FOCUS
Joseph’s research is focused on community violence as a public health issue in urban communities of color. His approach looks at the social determinants of health as the root causes of violence. Through this lens, he explores how changes to the built and social environments may act as resiliency factors for communities that suffer from a history of violence. He is inspired and motivated to address this topic by his personal experiences growing up in a violent neighborhood and his professional experiences in violence prevention. Today as an HPRS fellow, Joseph relishes the opportunity to continue this work in his hometown of Richmond, California. Using mixed-methods approaches, with an emphasis on community-based participatory research, he hopes to leverage the expertise found in both the community and academia to help communities like his own heal from violence-related trauma.
MORE ABOUT JOSEPH
People of color from low-income communities are often underrepresented at the doctoral level. As the first person in his family to pursue a doctorate, Joseph believes he has an opportunity to represent voices like his own in a space where those voices are often unheard, and to shed light on issues that affect his community.
