Biography

Sung Hong received his Ph.D. in Social Work at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He joined Wayne State University School of Social Work as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in 2013 and was promoted to Associate Professor (tenure) in 2019. He had also been an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Sungkyunkwan University (summer) in Seoul, South Korea from 2015 to 2019. He is currently the Co-Director of the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality and Justice (in Virginia Tech). For the past several years, Sung Hong has primarily researched factors associated with bias-based bullying and peer victimization (both face-to-face and cyberbullying) of racial/ethnic minority, immigrant, LGBTQ, juvenile justice-involved, and economically disenfranchised adolescents and young adults in the United States. He has also collaborated with scholars in South Korea, Taiwan, Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland, Spain, Brazil, Germany, China, Hong Kong, and Ukraine on research projects. In 2017, he was a keynote speaker in Sweden and Taiwan. His research has been published in major peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Criminal Justice; Journal of Youth & Adolescence; Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health; Journal of Interpersonal Violence; Psychology of Violence; Child & Youth Care Forum; American Journal of Orthopsychiatry; Journal of Adolescence; Violence & Victims; Trauma, Violence & Abuse; Child Abuse & Neglect; Youth Violence & Juvenile Justice; School Psychology International; and Youth & Society. Also, he has been a guest editor for the Journal of Child & Family Studies, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, Journal of School Violence, Journal of Family Violence, and most recently, School Mental Health. He is currently serving on the editorial board for the Journal of Youth & Adolescence, Psychology of Violence, Journal of Family Violence, and Journal of Child & Family Studies. He is also co-authoring a book tentatively entitled, School Bullying, Diversity, and Disparities: Investigating Youth Vulnerability, Marginalization, and Victimization (with Dr. Anthony A. Peguero in Virginia Tech). He has also conducted interviews with several news media and consulted with school districts on bullying and school violence. Most recently, his research was cited by NBC News. He was a past Fulbright recipient, and more recently, he received the Alberti Center Early Career Award and the Wayne State University Academy of Scholars Junior Faculty Award.

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Degrees and Certifications

• Ph.D., Social Work, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• M.S.W., Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Teaching Interests

• SW 6535 Youth, Delinquency & Juvenile Justice
• SW 3510 Human Behavior in the Social Environment
• SW 3110 Diversity, