Sean Joe Elected President of SSWR

​The theme for the annual program meeting of the Society for Social Work Research (SSWR), now in its 25th year, is ‘Social Work Science for Social Change.’ The virtual event takes place January 19-24, 2021.

Sean Joe, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development, has been elected as the new president of SSWR.  His role will be formally announced during the membership business meeting on January 22, 2:30 p.m EST.

In addition, Brown School faculty, students, staff and alumni have a robust presence at this year’s event with 40 presentations and over 75 posters. Review the program, presenters, and register at sswr.org. 

New Leadership Role in SSWR

Joe is a nationally recognized scholar on suicidal behavior among Black Americans, and is expanding the evidence base for effective practice with Black boys and young men. His research focuses on Black adolescents’ mental health service use patterns, the role of religion in Black suicidal behavior, salivary biomarkers for suicidal behavior, and the development of father-focused, family-based interventions to prevent urban African American adolescent males from engaging in multiple forms of self-destructive behaviors.

Working within the Center for Social Development, Joe launched the Race and Opportunity Lab, which examines race, opportunity, and social mobility in the St. Louis region, working to reduce inequality in adolescents’ transition into adulthood. The lab’s leading community science project is HomeGrown STL, which hopes to improve the social mobility of the region’s 60,000 black boys and young men, ages 12-29, in one generation—by the year 2039. Social mobility is defined as the ability of black boys and men to move upward and attain a better life than their parents. 

HomeGrown STL has been awarded $2.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to examine serious disruptive behavioral difficulties, which disproportionately burden Black youth in high-poverty areas, and eliminate racial disparities in child mental health care. The organization has also been named a “Community to Watch” by the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (MBK). This summer, Joe co-authored “Accountable Policing: Policies to Advance the Personal Safety of Black Boys and Young Men,” which proposed changes to federal and regional policy to build an equitable, transparent and accountable public safety approach.

Joe’s epistemological work focuses on the concept of race in medical and social sciences. He has been quoted extensively in media outlets locally and across the nation, including the Miami Times, the Atlantic Black Star, and NBC.

He serves on the Steering Committee of the national Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) and the National Advisory Council of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Forward Promise initiative. In recognition of the impact of his work, Joe was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the Society for Social Work and Research, and the New York Academy of Medicine. 

Brown School Presentations

Below is a partial list of presentations by members of the Brown School community. For poster presentations and a complete program, please visit sswr.org.

Tuesday, January 19

​2:15 – 4:15 PM

​Developing Anti-Racist Research from Research Questions to Dissemination​Developing Anti-Racist Research from Research Questions to Dissemination

Darrell Hudson, PhD

Wednesday, January 20

1:30 – 2:00 PM	Measuring the Relationship between COVID-19-Related Shocks and Financial Well-Being	​Stephanie Skees, MSW Stephen Roll, PhD
	​School-Based Interventions for Preventing, Mitigating and Reducing Gender-Based Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review	Thabani Nyoni, MSW, MA
2:45 – 3:45 PM	​Caregiver Characteristics Associated with DBDs Among School Going Children in Uganda	​Byansi William Phionah Namatovu, BA Joshua Kiyingi, MSTAT Ozge Sensoy Bahar, PhD Christopher Ddamulira, BA Mary McKay, PhD Kimberly Hoagwood, PhD Fred Ssewamala, PhD
	Development and External Validation of a Risk Calculator to Predict ‘poor Mental Health’ Outcomes Among Youths Affected By HIV in Uganda	​Rachel Brathwaite, PhD Fred Ssewamala, PhD Proscovia Nabunya, MSW, PhD William Byansi, MSW Damulira Christopher
	​The Effect of Family-Based Economic Empowerment Intervention and Family Factors on Sexual Risk-Taking Attitudes Among Adolescents Living with HIV in Uganda	​Proscovia Nabunya, MSW, PhD William Byansi, MSW Christopher Ddamulira, BA Fred Ssewamala, PhD
	​Measuring Political Commitment in Improving Child-Wellbeing: Case of Six Post-Soviet Countries	Aytakin Huseynli, MSW
	Nothing to Show for It: Non-Degreed Debt and the Financial Conditions Associated with It	Brett Drake, MSW, PhD Melissa Jonson-Reid, MSW, PhD
	A Systematic Review of Child Maltreatment Prevention Interventions in African Countries​A Systematic Review of Child Maltreatment Prevention Interventions in African Countries	Fithi Embaye

Wednesday, January 20 5:15 – 6:15 PM

​Behavioral Health at Tribal Colleges and Universities: A Scoping Review	​Autumn Asher BlackDeer, MSW David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv unegv Waya), PhD Sara Beeler-Stinn, LCSW, MPA Jen Van Schuyver, MSW
​Effectiveness of a Peer-Led Healthy Lifestyle Intervention for People with Serious Mental Illness in Supportive Housing: Main Outcomes and Site Differences	​Leopoldo Cabassa, PhD Shenyang Guo, PhD Xiaoyan Wang
​The Effects of Disability Status and Neighborhood Environment on Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Young Adults	​Jisuk Seon, PhD
​Foster Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Longitudinal Nationwide Analysis	​Maria Morrison, MSW Brett Drake, MSW, PhD
​Neighborhood Context at Birth and Risk for Adverse Childhood Experiences over the First 15 Years of Life	​Darejan Dvalishvili, MD, MSW
​Preventing Gender-Based Violence in Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies	​Molly McLay, MSW, LCSW Andrew Foell, MSW, MPP Wendy Auslander, PhD
​A Respite from the Neoliberal Society: An Ethnography of Communal Style Community Gardening	​Joonmo Kang, MA
​Social Distancing Interventions in the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States: An Exploratory Investigation of the Determinants and Impacts of Alternative Mitigation Strategies	​Symposium Organizer: Shenyang Guo, PhD Discussant: Timothy McBride, PhD

