrated qualitative and quantitative analysis. Design, Setting, and Participants: This mixed-methods study was conducted from June 2022 to December 2023 at the Great Southern Mental Health Service in Western Australia. Twenty Aboriginal adults were recruited; the quantitative component included 19 patients with 1108 documented clinical interactions, and 7 participated in in-depth yarning interviews. Novel analytical methods included a community-preserving surrogate network algorithm and transition-matrix trajectory clustering. Main Outcomes and Measures: Centrality metrics identifying key agents in the clinical interaction network; patient trajectory clustering based on clinical action sequences; qualitative themes from yarning interviews using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: A total of 20 Aboriginal adults were recruited; the quantitative analysis included 19 patients (mean [SD] age, 38.4 [15.9] years; 10 women and 9 men) with 1108 documented interactions, with 7 patients (mean [SD] age, 44.0 [17.8] years; 4 women and 3 men) participating in qualitative yarning interviews. The clinical interaction network had a core-periphery structure in which patients often served as the main link between external agents and hospital staff. Aboriginal mental health workers had closeness centrality above the 99th percentile in surrogate networks, indicating a structurally distinctive central position within the network. Trajectory analysis identified 3 care pathways: predominantly internal care, prolonged internal engagement, and complex external referral with repeated readmissions. Qualitative themes emphasized cultural safety, kinship, and ongoing trauma and showed inconsistent Aboriginal mental health worker presence during crises, while integrated analyses highlighted their pivotal yet vulnerable role within fragmented care pathways, underscoring the need for trauma-informed, culturally safe redesign. Conclusions and Relevance: In this mixed-methods study, Aboriginal mental health workers occupied central bridging positions, and patients were intermediaries between disconnected parts of the system. Strengthening culturally grounded roles and redesigning care pathways based on operational information flow may improve care coordination and cultural safety in multisetting mental health systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Managing Acute Behavioural Disturbance in Perinatal Women: A Systematic and State of the Art Review of Guidelines

  Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology · 2025-06-17 · 1 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Guidelines for managing acute behavioural disturbance typically exclusively focus on care for adults in mental health and related settings, how this should be adapted to safely manage in pregnancy and the early postpartum including in settings such as maternity wards is less clear. AIMS: To undertake a systematic and state of the art review on managing acute behavioural disturbance (ABD) in perinatal (pregnant and postpartum) women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic review of national and international mental health guidelines for managing perinatal acute behavioural disturbance and a state of the art review synthesis of adult mental health management of acute behavioural disturbance principles, pregnancy and lactation pharmacotherapy principles, and obstetrics risks relevant to perinatal ABD management. RESULTS: Only two published guidelines that included perinatal ABD were identified. Many overarching principles in ABD management are suitable for perinatal women, however adaptation of sedation and physical restraint is necessary to ensure safety in pregnancy. Identified were principles of pharmacological exposure and choice of agent in pregnancy that can be applied to ABD as well as principles in pregnancy that can be utilised for safer physical restraint. CONCLUSION: When managing ABD in pregnancy or postpartum including on maternity wards, many of the guiding principles such as the use of least restrictive practices and de-escalation can be applied without adaptation to perinatal period. However, when pharmacological agents and/or physical restraint are indicated then certain adaptations for pregnancy and lactation are required to ensure the safe care of women and infants.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mapping Aboriginal mental health journeys through psychiatric care systems: a mixed-methods study integrating lived experience with network analysis

  Research Square · 2025-10-21

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Challenge of Just Federal Sentencing for “Boat Defendants”

  Federal Sentencing Reporter · 2025-05-01 · 1 citations

  article

  Abstract In the U.S. federal criminal justice system, sentencing guidelines for drug-related offenses are pegged to drug type and quantity. This research explores sentencing for a group of federal drug offenders who are found with unusually large quantities of powder cocaine (typically >150 kg): poor, unarmed foreign nationals detained at sea and charged under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act. As an unusual type of drug courier, this boat defendant population offers an instructive window into federal sentencing because the defendants are so “similarly situated,” yet they are prosecuted across multiple federal courts and have been sentenced by hundreds of judges. Using a defendant-level dataset built from publicly available data, the study explores sentencing outcomes across circuits, districts, courthouses, judges, and codefendants before and after the First Step Act (FSA) took effect in December 2018, which granted judges increased discretion to impose sentences below mandatory minimums. Results show that average imposed sentences were markedly lower than the estimated guideline minimums, suggesting that courts are recognizing drug weight to be a poor indicator of culpability, particularly post-FSA. The study also shows stark variation in imposed sentences within and across federal districts and among judges within a common court, which points to the unpredictability of sentencing outcomes despite a highly homogeneous offender population. The authors call for a critical reevaluation of federal drug sentencing guidelines to promote fairness and consistency and call for further research on judicial discretion in driving sentencing disparities.

