Research Interests

Tenure-Track Faculty

Letha A. Chadiha, Professor of Social Work
Letha A. Chadiha Research Interests: African American aging, caregiving, recruitment and retention of ethnically diverse elders.
Linda M. Chatters, Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health and Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics, ISR
Linda M. Chatters Research Interests: Religious involvement and well-being, social support networks of adult/elderly African Americans, intergenerational family relations, families and health.
Barry N. Checkoway, Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, Professor of Urban & Regional Planning, A Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Barry N. Checkoway Research Interests: Community organization, community development, neighborhood development, community-based policy advocacy, participatory research, evaluation
David Cordova, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Sandra K. Danziger, Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, and Research Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy
Sandra K. Danziger Research Interests: Child, adolescent, and family policies and programs, effects of welfare reform.
Jorge Delva, Professor of Social Work and Associate Dean, School of Social Work
Jorge  Delva Research Interests: Drug epidemiology, program evaluation, survey research, cross-cultural and cross-national research, the use of multilevel statistics to study individual- and contextual-level variables.
Ruth E. Dunkle, Wilbur J Cohen Collegiate Professor of Social Work, Professor of Social Work, and Associate Dean, Academic Programs
Ruth E. Dunkle Research Interests: Clinical gerontology, service delivery to the elderly, the oldest old, coping and service deliver strategies for the elderly, racial and ethnic variations in caregiving to the elderly.
Kathleen Coulborn Faller, Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor of Children and Families and Professor of Social Work
Kathleen Coulborn  Faller Research Interests: Controversies of interviewing children about sexual abuse, the co-morbidity of child maltreatment and parental substance abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, cultural competence in child welfare, and the child welfare workforce.
Larry M. Gant, Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, and Professor of Art and Design, School of Art and Design
Larry M. Gant Research Interests: Program evaluation, social action, community-based health programs, community organization and social planning; public health social work, international social work, arts-based community development, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS
Eve E. Garrow, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Eve E. Garrow Research Interests: Human service organizations, human service delivery, government funding, social enterprise , advocacy for social rights, welfare reform, homelessness
Karla Goldman, Sol Drachler Professor of Social Work
Karla  Goldman Research Interests: American Jewish women, American Judaism, Hurricane Katrina, Jewish identity, Jewish women, Jews in universities, University of Michigan, Jewish urban experience
Andrew C. Grogan-Kaylor, Associate Professor of Social Work
Andrew C. Grogan-Kaylor Research Interests: Academic outcomes, corporal punishment, substance use, program evaluation, community antecedents of poor parenting, the relationship of family, neighborhood, and school indicators with school success, statistical models for longitudinal and nested data.
Lorraine M. Gutierrez, Arthur F Thurnau Professor, Professor of Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, and Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work
Lorraine M. Gutierrez Research Interests: Empowerment-oppressed groups, Latinos, social justice.
Joseph A. Himle, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Medical School and Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work
Joseph A. Himle Research Interests: Mental health, anxiety, depression, psycosocial interventions, cognitive-behavioral therapy, interface between neurobiology and psychosocial interventions in mental health.
Leslie D. Hollingsworth, Associate Professor of Social Work
Leslie D. Hollingsworth Research Interests: Adoption, African American families, child welfare, mental health, birth parents, adoptive parents, interpersonal practice, family therapy
Berit Ingersoll-Dayton, Director of Joint PhD Program and Professor of Social Work
Berit  Ingersoll-Dayton Research Interests: Interpersonal practice, mental health, doctoral program, family social support, gender differences, intergenerational relationships, elderly caregivers
Sean Joe, Associate Professor of Social Work, Faculty Associate, School of Social Work, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Medical School and Faulty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research
Sean  Joe Research Interests: Suicide, violence, firearm-related violence, religion in black African American suicide, salivary biomarkers, self-destructive behaviors
Edith C. Kieffer, Associate Professor of Social Work
Edith C. Kieffer Research Interests: Ethnic and geographic disparities in health and health services; maternal and child health; multi-level community-based intervention research to promote prevention of diabetes and its complications.
Sherrie A. Kossoudji, Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Economics, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Sherrie A. Kossoudji Research Interests: Immigrant work lives, labor market inequalities, migrant worker opportunities, gender economics.
Shawna Lee, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Laura Lein, Katherine Reebel Collegiate Professor of Social Work, Dean and Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, and Professor of Anthropology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Laura  Lein Research Interests: Households in poverty, NGOs and human services, health disparities, women's employment, child care, interdisciplinary and mixed methods research approaches.
Edith A. Lewis, Associate Professor of Social Work and Women's Studies
Edith A. Lewis Research Interests: Culturally competent practice, empowerment, women and families of color, international practice.
Lydia W. Li, Associate Professor of Social Work
Lydia W. Li Research Interests: Late-life depression, home care elders, family caregiving, successful aging
Reuben Miller, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Sandra L. Momper, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Sandra L. Momper Research Interests: Gambling, substance abuse, PTSD, mental health and health disparities among rural and urban American Indians.
