Anthony Abela (1954–2006) was a major Maltese sociologist. He mostly specialised in values.

Life

Abela Abela is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anthony Abela (1954–2006), Maltese sociologist * Carmelo Abela (born 1972), Maltese Labour MP * Deborah Abela (born 1966), Australian children's writer * Eduardo Abela (1889–196 ...

was born at

Floriana Floriana ( mt, Il-Furjana or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a fortified town in the South Eastern Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014. Floriana i ...

, Malta, in 1954. He began his studies at the

University of Malta The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association ...

, from which he acquired a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

(1976), and pursued further studies at the

Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy, from which he acquired a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

(1982). He also studied at the

Centre Sèvres The Centre Sèvres is a university-level, Jesuit faculty of philosophy and theology on the Rue de Sèvres, in the heart of Paris. It was formed in 1974 from the merger of former Jesuit schools of philosophy at Lyon-Fourvière and philosophy at Ch ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, from which he acquired a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

(1984); at the Loyola University of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, U.S. (1987); and at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, England, from which he acquired a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

(1990). He began teaching at the

in 1985, and in 1990, taught at the

. He was principal investigator of the European Values Study in Malta, Member of the European Values Steering Committee at

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

in the Netherlands, and served as Evaluator and Reviewer of social research projects for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

. He was also the Non-Governmental Maltese Expert on Poverty and Social Inclusion for the European Commission. For three years he was director of the Institute of Social Welfare at the

. His research interests included comparative European values studies, sociology of the family, sociology of religion, youth, gender, poverty, and social policy. Until his premature death on April 4, 2006, at the relatively young age of 52, he was an associate professor of

and

Social Policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

Works

Books :* 1991 - ''Transmitting Values in European Malta'' :* 1992 - ''Changing Youth Culture in Malta'' :* 1994 - ''Shifting Family Values in Malta'' :* 1996 - ''Il-Harsien Socjali fis-Snin Disghin'' (Social Welfare in the 1990s) :* 1998 - ''Women and Men in the Maltese Islands'' :* 1998 - ''Gender Issues and Statistics'' (ed.) :* 1998 - ''Secularised Sexuality: Youth Values in a City-island'' :* 1999 - ''European Values Study'' :* 2000 - ''Young Catholics at the New Millennium'' :* 2001 - ''Values of Women and Men in the Maltese Islands: A comparative European Perspective'' :* 2001 - ''Youth Participation in Voluntary Organisations and Women's Welfare in Society'' Chapters in books :* 1994 - ‘Values for Malta’s Future’, in ''Maltese Society: A Sociological Inquiry'', ed. by R.G. Sultana and G. Baldacchino, pp. 253-270 :* 1994 - ‘Drug Abuse Among School Children’, in ''Maltese Society: A Sociological Inquiry'', ed. by R.G. Sultana and G. Baldacchino, pp. 669-684 :* 1994 - ‘Religjon u Identità’ (Religion and Identity), in ''Kungress dwar l-Identità Maltija'' (Congress on Maltese Identity), PIN Publications, Malta, pp. 53-73 :* 1995 - ‘Family and Social Values in Europe and Malta’, in ''The Malta Year Book 1995'', ed. by S.J.A. Clews. De La Salle Brothers, Malta, pp. 487-491 :* 1995 - ‘Fundamentalist Religious Values of Young People in Malta’, in ''Fundamentalism and Youth in Europe'', ed. by L. Omasi. Franco Angeli Editore, Milan, pp. 43-62 :* 1998 - ‘Feminization of Poverty’, in ''Gender Issues and Statistics''. Department for the Rights of Women, Ministry of Social Policy, Malta. Other :* 1999 - ‘Values 2000’ Department of Information, Malta

Life

Works

References

Sources

See also