Noor Toraif

PUBLISHED

1. Eschmann, R., Pousman, B., Belkin-Martinez, D., Reeder, K. G.**, Toraif, N., & Stevenson, M. K. (2025). Storytelling for social change: Using emerging technology to develop antioppressive social work training and practice. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000861

2. Washington, D.**, Toraif, N., Guz, S. (2025). Beyond reform in youth justice: conceptualizing carceral seepage across youth-serving systems. Families in Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894251332014

3. Eschmann, R., Nkemka, A., Toraif, N., Ortiz, S. M. (2025). Online resistance: The past, present and future of challenging racism with digital tools. In: D. A. Christakis & L. Hale (Eds.), Children and Screens: A Handbook on Digital Media and the Development, Health, and Well-being of Children and Adolescents. Springer. (Peer Reviewed)

4. Young, A.**, Toraif, N., Le, C.*, Gergen Barnett, K., & Augsberger, A. (2024). Facing power: navigating power dynamics in a youth participatory action research project situated within a healthcare setting. Journal of Community Practice, 32(3), 315-336. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2024.2385624

5. Toraif, N. & Frisella, A**. (2024). Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work. In E. Mullen (Ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Social Work. Oxford University Press. (Peer Reviewed)

6. Eschmann, R., Grundy, S., Harbaugh, A. G., Guo, L., Toraif, N., & Groshek, J. (2023). Digital Rage: Testing “the Obama Effect” on Internet-Based Expressions of Racism. Social Media+ Society, 9(4), 20563051231205592. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20563051231205592

7. Toraif, N., Mueller, J. (2023). Making policing obsolete: The harms of policing and an abolitionist social work response. In Social Work, White Supremacy, and Racial Justice: Reckoning with Our History, Interrogating our Present, Re-Imagining our Future. Oxford University Press. (Peer Reviewed)

8. Toraif, N., Gondal, N., Paudel, P.**, & Frisella, A.**(2023). From colorblind to systemic racism: Emergence of a rhetorical shift in higher education discourse in response to the murder of George Floyd. PLoS one, 18(8), e0289545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289545

9. Toraif, N., Mueller, J. (2023). Abolitionist Social Work. In Oxford Encyclopedia of Social Work. Oxford University Press. (Peer Reviewed)

10. Augsberger, A., Young, A., Toraif, N., Morris, M., & Barnett, K. G. (2023). Youth engagement to achieve health equity: Are healthcare organizations and leaders prepared?. American Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12656

11. Eschmann, R., Thompson, J.G., Toraif, N. (2022). Tweeting towards transformation: Prison abolition and criminal justice reform in 140 characters. Sociological Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12503

12. Augsberger, A., Toraif, N., Young, A., Dimitri, N., Pierre, J.*, Bautista, R.*, Le, C.*, Idahor, O.*, Sprague Martinez, L., Gergen-Barnett, K. (2022). COVID-19 shines a light on health inequities in communities of color: A youth-driven photovoice inquiry. The Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22866

13. Toraif, N., Augsberger, A., Young, A.**, Murillo, H.***, Bautista, R.*, Garcia, S.*, ... Gergen Barnett, K. (2021). How to be an antiracist: Youth of color’s critical perspectives on antiracism in a youth participatory action research context. Journal of Adolescent Research, 36(5), 467-500. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/07435584211028224

14. Augsberger, A., Zeitlin, W., Rao, T., Weisberg, D., Toraif, N. (2020). Examining a child welfare parenting intervention for parents with intellectual disabilities. Research on Social Work Practice, 31(1), 65-74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731520958489

15. Eschmann, R., Groshek, J., Li, S., Toraif, N., Thompson, J. G. (2020). Bigger than sports: Identity politics, Colin Kaepernick, and concession making in #BoycottNike. Computers in Human Behavior, 114, 106583.

16. Zeitlin, W., Augsberger, A., Rao, T., Weisberg, D., Toraif, N. (2020). Measuring parenting skills: Validating the skills assessment for parents with intellectual disability. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 18(2), 235-248. https://doi.org/10.1080/26408066.2020.1830909

17. Augsberger, A., Toraif, N., Springwater, J., Hilliard-Koshinsky, G., Sprague Martinez, L. (2020). Strategies for engaging current and former foster care youth in policy advocacy: Lessons from the New England Youth Coalition. Child Welfare, 97(6), 251-270.

