Re/Formation and Identity

Deborah J. Johnson, PhD, is Professor of Human Development and Family Studies and the Director of the Diversity Research Network at Michigan State University, U.S. Her research explores racially and culturally related development, parental racial socialization and coping, and cultural adjustment from early childhood through emerging adulthood, among domestic, immigrant and international children and youth. She holds a deep interest in child rights perspectives and vulnerable children globally emphasizing themes of resilience, cultural adjustment and identity transformation. In her longitudinal studies of Sudanese refugees who entered the U.S. as unaccompanied children, themes of resilience including ongoing adjustment, identity, schooling and sense of purpose have been explored extensively. Recent research addresses gender and interpersonal violence across developmental periods. Other collaborations investigate the relations among identity and racial socialization in contexts where social history and current public policy impact the experience of oppression. This research also includes Indigenous Australians and Roma youth. In Western Australia, Dr. Johnson has served as adjunct professor at Murdoch University, a fellow at the Telethon Institute for Child Health and Research, Research Council member for the Pindi Pindi Aboriginal Research Center and was honored with a Raine Fellowship (Australia). She has published over 70 articles, books and monographs. Her two most recent books for Springer include Fitzgerald, Johnson, Qin, Villarruel, and Norder (Eds.) (2019) Handbook of Children and Prejudice: Integrating, Research, Practice and Policy and Johnson, Agbenyiga, and Hitchcock (2013) Vulnerable Children: Global Challenges in Education, Health, Well-Being, and Child Rights.