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Esther Son

Associate Professor

Esther Son, MSW, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work. Her primary research interest is the enhancement of the physical and mental health and emotional well-being of children and young adults with disabilities and their families. She has been investigating the health care disparities among people with disabilities, in particular, disparities in health care access, service utilization, and quality of care among minority children with autism and developmental disabilities and women with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and violence against people with disabilities. Her work has been supported by the Deborah Munroe Noonan Memorial Research Fund, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), US Department of Health & Human Services, and the City University of New York among others. She received her Ph.D. in social work from Rutgers University and completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Her work has appeared in Children and Youth Services Review, Exceptional Children, American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, Disability and Health Journal, Families in Society-the Journal of Contemporary Social Services, Journal of Community Practice, and Public Health Reports.

Degrees

PhD, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Social Work, New Brunswick, New Jersey

MA, Major in Social Welfare, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea

BA, Major in Social Work, Seoul Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University

Scholarship and Publications
  • An, S., Choi, G., Yun, S. H., Choi, Y. J., Son, E., Cho, H., Gharbi, V., & Hong, S. (in press). Intimate partner violence among Hispanic/Latinx and White college students. Violence and Victims.
  • Cho, H., Son, E., Seon, J., Yun, S., Choi, G., & Lee, O. J., (2021). Child maltreatment, peer victimization, bystander intervention outcomes, and survivors’ long-term health. Child Welfare. 99(5).
  • Yeo, H., Choi, Y. J., Son, E., Cho, H., Yun, S. H. & Lee, J. O., (2021, Online version). Childhood community risk factors on intimate partner violence perpetration and victimization among college students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 00, 1–25.
  • Choi, Y. J., Rai, A., Cho, H., Son, E., An, S., & Yun, S. H. (2021). Help-seeking behaviors for intimate partner violence among college students: Implications for IPV prevention and intervention. Violence and Victims, 36(4), 548-564.
  • Son, E., Moring, N.S., Igdalsky, L., & Parish, S.L. (2018). Navigating the health care system in community: Perspectives from Asian immigrant parents of children with special health care needs. Journal of Child Health Care, 22(2), 251–268. doi: 10.1177/1367493517753084
  • Parish, S. L., Son, E., Powell, R. M., & Igdalsky, L. (2018). Reproductive cancer treatment hospitalizations of US women with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 56(1), 1-12. doi:10.1352/1934-9556-56.1.1
  • Parish, S.L., Mitra M., Son, E., Bonardi, A., Swoboda, P., & Igdalsky, L. (2015). Pregnancy outcomes among US women with intellectual disabilities. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 120(5), 433-443. doi: 10.1352/1944-7558-120.5.433
  • Son, E. (2013). A qualitative study which asks Korean adults who arrived in the U.S as children to describe how they adjusted to U.S schools: “I’m still lonely”. Journal of International Social Issues,2(1),17-34.
  • Parish, S.L., Swaine, J.G., Son, E., & Luken, K. (2013). Determinants of cervical cancer screening among women with intellectual disabilities: Evidence from medical records. Public Health Reports,128(6), 519-526. doi:10.1177/003335491312800611
  • Zippay, A., & Son, E. (2013). Community approaches to the siting of psychiatric housing. Journal of Community Practice, 21(1-2), 87-104. doi:10.1080/10705422.2013.788338
  • Son, E., Parish, S.L., Swaine, J.G., & Luken, K. (2013). Accuracy of self-reported cervical and breast cancer screening by women with intellectual disabilities. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 118(4), 327-336.doi:10.1352/1944-7558-188.4.327
  • Parish, S.L., Swaine, J.G., Son, E., & Luken, K. (2013). Receipt of mammography among women with intellectual disabilities: Medical record data indicate substantial disparities for African American women. Disability and Health Journal, 6, 36-42. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2012.08.004
  • Son, E., Parish, S.L., & Peterson, N.A. (2012). National prevalence of peer victimization among young children with disabilities in the United States. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 1540-1545. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.04.014
  • Huang, C., Son, E., & Wang, L.R. (2010). Prevalence and factors of domestic violence among unmarried mothers with a young child. Families in Society-the Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 91, 171-177. doi: 10.1606/1044-3894.3978
Associate Professor Esther Son

Contact Information

Office: Building 2A Room 201C