  PublisherDOI

• Western Australia's First and Regional General Practitioner Psychiatry Phone Line to Improve Primary Mental Health Care: Indicators of Effectiveness and Sustainability: A Non‐Controlled Population‐Based Interventional Study

  Australian Journal of Rural Health · 2025-06-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  OBJECTIVE(S): To assess the impact of a regional General Practitioner Psychiatry Phone Line (GPPPL), embedded in a public Community Mental Health service (CMHS) on the wider health service's workflow and systemic outcomes. DESIGN: Non-controlled population-based interventional study. SETTING: Public CMHS in the Great Southern region of Western Australia (WA). PARTICIPANTS: Aggregated monthly data on (i) referrals to the CMHS (July 2017-March 2022), and (ii) Emergency Department presentations (July 2017-May 2022) were obtained from the West Australian Country Health Service. INTERVENTION: Introduction of a regional GPPPL, for local publicly employed psychiatrists to provide specialist mental health care advice to General Practitioners working in the same region. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Service input: Number of calls to the GPPPL, call duration and frequency. Service output: Rate of referrals to the CMHS, and rate of Emergency Department presentations related to mental health issues, and alcohol and other drugs. RESULTS: The number of weekly calls to the GPPPL decreased (slope -0.13, 95% CI -0.17, -0.08; p < 0.0001) over the course of the one-year pilot. The referral rate to CMHS was approximately 70.5 referrals per 1000 person-years in July 2017, and quite steady pre-GPPPL (p = 0.9283), then reduced significantly post-GPPPL, by 1.7 (95% CI 0.14, 3.26; p = 0.0372) referrals per 1000 person-years each month. CONCLUSIONS: This study has demonstrated the GPPPL's effectiveness in reducing the referral rates to CMHS and its self-sustainability. The psychiatrists involved were able to continue full-time public service roles while running the phoneline, with a decreasing time demand over the one-year pilot.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Correction: Patterns of Mental Health Service Utilisation: A population-Based Linkage of Over 17 Years of Health Administrative Records

  Community Mental Health Journal · 2025-04-03

  erratumOpen access

  Correction: Patterns of Mental Health Service Utilisation: A population-Based Linkage of Over 17 Years of Health Administrative Records

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Violence and nicotine replacement therapy in a high dependency mental health unit

  Australasian Psychiatry · 2025-02-26 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Introduction Nicotine withdrawal is associated with aggression on mental health wards. This study examined whether the introduction of an inhaled form of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) improved acceptability and reduced observed aggression on a high dependency mental health unit (HDU), at a tertiary level metropolitan hospital. Method This retrospective cohort study included tobacco smokers admitted to the HDU over two consecutive years, following a smoking ban at the hospital. Transdermal patch and gum forms of NRT were available in the first year, with an inhaled form introduced the following year. Aggression was quantified using the Brøset violence checklist. Statistical analysis included the chi-squared test of independence and student’s t -test. Results Of the 89 people admitted, 85% smoked tobacco. Of these, 71% had a history of violence and 33% had been incarcerated for this. NRT use increased from 26% to 33% in the second year. Use of NRT was associated with a significant reduction in aggression across the study period, and the overall aggression was lower in the second year. Conclusion Greater choice of NRT agents can lead to improved use and acceptance, associated with reduced inpatient aggression. Acceptance, dosing and administration of NRT can all be improved by assertive policy.

  PublisherDOI

• Back to the future: A call to generalism in psychiatry

  Australasian Psychiatry · 2025-06-16

  article1st authorCorresponding

  IntroductionProviding a sustainably resourced medical workforce to meet the healthcare needs of a population is a significant challenge. Drivers of medical workforce issues include an ageing population, increasing chronic disease, skill shortages and workforce maldistribution. In this paper, we consider the imbalance between generalism and specialism in Australia, arguing that generalist positions may better address the current healthcare gaps.Analysis and evidenceWe describe generalism in the broad Australian healthcare system before exploring generalism within psychiatry and reflect on how lessons learned in rural generalist psychiatry can be applied to broader medical workforce reform.DiscussionThe imbalance between specialism and generalism within the mental health workforce across settings must be re-examined given the increased burden of disease and patient complexity. An explicit articulation and recognition of generalism within psychiatry may yield positive results on workforce development and ultimately accessibility of psychiatric services across geographical and service delivery settings.ConclusionAdvocating for generalist psychiatry, alongside general practice, to be at the centre of workforce solutions into the future is more critical than ever. The profession must give generalist psychiatry the recognition it deserves, lift its professional status and prioritise its training before we lose our authority and our social licence.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• F Gardiner

  Australian National University

  21 shared

• Beatriz Cuesta-­Briand

  University of Western Australia

  21 shared

• Kelly Ridley

  University of Western Australia

  15 shared

• Noel Collins

  WA Country Health Service

  11 shared

• Breeanna Spring

  Charles Darwin University

  10 shared

• Andrew Amos

  James Cook University

  7 shared

• Helen Wright

  Princess Margaret Hospital for Children

  7 shared

• Nicholas Faint

  WA Country Health Service

  7 shared