Wednesday, January 20 6:30 – 7:15 PM

​RCDC I	​David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv unegv Waya), PhD
​System Dynamics in Social Work: Entry Points for Integration into Research and Practice	Ellis Ballard Jill Kuhlberg Erin Stringfellow

Thursday, January 21 1:15 – 2:15 PM

​Behavioral Health at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Scoping Review	​Autumn Asher BlackDeer, MSW Sara Beeler-Stinn, LCSW, MPA David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv unegv Waya), PhD Jen Van Schuyver, MSW
​Blood Plasma Sales and Liquidity in LMI Households	​Stephanie Skees, MSW, Washington University in Saint Louis; Stephen Roll, PhD, Washington University in Saint Louis
​Colored Health: The Consequences of Colorism on African American Woman’s Health and Mental Health Outcomes	​Maya Williams, MSW
​Increasing Substance Use Disorder Treatment Retention: A Pilot Study Measuring the Impact of a Clinical Dashboard Tool	​David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv unegv Waya), PhD Sara Beeler-Stinn, LCSW, MPA Autumn Asher BlackDeer, MSW
​Neighborhood and Community Influences in Adolescence​Neighborhood and Community Influences in Adolescence	Moderator:  Von Nebbitt, PhD

Thursday, January 21 5:00 – 6:00 PM

Advancing New Markets: Examining Network Structure in the New Markets Tax Credits Program	​Andrew Foell, MSW, MPP Kyle A. Pitzer, MSSW
​A Qualitative Exploration of Physical and Emotional Wellness Among Middle-Class Black Women​	Quenette Walton, PhD Jacquelyn Coats, MSW, MPH

Friday, January 22 1:15 – 2:15 PM

​Associations between Multiple Types of IPV and Adverse Mental Health Outcomes Among IPV Survivors	​Shih-Ying Cheng, MSW
​Childhood Poverty and Foster Care Placement: Implications for Practice and Policy	​Darejan Dvalishvili, MD, MSW Melissa Jonson-Reid, MSW, PhD Brett Drake, MSW, PhD
​Conducting Social Work Research Using an Experimental Therapeutics Approach	​Leopoldo Cabassa, PhD
​Ideal Cardiovascular Health in Racially and Ethnically Diverse People with Serious Mental Illness	​Mark R. Hawes, MSW Kimberly B. Roth, PhD Xiaoyan Wang Christopher Weatherly, MSW/MPH Leopoldo Cabassa, PhD
​Maternal Caregiver Typologies and Internalized Behaviors in African American Adolescents Living in Urban Public Housing	​Von Nebbitt, PhD Takashi Amano, MSW
​Measuring and Addressing Mental Health, Self-Reliance and Safety Among Refugees and Conflict-Affected Populations	​Symposium Organizer: Lindsay Stark, DrPH
​PrEP Knowledge, Attitudes and Use Among Vulnerable Women Engaged in Sex Work in Uganda: Implications for HIV Prevention	​Fred Ssewamala, PhD Proscovia Nabunya, MSW, PhD Ozge Sensoy Bahar, PhD Christopher Ddamulira, BA William Byansi, MSW Flavia Namuwonge, BA Joshua Kiyingi, MSTAT Wilberforce Tumwesige, MSW Mary McKay, PhD
​Synthesizing the Evidence: Prevention of Gender-Based Violence Against Adolescent Girls and Women and Girls Safe Spaces in Humanitarian Settings	​Lindsay Stark, DrPH

​3:45  – 4:45 PM

Changing Sexual and Reproductive Health Narratives of Black Adolescents and Young Adults

​Tyriesa Howell, PhD, LMSW

Friday, January 22 5:00 – 6:00 PM

​Exploring the Nexus of Empowerment Practice and Cognitive Processing Therapy in Rape Crisis Centers	​Tonya Edmond, PhD Shih-Ying Cheng, MSW Molly McLay, MSW, LCSW
​Policy Ideas That Rise to the Challenge of COVID-19 and Reduce Inequality: Learning from the Past to Shape the Future	Michael Sherraden, PhD
​Sex Trafficking Risk in a Representative Sample of High School Students: Prevalence and Associated Characteristics of Youth Who Trade Sex	​Shih-Ying Cheng, MSW
​Understanding Caregiver Criminal Justice Involvement and the Impact on Child Outcomes	​Sara Beeler-Stinn, LCSW, MPA Melissa Jonson-Reid, MSW, PhD Autumn Asher BlackDeer, MSW David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv unegv Waya), PhD Catherine Cobetto, BA