18. Salazar, R.D., Ren, X., Ellis, T.D., Toraif, N., Barthelemy, O.J., Neargarder, S., Cronin-Golomb, A. (2017). Dual tasking in Parkinson’s disease: Cognitive consequences while walking. Neuropsychology, 31(6), 613-623. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/neu0000331

* denotes community partner co-author
** denotes graduate student co-author
*** denotes undergraduate student co-author

Toraif, N., Guz, S. (accepted). The Spatial and Temporal Logics of Carceral Seepage in Black Girls’ and Women’s Family Life. Oral Paper at the 2026 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Toraif, N. Abrams, L., Barnert, E., West, S., Castro, A. (accepted). Renegotiating Interdependence: Transition Age Youth's Mobilization of Guaranteed Income in the Transition from Foster Care. Oral Paper at the 2026 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Young, A., Toraif, N. (accepted). Mapping Youth Engagement in Juvenile Legal Systems: A Scoping Review. Oral Paper at the 2026 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Toraif, N. (2025). Interrogating Carceral Logics with Abolition Geography: A Place-Based Case Study Approach in Social Work and Social Policy Education. Paper in Symposium titled Anti-Carceral Approaches in Social Work Education: Exploring a Research Agenda to Support Transformation at the 2025 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington.

Toraif, N. (2025). “Keep Everything, Except the Jail:” Dually-Involved Youth and Young Adults’ Experiences of Reactive Social Safety Nets across the Child Welfare to Juvenile Legal Continuum. Poster Presentation at the 2025 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington.

Young, A., Toraif, N. (2025). Community Advisory Committees in the Social Service Sector: Challenges and Opportunities for Meaningful Community Engagement. Poster Presentation at the 2025 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington.

Toraif, N. (2024). Author Meets Critics: Purgatory Citizenship: Reentry, Race, and Abolition by Calvin J. Smiley. In Author Meets Critics Session at the 2024 American Society for Criminology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California. (with James Binnall, Jasmine Kelekay, Reuben J. Miller, and Justin Piché).

Toraif, N. (2024). Girls’ Experiences of Relational Loss in the Child Welfare and Juvenile Legal Systems. Paper at the 2024 American Society for Criminology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.

Toraif, N. (2024). Multisystem Involved Youths’ Experiences of Reactive Social Safety Nets within the Juvenile Legal System. Paper at the 2024 American Society for Criminology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.

Toraif, N., Littman, D., Wagaman, M.A., Sharkey, C. (2024). Affirming People and Welcoming Places: Examining supportive relationships and contexts for youth impacted by structural oppression. Roundtable at the 2024 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.

Toraif, N., Young, A. (2024). Facing Power Dynamics: Critical Considerations for Expanding Accessibility of Youth Participatory Projects. Paper in Symposium titled Ethics Against Extractivism: Reconsidering our Ethical Commitments and Research Praxis in Participatory Action Research at the 2024 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.

Toraif, N., Washington, D., Guz, S., Muentner, L. (2024). The Emotional and Psychosocial Impacts of Carceral Systems on Families. Symposium at the 2024 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.

Toraif, N., Mueller, J. (2023). Making Policing Obsolete: Abolitionist Strategies and Organizing from Social Work. Paper at the 2023 American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Toraif, N., Suslovic, B., Rasmussen, C., Allen, E. (2023). Abolitionist Perspectives on Social Service: Excising Control from Care. Roundtable at the 2023 American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Carr, B., Toraif, N., Huang, Y., Zaff, J., Lynch, A., Makarand, M., Pulido Pardo, V. (2023). Flourishing Under Conditions of Extreme Adversity? Studies of Thriving
Against the Odds. Symposium at the 2023 Society for the Study of Human Development Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Toraif, N., Tuchman, S., Young, A. (2023). Group Home Fight or Flight: Youth, Social Worker, and Attorney Perspectives on the Loci of Crossover from the Child Welfare to the Juvenile Legal System. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2023 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona.

