Latrice Shannon, MSSW, is a doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Spanish from University of Louisville. She continued her education there, completing her MSSW with a specialization in Marriage & Family Therapy. She has spent the last 18 years practicing in healthcare settings—first as an intake coordinator in inpatient psychiatric treatment hospitals and most recently as a hospital case manager on an inpatient medical/oncology unit.
Latrice's scholarship focuses on improving material and social conditions for marginalized families. Her dissertation utilizes mixed methods to examine mandated reporters’ attitudes and beliefs about poverty and the factors that affect their decisions about child welfare reporting. This study focuses on a training for mandated reporters created through community-led advocacy efforts in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
More broadly, her research interests include eradicating poverty through critical practices like the Poverty Aware Paradigm, eliminating racial, gender, and economic disparities in youth-serving systems, mental health and healthcare access for AfroLatiné people, and social and cultural capital in higher education. Latrice’s faculty mentor is Dr. Sara Goodkind.
Research Interests
- Poverty
- Poverty-Aware Paradigm for social work practice
- Critical social work
- Child welfare
- Social and economic mobility for Black Americans
Representative Publications
Goodkind, S., Elliott, K., & Shannon, L. (2026). Critical intersectional praxis: Community-led research and action to prevent juvenile legal system involvement. Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.52713/sg15tg55
Shannon, L. (2026). Relationships among childhood trauma, perceived barriers to completing high school, and college aspirations for incarcerated youth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 175, Article 108003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.108003
Figuereo, V., Shannon, L., Chavez, S. J., Zelaya, D. G., Rosales, R., Eack, S., & Moreno, O. (Forthcoming). Healthcare satisfaction among AfroLatiné adults in the United States. Psychological Services.
