Former Dean and Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School
Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School Jeffrey L. Edleson is the Harry and Riva Specht Chair Emeritus and served as Dean from 2012 through August 2019. He was a professor of social work at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work for 29 years before joining Berkeley in 2012 and the founding director of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse.
A leading expert in domestic violence, Dr. Edleson's current research examines the impact of adult violence on children and how social systems respond to these children. His work also focuses on international parental...
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. In 2016, over 6.6 million adults were under correctional supervision, and an additional 975,000 youths under 18 had cases pass through the juvenile court system. The impacts of justice system involvement are disproportionately felt by low-income families and communities of color. The economic and human costs of this crisis have led the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare to identify smart decarceration as one of the Grand Challenges for Social Work. Berkeley Social Welfare faculty members Erin Kerrison and Jennifer Skeem examine the impact of the criminal justice system on vulnerable populations.
Dr. Joyce Dorado is a Teaching Professor and Associate Dean for Research-Practice Partnerships in the School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley and the Co-Founder and Director of Healthy Environments and Response to Trauma in Schools (HEARTS). Dr. Dorado is a nationally recognized expert in partnering with schools and other youth-serving systems to create trauma-informed, equitable, and healing organizations. She has served as an appointed member of the California State Supreme Court Justice’s statewide steering committee for the Keeping Kids in School and Out of Courts...