Biography
Dr. Marva Lewis' research focuses on the development of culturally valid research methods, child abuse and neglect, and racism-based stress. Dr. Lewis uses culture-centered methods to prevent the intergenerational transmission of the legacies of the historical trauma of slavery such as the acceptance or rejection of children based on hair type and the practice of Colorism (valuing light skin color over darker skin tones). She is interested in the prevention and reduction of child abuse and neglect while strengthening parent-child attachment through the everyday ritual and routine of the hair combing task plus community-based parent support.
Publications: Google Scholar
Selected Publications
- Lewis, M. L. (2019). The Intergenerational Transmission of Protective Parent Responses to Historical Trauma. In Handbook of Children and Prejudice (pp. 43-61). Springer, Cham.
- Lewis, M. L. (2018). A Tool to Support Childbirth Educators to Help Women Cope with Loss of a Pregnancy due to Domestic Violence. International Journal of Childbirth Education, 33(3).
- Wennerstrom, A., Haywood, C., Wallace, M., Sugarman, M., Walker, A., Bonner, T., Lewis, M.L. & Theall, K. (2018). Creating Safe Spaces: A Community Health Worker-Academic Partnered Approach to Addressing Intimate Partner Violence. Ethnicity & disease, 28(Suppl 2), 317-324.