Emily Nicklett, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Emily  Nicklett Research Interests: Aging in place, health disparities in chronic disease, food access, environmental predictors of health, social support, social mobility, community participation, and community effects on health and food access, type 2 diabetes, chronic illness
Robert M. Ortega, Associate Professor of Social Work
Robert M. Ortega Research Interests: Child welfare, juvenile justice, serious mental illness.
Daphna R. Oyserman, Edwin J. Thomas Collegiate Professor of Social Work, Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Professor of Sociology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Daphna R. Oyserman Research Interests: Culture, race, stigma, prevention, identity, adolescence, cognition, motivation.
Desmond Patton, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Desmond Patton Research Interests: Gun violence, African American male development, gang violence, gang behavior, social media, community violence, violent neighborhoods, youth development programs
Janice C. Paul, Professor of Art, School of Art and Design and Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work
Janice C. Paul Research Interests: Prison art, integrated arts curricula in urban schools, university community partnerships in the arts, art programming in community development, perceptual development and children's art.
Brian E. Perron, Associate Professor of Social Work
Brian E. Perron Research Interests: Community mental health, treatment processes, service access and utilization, evidence-based practices.
Thomas J. Powell, Professor of Social Work
Thomas J. Powell Research Interests: Mental health, substance use disorders, self-help and mutual aid groups, 12-step programs, interpersonal practice, international development, social policy
Beth Glover Reed, Associate Professor of Social Work and Women's Studies
Beth Glover  Reed Research Interests: Gender/ethnicity in social systems, feminist/multicultural practice, alcohol/drugs.
Katherine E. Richards-Schuster, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Katherine E. Richards-Schuster Research Interests: Youth participation, community organization, youth-led community change, and community-based participatory evaluation and research.
Lawrence Root, Director of Office of Global Activities and Professor of Social Work
Lawrence  Root Research Interests: Social welfare/employment, services in the workplace, work-family, and cross-national labor policy/practices.
Mary C. Ruffolo, Associate Professor of Social Work and Director of Continuing Education Program
Mary C. Ruffolo Research Interests: Intersection of mental health interventions with children, adolescents and their families.
Joseph P. Ryan, Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work and Faculty Associate, Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research
Joseph P. Ryan Research Interests: Child welfare, juvenile justice, welfare system, public policy, child maltreatment
Daniel G. Saunders, Professor of Social Work
Daniel G. Saunders Research Interests: Domestic and dating violence, direct practice, program evaluation.
Kristin Seefeldt, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Poverty, economic well being, financial coping strategies, recession, recovery policies, work-life balance
H. Luke Shaefer, Assistant Professor of Social Work
H. Luke  Shaefer Research Interests:
Social safety net, low-wage workers, economically disadvantage families, non-profit management
Trina R. Shanks, Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, and Faculty Associate, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
Trina R. Shanks Research Interests: Child well-being, asset building, 529 college education plans, SEED, Rhodes scholar, economic development
Marilyn Sinkewicz, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Marilyn  Sinkewicz Research Interests: Gender as a social determinant of health, health policies/programs, quantitative and qualitative methods, children affected by HIV/AIDS.
Michael Spencer, Associate Dean and Professor of Social Work
Michael  Spencer Research Interests: Disparities, mental health services, race/ethnicity, CBPR, discrimination, community health workers
Karen M. Staller, Associate Professor of Social Work
Karen M. Staller Research Interests: Runaway and homeless youth, law, social problem construction, history of social welfare, qualitative research methods.
Robert Joseph Taylor, Sheila Feld Collegiate Professor of Social Work, Professor of Social Work,School of Social Work, and Faculty Associate, Institute for Social Research
Robert Joseph  Taylor Research Interests: Informal social support networks of adult/elderly African Americans.
Richard M. Tolman, Professor of Social Work
Richard M. Tolman Research Interests: Group work and family violence, interpersonal practice.
John E. Tropman, Professor of Social Work
John E. Tropman Research Interests: Research/scholarly interest: social welfare policy; community organization; non-profit management, entrepreneurship, c-level executives
David J. Tucker, Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work and Adjunct Professor of Sociology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
David J. Tucker Research Interests: Organizational demography, organizational change, dynamic modeling of change processes, knowledge development and production.
Diane Kaplan Vinokur, Associate Professor of Social Work
Diane Kaplan  Vinokur Research Interests: Nonprofit management, ?under one roof project,? human service organizations
Daphne C. Watkins, Assistant Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work and Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research
Daphne C. Watkins Research Interests: Health promotion and disease prevention among underserved individuals and communities
Michael R. Woodford, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Michael R. Woodford Research Interests: LGBTQ, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, discrimination, heterosexism, HIV/AIDS prevention
Mieko Yoshihama, Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work
Research Interests: Violence against women, community organizing and participatory action research in immigrant and marginalized communities, theatre-based prevention, mental health.
Bradley J. Zebrack, Associate Professor of Social Work
Bradley J. Zebrack Research Interests: Cancer support, social work oncology

