Shonda Lawrence
Dr. Lawrence is a Contributing Faculty in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She completed her undergraduate degree in Law Enforcement Administration at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. She received her first master’s degree from Chicago State University in Corrections/Criminal Justice. After graduation, she worked for the Illinois House of Representatives as a Research/Appropriations Analyst. She also spent several years as a juvenile probation officer in Cook County, Illinois. She received her second master’s degree and Ph.D. in social work from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Jane Addams College of Social Work. While completing her PhD, she served as the project coordinator for the Jane Addams Center for Social Policy and Research.
She has served as Director for the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs, Master of Social Work Programs (MSW), and Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) programs and chaired several dissertations. She teaches research, human behavior, social welfare policy, and cultural diversity courses. She has several peer-reviewed journal articles, and book chapters, and has presented at numerous juried conferences. Her research interests include child welfare, the impact of parental incarceration on children and families, and social justice broadly. Her most recent publications include Baffour, T. & Lawrence, S. & (Eds.). (2023). A Call for Social Work Educators to Confront and Dismantle Systemic Racism Within Social Work Programs [Special Issue]. Reflections: Narratives in Professional Helping, Vol. 29 (2) and Lawrence, S., Watson, J., Currie, N., & Cooper, M. (2023). Social Justice and Black Men’s Health. In Y. D. Dyson, V. Robinson-Dooley, & J. Watson (Eds.), Black Men’s Health: A Strengths-Based Approach Through a Social Justice Lens for Helping Professions. Springer Publishing. She has also received local, state, and federal research funding. Her current funding supports the collection of data examining inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and belonging at social work programs across the country.
She was recently named to the Council of Social Work Education, Board of Accreditation and has served as a Commissioner on the Membership and Professional Development Commission (CMPD), Accreditation Site Visitor, and as a member of the Faculty Development Work Group, Anti-Racism Task Force for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). She has served on several community boards and enjoys traveling, music, trying new cuisines, and meeting new people.