As part of its mission, the members of the School of Social Work community engage in numerous research activities to develop, test, and disseminate innovative solutions to human services problems. These efforts serve to add to the knowledge base for social services, social work practice, and social work education and serve as a resource for students, faculty, and the practice community.

Examples of current research projects at the School include the following:

• An examination of the ways that spirituality affects the physical and mental health of cardiac rehabilitation patients.
• Evaluation of the efficacy of intergroup dialogues as a multicultural pedagogy for learning about issue of conflicts, social justice, and coalition building.
• A health survey of American Indian and Alaskan Native lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and two-spirited individuals.
• An investigation of the ways in which parents respond to children’s somatic complaints, and reinforce and model children’s illness behaviors.
• A national study of the health and mental health of Latinos and Asian Americans.
• An evaluation of the efficacy of an HIV-prevention intervention for African American, Asian American, and immigrant adolescents.
• A longitudinal study of the lives of teenage mothers and their children.
• A project calculating a measure of income adequacy for each state in the US.
• A project examining the child’s role in shaping family resource allocations.
• An examination of the adjustment of Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrant children and adolescents.
• An examination of race differences in social relations and depression among older adults.
• Development of a brief assessment of HIV risk among men who have sex with men and its effect on risk reduction.
• An evaluation of the Sound Families Initiative, a program creating over 1500 service-enriched transitional housing units around Puget Sound.
• Our faculty are working on a variety of exciting projects, and have been profiled in a 2008 Research Calendar.
• Current Research: An index of research projects being undertaken by our faculty this academic year demonstrates the range of research and scholarship in which they are engaged. 

In addition to these research projects, the School also houses the Social Development Research Group and the Innovative Programs Research Group, each of which conducts a varied array of research projects.