Toraif, N., Young, A., Tuchman, S. (2023). Dually-Involved Black and Latinx Youths' Narratives of Reentry in Massachusetts Post Involvement with the Juvenile Legal System. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2023 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona.

Toraif, N., Young, A. (2023). Lessons Learned: Engaging Youth in Research and Practice Advisory Roles across Six Youth Participatory Projects. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2023 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona.

Toraif, N., Abrams, L., Reed, T., Bondoc, C., Barnert, L. (2023). “I Don't Feel like Drugs Are Taking over Anymore”: Transition Age Young Adults' Conceptualizations of Health and Well-Being during Reentry. Poster Presentation at the 2023 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona.

Toraif, N. (2022). Tracing the Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline: State Agency, Adult Stakeholder, and Youth Perspectives on Dually-Involved Black and Latinx Youths’ Pathways into the Massachusetts Juvenile Legal System. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2022 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts.

Toraif, N., Augsberger, A., Young, A., Murillo, H., & Gergen-Barnett, K. (2022). “Show Us through Your Actions": Youths’ Practical Recommendations for Antiracist Praxis in Youth Participatory Action Research Projects. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2022 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Washington, D. C.

Toraif, N., & Young, A. (2022). Teaching, Learning, and Bridging: Examining Graduate Student Researchers' Roles in Youth Participatory Action Research Projects. Poster Presentation at the 2022 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Washington, D. C.

Toraif, N., Young, A.N., Augsberger, A., Murillo, H., & Gergen-Barnett, K. (2022). Facing Power: Navigating Power Dynamics in a Youth Participatory Action Research Project Situated within a Healthcare Setting. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2022 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Washington, D. C.

Tang Yan, C., Morris, K., Hamilton, G., Toraif, N., Brinkerhoff, C., & Tracy, N. (2022). Contesting Social and Racial Justice Frameworks in Knowledge Production Across Places, Experiences, and Community-Based Participatory Strategies in Social Work Research. Roundtable at the 2022 Society for Social Work Research Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Toraif, N., Augsberger, A., Young, A., Murillo, H., Bautista, R., Garcia, S., Sprague Martinez, L., & Gergen-Barnett, K. (2021). How to Be an Antiracist: Exploring Youth of Color’s Perspectives on Antiracist Participatory Research Methods in a Healthcare Setting. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2021 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.

Augsberger, A., Zeitlin, W., Toraif, N., & Chontow, K. (2021). Child Welfare Risk Factors and Program Interventions for Parents with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (I/DD): A Systematic Review of the Literature. Virtual Poster at the 2021 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.

Augsberger, A., Toraif, N., Young, A., Dimitri, N., Pierre, J., Bautista, R., Le, C., Idahor, O., Sprague Martinez, L., & Gergen-Barnett, K. (2021). Shining a Light on the Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color in the Greater Boston Area: A Photovoice Inquiry into Youth Conceptualizations of Health. Symposium Paper at the 2021 Boston Area Research Initiative Conference, Boston, Massachusetts.

Toraif, N., & Mueller, J. (2021). Making Policing Obsolete: Abolitionist Social Work and Emancipatory Responses to Social Problems. Social Work, White Supremacy, and Racial Justice Symposium at the University of Houston School of Social Work, Houston, Texas.

Toraif, N., Augsberger, A., & Zeitlin, W. (2021). A Systematic Review of the Literature on Parents with Intellectual Disabilities Involved with Child Welfare Systems. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2021 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.

Toraif, N. (2020). Child Welfare Professionals' Strategies for Preventing Youth Cross-Over from Child Welfare to Juvenile Justice Systems. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2020 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D. C.

Toraif, N., Smith, M., Beaugard, C., & Tan Yang, C. (2020). Theoretical, Methodological, and Applied Learning: Engaging Doctoral Students in Qualitative Research Training. Symposium at the 2020 Society for Qualitative Research in Psychology Annual Meeting, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Conference canceled due to COVID-19)

Toraif, N., Horn, J.P., Augsberger, A., & Sprague Martinez, L.S. (2020). Applying a Critical Framework to the Experiences of Youth Involved in a Multi-State Foster Care Youth Advisory Board. Oral Paper Presentation at the 2020 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, Washington, D. C.

