Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
Faculty Affiliate, Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture
The University of Chicago
Yoonsun Choi's research seeks to understand the familial and environmental processes that influence and impact ethnic minority youth/young adults and their development and serves to inform the development of age- and culturally appropriate preventive interventions. Her fields of special interest include minority youth/young adult development; effects of race, ethnicity, and culture in development; children of immigrants; young Asian Americans; and prevention of problem behaviors among youth/young adults.
She has conducted a series of interrelated research projects to identify the multiple developmental trajectories of young Asian Americans and the factors that predominate in the determination of these outcomes. One of her current research projects, the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Asian American Families (MLSAAF), examines Asian American youth/young adult development and how their parents can help maximize developmental potential. This study is particularly interested in the role of culture in family (such as culturally unique family processes, parent-child cultural conflicts), racial prejudice and discrimination, ethnic identity, and culture change and formation (acculturation) that may all be unique issues of mental health and behaviors for this target group.
She received a BA in English/Education from Ewha University (Seoul, Korea), an MSSW from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Washington-Seattle. Her background also includes several years of clinical social work practice experiences in a variety of agencies with diverse populations. She worked with ethnic minority youth with severe emotional and/or behavioral problems and their families, children in foster care, mentally ill immigrant adults, and HIV+ immigrants with limited English proficiency. Professor Choi actively promotes the field of social work research, education, and practice.