Rafael Engel

Associate Professor Rafael Engel received a PhD in social welfare from the University of Wisconsin as well as an MSW from the University of Michigan and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. Engel coordinates the School of Social Work’s Gerontology Certificate Program and is the principal investigator for the John A. Hartford Practicum Partnership Program in Aging Education. He has authored journal articles on a variety of topics including poverty in later life, welfare benefit levels, and depressive symptomatology, and has written monographs reporting agency-based evaluations. He is currently the PI on From barely making it to ... ? Effects of raising wages among low-wage workers. Social Science Research Initiative funded by The Heinz Endowments.

Research Interests

• Research design and validity
• Aging
• Poverty/income inequality

Recent Books

Engel, Rafael J. & Schutt, Russell, K. (2017). The Practice of Research in Social Work, 4^th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Engel, Rafael J. & Schutt, Russell. K.  (2014).  Fundamentals of Social Work Research. 2^nd edition.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage Publications.

Davis, Larry E. & Engel, Rafael J. (2011). Measuring Race and Ethnicity. New York:  Springer
 

Recent Publications

Steiner, E., Wexler, S., & Engel, R. (In-press). "Examining Experts’ Arguments for Increasing the Minimum Wage: Insights for Social Work Advocates. Advances in Social Work.

Engel, R. J., Lee, D.H.J., & Rosen, D. (2020). Psychiatric sequelae among community social service agency staff one year after a mass shooting.  JAMA Network Open, 3(8):e2012476 doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.14050

Shook, J., Goodkind, S., Engel, R. J., Wexler, S., & Ballentine, K. (2020). Moving beyond poverty: Effects of low-wage work on individual, social, and family well-being.  Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 101, 249-259. doi.org/10.1177.1044389420923473

Wexler, S., Engel, R. J., Steiner, E., & Petracchi, H. (2020).  “It is Truly a Struggle to Survive”: The hardships of living on low wages. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 101, 275-278.. doi: 10.1177/1044389420928270

Wexler, S., Engel, R. J., Laufer, T., & Steiner, E. S. (2020).  “We’re not the enemy and we’re not asking for the world”: Low-wage hospital service workers’ advocacy for fair wages. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, XLVII, 123-148.

Rosen, D., Engel, R., Beaugard, C., Davis, N., & Cochran, G. (2019). Baby boomer’s substance abuse and researcher’s indifference. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 62, 16-28. doi: 10.1080/01634372.2018.1530715

Berrios-Thomas, S., Engel, R., McCall, J., & Rosen, D. (2018). Assessing knowledge regarding managing congestive health failure symptoms: Differences in patient and professional scores. Journal of Patient Experience, 5, 289-295. doi.org/10.1177/2374373518765793

Engel, R.  (2017).  Measuring loneliness:  Are there method factors?  American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2017.05.022

Cochran, G., Rosen, D., McCarthy, R., & Engel, R. J. (2017).  Risk factors for symptoms of prescription opioid misuse: Do older adults differ from younger adult patients? Journal of Gerontological Social Work.  DOI: 10.1080/01634372.2017.1327469

Rosen, D., Engel, R., McCall, J., & Greenhouse, J.  (2017).  Problem solving therapy to reduce depressive symptoms among older adult methadone clients.  Research on Social Work Practice. DOI: 10.1177/1049731516686692

Editorial Boards

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Intergenerational Relationships (JIR)