Toraif, N. (2019). Supporting parents with intellectual disabilities in the child welfare system. Oral Presentation at Westchester Institute for Human Development Conference, Westchester, New York.

Toraif, N., Salazar, R.D., Ren, X., Ellis, T.D., Toraif, N., Barthelemy, O.J., Neargarder, S., & Cronin-Golomb, A. (2015). The Effect of Dual-Tasking on Cognition and Gait in Parkinson’s Disease. Poster session presented at the Annual Massachusetts Neuropsychological Society, Boston, Massachusetts.

External Grants & Fellowships

2025 – Principal Investigator, An Evaluation of the Emerging Adults Reentry Initiative (EARI), UTEC Inc. and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, $78,000

2023 – Co-Investigator, (Principal Investigators: Amy Castro, Stacia West, Laura Abrams, Elizabeth Barnert), LA County BREATHE Expansion for Youth Aged out of Foster Care, County of Los Angeles, $175,000

2023 – Co-Investigator, 15% Effort, (Principal Investigator: Paul Heaton, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School), Evaluation of Collaborative Public Defense, Arnold Ventures, $408,482

2022 - Fellow, Ford Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, $28,000
• Selected from a competitive national pool, representing the top 4-5% of advanced doctoral student applicants.

2022 - Fellow, Society for Social Work and Research Doctoral Fellows Award, $3,000
• Selected from a competitive pool of applicants as the Society for Social Work and Research Doctoral Fellow in recognition of “the significance of the problem addressed in [my] research, the rigor of the analysis, and its contribution to social work and social welfare knowledge.”

2021, 2022 - Trainee, Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research

2020 - Fellow, Rappaport Institute Public Policy Fellowship, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, $7,000

Internal Grants and Fellowships

2024-2025 - Principal Investigator, Examining the Contribution of Public Defender Teams in Supporting Multisystem Young Adults and Reducing Pathways to Incarceration, University Research Foundation Grant, University of Pennsylvania, $42,849

2021 - Fellow, Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University, “On the Outs”: Examining Dually-Involved Black, Indigenous, and Youth of Color’s Reentry Experiences in Massachusetts, $6,000

2021 - Principal Investigator, Boston University Initiative on Cities Early-Stage Urban Research, Examining Dually-Involved Black, Indigenous, and Youth of Color’s Reentry Experiences in Massachusetts, $10,000

2017 - Fellow, Tisch College of Civic Engagement Scholar Fellowship, Tufts University, $7,000

2016 - Awardee, Tufts Child Development Graduate Scholarship, Tufts University, $15,000

2016 - Investigator, Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunity Award, Boston University, $4,000

2015 - Fellow, School of Arts and Sciences Karbank Philosophy Fellowship, Boston University, $3,500
• Awarded for designing an innovative project aimed at increasing diverse student engagement in the study of philosophy, with an emphasis on social and political welfare.

2024 – Research Consultant, The Massachusetts Dually-Involved Youth Project, Office of the Child Advocate, Boston, MA

2024 – Research Consultant, Emerging Adult Justice, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD

2023 – Department of Youth Services Statewide Special Populations Research Subcommittee, Boston, MA

2021 – Board Member, Cradle-to-Prison Advisory Group, Northeastern School of Law, Boston, MA

Ford Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Award, 2022-2023
Award Amount: $28,000

Summer Graduate Fellow, Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University, 2021
Award Amount: $6,000

Trainee, Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research, 2021, 2022

Boston University Initiative on Cities Early-Stage Urban Research, Boston University, 2021
Award Amount: $10,000

Graduate Research Award, Center for Antiracist Research, Boston University, 2020
Award Amount: $4,000

Rappaport Institute Public Policy Fellowship, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, 2020
Award Amount: $7,000

Tisch College of Civic Engagement Scholar Fellowship, Tufts University, 2017
Award Amount: $7,000

Tufts Child Development Graduate Scholarship, Tufts University, 2016
Award Amount: $15,000

Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunity Award, Boston University, 2016
Award Amount: $4,000

School of Arts and Sciences Karbank Philosophy Fellowship, Boston University, 2015
Boston University Fitzgerald Translation Award, 2015
Award Amount: $3,500

Boston University Fitzgerald Translation Award, 2015
Award Amount: $350