Pitt Creates Center on Race and Social Problems

Many institutions of higher learning have research centers focusing on racial issues, but most focus predominantly on issues relating to the African American community. The University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work has established a Center on Race and Social Problems (CRSP) to conduct social science research on broader issues of race and their influence on the quality of life for Americans in the 21st century.

Using faculty and researchers from throughout the University and from other institutions of higher learning, CRSP will examine societal problems dealing in five key areas: interracial group relations; economic and educational disparities; mental health practices; youth, families, and the elderly; and criminal justice.

The only center of its kind based in a school of social work, it will explicitly target race, rather than more diffuse concerns such as minorities and diversity.

	Larry Davis

People of color make up approximately 30 percent of the nation’s population, with that percentage expected to climb to nearly 50 percent by the year 2050.

“With full awareness of the ways the demographics of our nation are changing, the University of Pittsburgh’s new Center on Race and Social Problems will help to shape and enhance our understanding of race in America on the national, state, and local level,” said Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg at the CRSP’s December 2002 dedication. “The center’s emphasis upon much-needed scholarly research into the issue of race is just one more demonstration of the University’s ever-growing research expertise in many disciplines. I am very pleased that we will be deploying that expertise in a committed search for both the questions and the answers to successfully grapple with key race issues for the benefit of future generations.”

“We view Pittsburgh as a good laboratory to address problems that have national significance,” said School of Social Work Dean Larry Davis, who also is the Donald M. Henderson Professor in the School of Social Work and the CRSP director.

The CRSP will devote itself to three key activities.

• Research: Four pilot projects have already been developed and funded, including studies on African American adolescents and mental health and on chronic stress in African American and White women. The center aims to become a national resource for race-related social science information for both the academics and the general public.

• Service: The center will assist local and national communities by providing data and technical assistance. Leading international scholars in race relations will present papers and consult with members of the local community.

• Education: CRSP will train, educate, and mentor graduate students and emerging scholars from all disciplines throughout the University.

CRSP researchers will study current problems and their solutions rather than historical ones, and they will tackle tough race-related issues that have not been adequately understood or addressed. “We will look for solutions to problems, but compassion is not enough,” said Davis. “We will provide the best social science knowledge to guide interventions to solve those problems.” • SSB