Equity, Justice, and Empowerment Core (Lead: Reuter)
Researchers in SSJR’s Equity, Justice, and Empowerment Core examine the struggle of vulnerable and underrepresented communities, including racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, women and children, refugees and migrants, the LGBTQ community, and other underrepresented groups. Research projects focus on the challenges these groups face (e.g., disparities, exclusion, suppression, and lack of agency and access), on how to measure and address structural disadvantages for underserved communities, and on establishing solutions through human rights and human rights education, social movement theory and practical advocacy, systemic policy approaches, and the study of multistakeholder processes through community-policy-academy relationships.
Violence Prevention and Reduction Core (Lead: Warner)
Violence has physical, emotional, and economic consequences for the lives of people across all ages, race/ethnicities, and backgrounds. It remains a significant social and public health problem. SSJR’s Violence Prevention and Reduction core will focus on the causes, consequences, and prevention of violence, using a broad classification of violence directed at oneself and others: adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), firearm violence, intimate partner violence, suicide, youth violence, and community and political violence. Informed by a social-ecological framework, efforts in this Core recognize that the risks for violence and injury are embedded within four levels of influence: individual, relationship, community, and society. Each level is a key point in violence and injury, and thus a specific opportunity for research and prevention.
Health Equity and Justice Core (Lead: King)
The health equity and justice core examines barriers and health determinants that adversely impact health and well-being. Research topics in this core, include, but are not limited to poverty and health, quality of life, economic, social, and historical obstacles to health, health determinants, community health, environmental justice, and systemic and structural inequities. The goal of this core is to support research and training that removes obstacles to health, ensuring improved health outcomes for disadvantaged and marginalized groups. Achieving health equity and justice will require innovative, collaborative solutions that prioritize physical and mental health for all.
Public Policy Analysis Core (Lead: Jones)
Public policy analysis involves the collection and interpretation of information to clarify public problems and study the consequences of policy actions. SSJR’s Public Policy Analysis Core supports researchers who measure the severity of public problems, compare different policy options, and evaluate policy outputs and outcomes. With an ultimate goal of advancing better public policy, the core serves researchers engaged in a broad range of policy areas, including education, health, social and welfare, and environmental policy, among others. Additionally, the core encourages researchers to consider all levels of government in the U.S.–local, state, and federal—as well as a range of international contexts.