Clinical and Research Faculty

Karen S. Harlow-Rosentraub, Assistant Research Scientist, School of Nursing and Assistant Research Scientist, School of Social Work
Research Interests: Program evaluation, aging policy, community based needs assessment for national and community service, lifelong learning, older citizens
Susan C. McDonough, Research Associate Professor and Adjunct Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, and Associate Research Scientist, Center for Human Growth and Development
Susan C. McDonough Research Interests: Children's mental health, preventive interventions.
Julie M. Ribaudo, Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work
Julie M. Ribaudo Research Interests: Psychotherapy, community mental health, child welfare, public health, early intervention, challenging infants, mental health, infant mental health, clinical supervision
Sue Ann Savas, Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work
Sue Ann Savas
Beth A. Sherman, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Beth A. Sherman Research Interests: Children and youth, school social work, prevention, and early intervention.
Elizabeth H. Voshel, Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work and Director of Field Instruction Program
Elizabeth H. Voshel Research Interests: Field instruction, field instructor training, social work ethics, safety preparation for social workers, interdiciplinary collaboration, case management.

Field Educators

G. Warren Clark
G. Warren Clark
Susan Wiant Crabb
Susan Wiant Crabb
Oliva Alban Kuester
Oliva Alban Kuester
Stacy L. Peterson
Stacy L. Peterson
Leigh Robertson
Leigh Robertson
William L. Vanderwill
 

LEO Faculty

Alison Adlaf
M. Antonio (Tony) Alvarez
M. Antonio (Tony) Alvarez Research Interests: School social work, adventure based practice, child welfare, community-based interventions, bullying and suicide prevention and intervention, international social work, and practice with indigenous/immigrant populations.
Michael Appel
Shane Brady
William (Bill) Cabin
Julie Cushman
Douglas (Doug) Davies
Douglas (Doug) Davies Research Interests: Clinical practice with children.
Susan Davis
Adrienne Dessel
Christine Doby
Daniel Fischer
Daniel Fischer
Steven Foley
Steven Foley
Sallie Foley
Sallie Foley
Sarah Fraley
Joseph Galura
Research Interests: Community service learning, especially how this pedagogy affects student outcomes; diversity, spirituality, and social work practice; the experiences of Filipino Americans, particularly in metropolitan Detroit.
Tammie Glenn
Tammie Glenn
Amanda Good
Carolyn Grawi
Elizabeth Haas
Karen Hague
Timothy Handy
JoAnn Heap
Julie (Jlie) Kaplan Hershovitz
Charles (Chuck) Kieffer
Kristine Konz
William Long
Kathleen (Katie) Lopez
Debra Mattison
Debra Mattison
Patricia Miller
Robert (Bob) Miller
Robert (Bob) Miller
Laura Nitzberg
Laura Nitzberg
Maureen Okasinski
Mary Ortega
Kathryn Pelz-Davis
Kathryn Pelz-Davis
Christopher Plummer
Gregory Pratt
Janet Ray
Katherine E. Richards-Schuster
Katherine E. Richards-Schuster Research Interests: Youth participation, community organization, youth-led community change, and community-based participatory evaluation and research.
Shari Robinson-Lynk
Lori Roddy
Katherine Root
Anthony (Tony) Rothschild
Laura Sanders
Laura Sanders
Sally Schmall
Sally Schmall
Stuart Segal
Stuart Segal
Anne Segall
Peregrine Silverschanz
Beth Spencer
Beth Spencer
Gary Stauffer
Gary Stauffer
James Svensson
Emily Verbeke
Kathleen M. Wade
Kathleen M. Wade Research Interests: Clinical social work, social work in health care.
Scott Weissman
Scott Weissman
Stephen Wiland
Research Interests: Integrated treatment for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
Deborah Willis
Deborah Willis
Ellen Yashinsky Chute
Ellen Yashinsky Chute

