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Interdisciplinary research plays an increasingly vital role in social work, so for the Boston College School of Social Work, having someone like Professor David Takeuchi around is very handy.
Now in his third year as BCSSW’s inaugural associate dean for research, Takeuchi provides advice, encouragement and suggestions for resources on research-related matters to the school’s faculty members. He also helps organize events and activities that promote the value of interdisciplinary research and its relevance to social work practice and policy – including a Nov. 9 symposium with sociologist Michael Omi, author of the groundbreaking 1986 book Racial Formation in the United States.
Takeuchi also continues to build on his own impressive research resume: He was among the co-authors of a recent National Academy of Sciences study on immigrants’ adaptation to life in the United States, a report that received considerable media exposure when it was released last month. He received the American Sociological Association’s Leonard Pearlin Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Sociology of Mental Health and won election as ASA secretary-elect (2015-16) and secretary (2016-18).
As associate dean for research, Takeuchi – a former faculty member and associate dean for research at the University of Washington-Seattle School of Social Work and Department of Sociology – says his responsibility is “to understand where junior faculty want to go in their research, and to remove the obstacles so they’ll get there. Promoting their research is not very difficult: What they’re doing is enormously interesting, with implications for – or direct links to – major policy issues.”
While he fills a role as mentor in addition to that of researcher, Takeuchi says that, for him, working at BCSSW is a window unto new experiences and ideas such as Scott Easton’s investigation into the long-term consequences of sexual abuse in childhood; Stephanie Berzin’s research on fostering social innovations among federal agencies and community programs; Jessica Black’s exploration of connections between social work and neuroscience to aid at-risk children; and the collaboration between Summer Hawkins and the Connell School of Nursing’s Melissa Sutherland on a global public health program.
“I really value what we have in the School of Social Work, and at BC,” says Takeuchi, who is also the inaugural BCSSW Dorothy Book Scholar. “It’s very exciting to see people from different perspectives put their expertise together – and show the impact social work can have on some of the most pressing issues of our day.”
Sometimes, Takeuchi says, opportunities to examine the scope and effect of research spring from unlikely circumstances – and the Nov. 9 Omi lecture is an example. The idea came about from a series of seminars with BCSSW doctoral students interested in issues of race, ethnicity and immigration. The students speculated as to how Omi would address such issues, he says, “so we wound up inviting him to come do that.”
Omi’s talk, “Racial Formation and the Future of Racial Theory,” will take place at 5 p.m. in McGuinn Auditorium. The event, part of the City Awake Boston festival, is sponsored by BCSSW and the school’s Center for Social Innovation along with the African and African Diaspora Studies Program, Asian and Asian American Studies Program, Asian Pacific Islanders Employees Association, Lynch School of Education and Sociology Department.
Omi’s work, according to Takeuchi, “allows us to talk about race in a more complex, nuanced way, rather than as something that is ‘fixed’ from birth to death. He enables people from different fields – social work, sociology, education, health and the behavioral sciences – to see race and racial categories as changing over time, and to view race not only in terms of social discourse but also political activity.”
Omi will talk about the new edition of Racial Formation and also consider contemporary events – including national controversies on race and immigration over the past year – in the context of racial formation theory.
As a researcher interested in the association between race, ethnicity and socio-economic status with health and health care – and a key architect of one of the most comprehensive studies of Latinos and Asian Americans ever conducted – Takeuchi was a natural fit for the National Academy of Sciences study on immigrant integration.
Contrary to concerns voiced in media and political circles, the study painted a generally positive picture of immigrants’ adaptation to life in the US. Takeuchi and his 16 co-researchers found that as immigrants – documented or undocumented – and their descendants become integrated into US society, many aspects of their lives improve, including educational attainment, income and language ability, although their well-being declines in the areas of health, crime, and some family patterns.
Of particular interest to Takeuchi were the health-related findings: Immigrants are less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and all cancers, and they experience fewer chronic health conditions, have lower infant mortality and obesity rates, and a longer life expectancy. However, over time and generations, these advantages decline as their health status converges with that of the native-born population.
“Where immigrants fare poorly is in gaining access to care, and receiving quality care,” says Takeuchi. “This has been evident for the past few decades and will continue to be so, especially given that the Affordable Care Act excludes undocumented immigrants.
“Overall, however, the study confirms that immigrants make a contribution to health care, and to the workforce, as well as to the tax system that funds health care programs.”
The study is available here.
Takeuchi says the NAS study exemplifies the kind of research experience he encourages for his colleagues: “You have a rare opportunity to work with people you may only know about through publications or journals. This experience validates what BCSSW has done in bringing disciplines together to study vital issues.”