Dr Ronni Greenwood

In the broadest sense, my research is concerned with ecological aspects of psychological well-being and distress amongst members of marginalized social groups. In research on recovery amongst adults with histories of homelessness, I investigate the ways in which homeless services providers foster (or undermine) service users' personal resources such as self-mastery, and the importance of mastery to social and psychological well-being. In research with immigrant women in Ireland, I investigate the role of social support in protecting members of visible immigrant groups from the psychological distress associated with exclusion from ordinary, invisible privileges. I take an intersectional approach to understanding the role of social identity complexity in well-being, and I use both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

So much of social psychological research has focused on conflict: how conflict arises, and how to reduce conflict. In my research, I strive to do away with the assumption of conflict and examine factors that give rise to understanding, commitment, and affinity between social groups. Related to this theme, I am interested in processes that underlie social categorization, political consciousness, collective responsibility, and solidarity.

I completed my PhD in Social/Personality Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center where I was fortunate to receive training from scholars such as Kay Deaux, Tracey Revenson, Gary Winkel, and Bill Cross. My thesis focused on the impact of diversity on solidarity within women's social movement organizations. Also while in New York City I collaborated with Dr. Sam Tsemberis in the New York Housing Study, a randomized and controlled four-year evaluation of Pathways to Housing, an alternative streets-to-homes intervention for adults with histories of homelessness. In this project we investigated the effects of the intervention program, compared with treatment as usual, such as Continuum of Care service delivery, on increases in time spent in stable housing as well as harm reduction indicators such as decreases in psychiatric symptoms, alcohol and drug use.

I joined the Psychology department here at University of Limerick in 2008.