Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
University of Toronto
246 Bloor Street West, Office 434
Toronto, ON M5S 1V4
Phone: 416.978.5900
e-mail: stephanie.begun@utoronto.ca
Website: www.socialwork.utoronto.ca
Biosketch
Stephanie Begun, Ph.D., MSW, is an Assistant Professor at Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. Her scholarship focuses on improving reproductive and sexual health access, education, and outcomes among homeless and other marginalized youth. Her practice-based experiences in family planning policy and community organizing inspired her career in social work research and teaching. She is the PI/Co-PI on several externally funded projects investigating ways that prevention science, policy, participatory action research, and technology may work in tandem to facilitate vulnerable youths’ opportunities to make self-determined, safe, and medically accurate decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health. At Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, Dr. Begun teaches social welfare policy, social work practice with organizations and communities, and social justice research methods, with emphasis placed on community-based participatory and arts-based research.
Research Interests
• Sexual and Reproductive Health; Family Planning; Reproductive Rights
• Teen Pregnancy Prevention; Resources and Supports for Young Parents
• Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Intervention Development and Testing
• Youth Empowerment and Organizing
• Community-based Participatory Research; Arts-Based Research
CQ Teaching
• Research Knowledge for Social Justice (SWK 4512H)
Sample Publications (Qualitative and Arts-based Methods)
Begun, S., Combs, K. M., Torrie, M., & Bender, K. (in review). “It seems kinda like a different language to us”: Homeless youths’ attitudes and experiences pertaining to condoms and contraceptives.
Bender, K. A., Begun, S., Durbahn, R., Ferguson, K., & Schau, N. (in press). My own best friend: Homeless youths’ hesitance to seek help and strategies for coping independently after distressing and traumatic experiences. Social Work in Public Health.
Bender, K., Begun, S., Dunn, K., DeChants, J., & Mackay, E. (in press). Homeless youths’ interests in social action via Photovoice. Journal of Community Practice.
Bender, K., Barman-Adhikari, A., DeChants, J., Haffejee, B., Anyon, Y., Begun, S., Portillo, A., & Dunn, K. (2017). Asking for Change: Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a manualized Photovoice intervention with youth experiencing homelessness. Children and Youth Services Review. [Advanced online edition]. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.08.028
Beltrán, R., Hacker, A., & Begun, S. (2016). Environmental justice is a social justice issue: Incorporating environmental justice into social work practice curricula. Journal of Social Work Education. [Advanced online edition]. doi: 10.1080/10437797.2016.1215277
Beltrán, R., & Begun, S. (2014). “It is medicine”: Narratives of healing from the Aotearoa Digital Storytelling as Indigenous Media Project (ADSIMP). Psychology & Developing Societies, 26(1), 155-179. doi: 10.1177/0971333614549137