Emeritus Faculty

Paula Allen-Meares
Paula Allen-Meares Research Interests: Schools, adolescents, parenting.
Oscar Barbarin III
Oscar Barbarin III Research Interests: Culturally-sensitive psychological assessment, culture and children's mental health, development of African American children.
Harvey Bertcher
Harvey Bertcher Research Interests: Group work, self-instruction, support by teleconferencing.
William (Bill) Birdsall
William (Bill) Birdsall Research Interests: Policy analysis, program evaluation, prevention and treatment of drug abuse in women, poverty, inequality, welfare.
Sallie Churchill
Sallie Churchill Research Interests: Group work with children, child abuse and neglect, and adoption.
Tom Croxton
Tom Croxton Research Interests: Social work ethics and standards of practice, juvenile justice, law and social work.
Sheila Feld
Sheila Feld Research Interests: Role transitions among the elderly, late-life divorce and widowhood, social support for the elderly, variations in support groups among racial/ethnic groups.
Phillip Fellin
Phillip Fellin Research Interests: Rural and urban communities, social program evaluation, mental health policies and services, mental health and the elderly, and school social work.
Charles Garvin
Charles Garvin Research Interests: Interpersonal practice gender/ethnicity, group work, long-term mental illness.
Rose Gibson
Research Interests: Race and ethnicity in aging, inequality, racial differences in retirement and health status.
Martha Gizynski
Research Interests: Family and children's services, ego psychology, clinical practice, adolescents, post-surgery trauma, supervisory relationships, maternal depression, and coping mechanisms of the elderly.
Jesse Gordon
Jesse Gordon Research Interests: Clinical research, labor.
Srinika (Siri) Jayaratne
Srinika (Siri) Jayaratne Research Interests: Work stress, professional practice, client violence towards social workers, human service prevention programs.
Harold Johnson
Harold Johnson Research Interests: Gerontology, organizational issues, and human service issues.
Armand Lauffer
Armand Lauffer Research Interests: Community organizing, planning, organizational development, Jewish communal service.
William Lawrence
Research Interests: Social welfare administration, social work education. personnel and fiscal management, and program development.
Shirley Lockery
Shirley Lockery Research Interests: Aging-ethnogerontology, health policy, family support, retirement, and health of older African Americans.
Frank Maple Jr.
Frank Maple Jr. Research Interests: School social work, interviewing methods, group and family treatment.
Elizabeth Mutschler
Elizabeth Mutschler Research Interests: Treatment procedures, therapist behaviors, computers in social work practice.
Rosemary Sarri
Rosemary Sarri Research Interests: Child/family welfare policy, juvenile and criminal justice systems.
Brett Seabury
Brett Seabury Research Interests: Interpersonal practice, radical critique, indigenous healing systems.
Vivian Shapiro
Kristine A. Siefert
Kristine A. Siefert Research Interests: Racial/ethnic health disparities, poverty, food insecurity, pregnancy outcome, maternal depression
David J. Tucker
David J. Tucker Research Interests: Organizational demography, organizational change, dynamic modeling of change processes, knowledge development and production.
Helen Weingarten
Helen Weingarten Research Interests: Interpersonal conflict as a mechanism of change, affects of gender on behavior and outcomes, culture and conflict.