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• Boys to Men: conversations article

Waldo E. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D.

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Biography

Waldo E. Johnson, Jr. is associate professor at the School of Social Service Administration (SSA) and immediate past director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture (CSRPC). At SSA, Professor Johnson teaches social welfare policy and human behavior in the social environment in the M.A. program and research methods in the M.A. and Ph.D. programs. A family research scholar, his substantive research focuses on male roles and involvement in African American families, nonresident fathers in fragile families, and the physical and psychosocial health statuses of African American males. As a research methodologist, he is interested in the use of qualitative research methods in guiding policy and practice research.

He is co-principal investigator for "Using Family Assessments to Improve Child Welfare Outcomes," a research collaboration between the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and Chapin Hall Center for Children, research consultant to the Chicago Community Trust African American Male Initiative, research consultant and member of the Senior Advisory Committee of the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago African American Male Initiative, and program evaluation consultant for the 2008 Quantum Leap Program for African American males sponsored by the Concerned Christian Men. Professor Johnson served as research consultant to Strengthening Healthy Marriage (SHM), a seven-year longitudinal research and evaluation study of strategies for enhancing couple relationships among low-income married parents in the United States, led by the Manpower Development Research Corporation (MDRC), ChildTrends, and Optimal Solutions Group, and funded by HHS. He has been a research consultant for the Young Fathers Initiative (YFI); a community-based family intervention aimed at young urban fathers (ages 18-25) designed to enhance father involvement with their children and families of procreation. In addition to a parenting knowledge and development component, program participants are also provided assistance in securing employment and provided ongoing program and peer support and funded by the Administration on Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Professor Johnson was co-principal investigator for Time, Love, Cash, Care, and Children (TLC3): A Qualitative Study of Family Dynamics in Families with Young Children, which examines the norms and expectation about the rights and obligations of unmarried parents; co-principal investigator for the Fathers and Child Welfare Study, which examines paternal participation among unwed nonresident fathers in case planning and permanency provision in child welfare activities of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and an investigator for the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, a longitudinal study of the circumstances of unmarried parenthood among 5,000 African American, Hispanic, and White families in 20 U.S. cities and the impact of these circumstances on child well-being.

From 2005-2008, he served as director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture (CSRPC) at the University of Chicago, an interdisciplinary research program dedicated to promoting engaged scholarship and debate around the topics of race and ethnicity. The more than forty (40) faculty and graduate and undergraduate student scholars affiliated with the Center recognize the significance of the black/white paradigm in the United States, however, are committed to expanding the study of race and ethnicity beyond the black/white paradigm. Broadly, the CSRPC research program encourages the study of race and processes of racialization in comparative and transnational frameworks, ranging from an examination of processes of racialization among dominant groups to the study of racialized minorities within the United States and black and/or indigenous populations in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Asian Pacific, and Europe.  CSRPC affiliates are especially interested in how these ideas and their structural manifestations impact and shape people's daily lives. Central to the work of the CSRPC is the acknowledgement that race and ethnicity intersect with other primary identities such as gender, class, sexuality and nationality, necessitating the exploration of social and identity cleavages within racialized communities.

Professor Johnson earned a B.A. degree at Mercer University and M.S.W. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago respectively. He was a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Poverty Research and Training Program and the Program for Research on Black Americans at the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan. He was also a NIMH Postdoctoral Fellow in the Minority Training Program in HIV/AIDS Research at the University of Michigan. He is also affiliated with Chapin Hall and Center for Human Potential and Public Policy (CHPPP) of the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, both at the University of Chicago. He is also a research affiliate of the Program for Research on Black Americans.

He is a member of the Ford Foundation Scholars Network on Masculinity and the Wellbeing of African American Men, the editorial board of Children and Youth Services Review, the steering committee for the 2025 Campaign for Black Men and Boys, a national research, program intervention, and public policy initiative led by the 21^st Century and Ford Foundation that aims to raise visibility of issues facing Black Men and Boys nationally and in select communities in a way that informs substantive action and positive change; the steering committee of the Program for Health Disparities Research and Training of the University of Chicago; and the national steering committee for the Masculinity Project, a partnership of the National Black Programming Consortium and the Independent Television Service which brings together  multigenerational voices aimed at addressing masculinity in the 21^st Century African American community by exploring how young males are represented and perceived, investigating the obstacles they encounter and celebrating the contributions they make.

