Paige Safyer defended her dissertation "M(other) Nurture: Exploring the Influence of Maternal Care on the Development of Infant Emotion Processing, Regulation, and the Emotional Brain." Her committee consisted of Richard Tolman, Brenda Volling (co-chairs), Katherine Rosenblum, Julie Ribaudo and Ioulia Kovelman. She has accepted an Assistant Professor of Social Work position at Arizona State University.
Kathryn Berringer, PhD candidate Social Work and Anthropology was awarded a Rackham Program in Public Scholarship. The scholarship supports research projects created in partnership with Rackham students and community organizations.
Berringer is working with the Ruth Ellis Center in Highland Park to produce a set of multimedia products documenting the history of the center serving LGBTQ youth in metro Detroit. She will be collaborating with the center's Youth Advisory Board.
Pinghui Wu defended her dissertation, "Demand Shocks, Shift in Welfare Regime, and the Well-being of Workers and Their Families." Her committee consisted of Luke Shaefer, Dominick Bartelme (co-chairs), Sandra Danziger, Charles Brown and John Bound. She has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.
Berenice Castillo, Joint PhD student Social Work and Psychology was recently awarded the Jerald and Virginia Bachman Research Fellowship on Change in American Youth from the Institute for Social Research. The Bachman Fellowship is designed to support an outstanding emerging scholar who is conducting research to examine patterns and changes in the lifestyles and values of American youth and young adults.
Min Hee Kim successfully defended her dissertation “Geographic Distribution of Aging and Health-Related Resources in Urban Neighborhoods: Implications for Health Care Delivery to Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Physical and/or Cognitive Impairment.” Her committee consisted of Ruth Dunkle, Sarah Burgard (co-chairs), Sandra Levitsky and Philippa Clarke.
John Doering-White successfully defended his dissertation entitled "In the Shadow of the Beast: Violence and Dignity along the Central American Migrant Trail". His committee consisted of Laura Lein, Jason DeLeon (co-chairs), Andrew Shryock, Reuben Miller and Jorge Delva. He has accepted an Assistant Professor of Social Work position at the University of South Carolina, with a joint appointment in the Department of Anthropology.
Kathryn Berringer, Joint PhD student in Social Work and Anthropology was named a Dow Sustainability Doctoral Fellow. Each new Fellow will receive up to $15,000 to help support their research in the coming year. Dow Sustainability Fellows Program at the University of Michigan supports full-time graduate students at the university who are committed to finding interdisciplinary, actionable and meaningful sustainability solutions on local-to-global scales. The program aspires to prepare future sustainability leaders to make a positive difference in organizations worldwide.
Lisa Young Larance, Joint PhD student Social Work and Sociology, article “Understanding and Addressing Women’s Use of Force in Intimate Relationships: A Retrospective” was published recently in Violence Against Women.
Joint PhD student Yun Chen and Kathleen Pottick, visiting scholar and professor of social work at Rutgers University, are both recipients of an honorable mention for the 2019 Society for Social Work and Research Excellence in Research Award. The award recognizes the article “Conceptualizing Culturally Infused Engagement and Its Measurement for Ethnic Minority and Immigrant Children and Families, Clinical Children and Family Psychology.” In conferring the honorable mention, the Society recognized outstanding social work research that represents the highest of scientific standards and advances social work knowledge.
A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan School of Social Work is the largest to date to examine associations between parental spanking and child well-being. The results of this study suggest that the use of spanking is detrimental to children across cultural contexts. Specifically, this study used data from 62 countries, representing nearly one-third of the world’s countries, and demonstrated that caregivers’ reports of spanking of children in the household were associated with lower socioemotional development of 3- and 4-year-old children. "Spanking may do more harm than good," said Garrett Pace, the study's lead author and a doctoral student of social work and sociology.
The results of this study suggest that bans are warranted and likely benefit child well-being in the long term. In addition, caregivers can be supported in their efforts to change parenting behaviors through culturally competent parent education as well as the use of evidence-based practices that promote alternatives to physical punishment. The study was published in Child Abuse and Neglect The International Journal. Additional authors include Associate Professors Andrew Grogan-Kaylor and Shawna Lee.
University of Michigan
School of Social Work
1080 South University Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106