|
Printable PDF version
PSYCHOLOGY
Committed to Collaboration
Rheeda L. Walker
Title: Assistant
Professor, Psychology, University of
South Carolina
Education: Ph.D.,
Psychology, Florida State
University; M.S., Psychology,
Florida State University; B.A.,
Psychology, University of Georgia
Age: 32
Accepting a position as an assistant
professor of psychology at the
University of South Carolina in 2002
was not just a coup for Dr. Rheeda
Walker, but for her extended family
as well.
“Most
of my family is in South Carolina,”
Walker says, “so I have aunts and
uncles who are proud to have a niece
at the flagship institution — an
institution that they could not even
attend.”
The
long history of African-Americans
succeeding and thriving despite the
realities of racism in the United
States is at the center of Walker’s
research on Black mental health and
suicide. Specifically, she
investigates the social and cultural
factors that account for the
historically low rate of suicide
among African-Americans. Walker also
studies the recent increase in
suicides among Black men, a
particularly timely focus in light
of the recent apparent suicide of
James Dungy, the 18-year-old son of
NFL head coach Tony Dungy.
According to Walker, the statistics
on Black suicide rates have been
available for years, but there has
been very little theoretical and
empirical work to provide an
understanding of the numbers and to
help prevent such deaths. She
noticed the void in graduate school
and decided to pursue the topic for
her dissertation.
“Herein lies the importance of
Rheeda’s work,” says Dr. Thomas
Joiner, the Bright-Burton Professor
of Psychology at Florida State
University.
“She
has been successful because she has
combined rigorous scientific
methodology with cultural
understanding and sensitivity to
address a key public health
problem.”
Joiner was Walker’s major professor
on her dissertation at FSU, where
she completed her Ph.D. She credits
his mentoring and guidance on doing
scientific research for her
successful completion of the degree.
Before working with Joiner, Walker
says she had decided to quit
graduate school. A friend encouraged
her to seek out Joiner, who was new
to the university’s psychology
department. Even though Joiner was
not accepting new students, he gave
Walker a writing task to complete,
which led to her first publication
in 1999.
Walker and Joiner have collaborated
on at least 10 journal articles over
the past few years, but it was that
first publication, authored with
Joiner, that made Walker competitive
for the job at the University of
South Carolina immediately after
finishing her degree. The
traditional route for psychology
Ph.D. students is to take a
post-doctoral position and get a
clinical license before seeking a
tenure-track faculty job.
Walker admits that without taking a
post-doctoral position, she has had
to play catch-up. While others spend
that time earning a clinical
license, she has had to go above and
beyond to get her license while on
the tenure-track. The feat has been
even more difficult, she says,
because as the field of psychology
has become more research focused,
the applied aspect is not as
rewarded. But being able to practice
was a personal priority for Walker.
“As
an African-American, I realized that
I stand on the shoulders of those
who expect me to return to the
community and provide a service,”
she says.
Walker is a member of the South
Carolina Suicide Prevention Task
Force, and she conducts workshops on
mental health at her local church.
It is important, she says, that she
is able to assist people in her
community when they come to her with
mental health questions or ask for
referrals.
“My
hope is that more African-American
academics would act more as a
collective,” she says. “A lot of us
have too much schooling and not
enough education.”
—
By Robin V. Smiles
Printable PDF version
©
Copyright 2005 by
DiverseEducation.com
|