His other professional activities include co-chair of board of directors of the Council on Contemporary Families,  Annual Program Meeting Track Chair for the Council on Social Work Education and memberships in the Association of Public Policy and Management, National Association of Black Social Workers, National Association of Social Workers and the Black Caucus of the Society for Research on Child Development. He is a member of a working group of researchers and practitioners convened by the Illinois Department of Public Health to develop a state-wide needs assessment and strategic plan for HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention among men of color who have sex with men (MSM). The Illinois Department of Public Health received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop the needs assessment and strategic plan for the State of Illinois.     

Professor Johnson served as consulting editor of Social Work: Journal of the National Association of Social Workers (2003-2007) and as a member of the board of directors of  the Society for Social Work and Research (2005-2008) where he chaired the Best Scholarly Research Contribution and Dissertation Award Recognitions. He chaired the 2005 Annual Education Institute of the National Association of Black Social Workers-Chicago Chapter and served as advisory board chair, Family and Health Services of the Chicago Urban League. He also served on the board of the African American Family Research Institute, the board of advisors, Porter Cason Institute for Advance Family Practice at the Tulane University School of Social Work (1999-2005), the Taskforce for Research and Effective Programs of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (1996-1999), and the Male Family Formation and Fertility Working Group of the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, Family, and Child Well-Being Research Network National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1996-1997).

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• Johnson, W. In press. Masculinity and Sexual Identity: Making Meaning of Paternal Identity among Young African American Males. Journal of African American Men.
• Johnson, W., ed. In press. Social Work and Social Welfare Responses to African American Males: What Have We Seen with Our Own Eyes. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Johnson, W., Shears, J. & Perry, A. In press. Paternal Involvement among African American Fathers: Evidence from the Early Head Start and Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Research on Social Work Practice.
• Ravenell, J., Whitaker, E. & Johnson, W. 2008. According to him: Barriers to healthcare among African American men. Journal of National Medical Association 100(10): 434-445.
• Johnson, W. 2007. "Working with marginalized and minority men." In International encyclopedia of men and masculinities, volume 1, eds. M. Flood, J. Gardiner, B. Pease & K. Pringle. London: Routledge.
• Johnson, W. & Salter, W. 2006. Paternity disestablishment, father involvement and the best interest of the child: Lessons from child welfare and family law. Commissioned paper for the Emerging Issues in Paternity Symposium. Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Ravenell, J., Johnson, W. & Whitaker, E. 2006. African-American men's perceptions of health: A focus group study. Journal of National Medical Association 98(4): 544-550.
• O'Donnell, J., Johnson, W., D'Aunno, L. & Thornton, H. 2005. Fathers in child welfare: Caseworkers' perspectives. Child Welfare 84(3): 387-414.
• Johnson, W. & Bryant, V. 2005. "Unwed African American fathers' participation in child welfare permanency planning": Case workers' perspectives. In Child welfare revisited: An Africentric perspective, eds. J. Everett, S. Chipungu & B. Leashore, 169-196. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
• Johnson, W. 2005. Review of "The Promise Keepers: Servants, soldiers and godly men", by J.P. Bartkowski. Social Service Review 79(3): 564-66.
• Pate, D., Johnson, W. & Turner, M. 2005. Strengths and vulnerabilities of low income married parents. Commissioned paper for the Strengthening Healthy Marriage Initiative, Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.
• Currence, P. & Johnson, W. 2003. The negative implications of incarceration on black fathers. African American Research Perspectives 9(1): 24-32.
• Johnson, W. 2003. Conceptualization and measurement of positive healthy couple relationships. Invited Paper for the Measurement Issues in Family Demography Conference, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Family and Child Well-Being Research Network, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families; The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, November 13-14, 2003
• Johnson, W. 2002. "Time Out of Bound: High School Completion and Work Preparation among Urban, Poor, Unwed African American Fathers." In W. Allen, M. Spencer, & C. O'Connor (Eds.), African American Education: Race, Community, Inequality and Achievement - A Tribute to Edgar G. Epps (pp. 229-258). UK: Elsevier/ JAI Press.
• Johnson, W. 2002. "Social Work Strategies for Sustaining Paternal Involvement among Unwed Fathers: Insights from Field Research." Professional Development: The International Journal of Continuing Social Work Education 4(3)/5(1): 70-83.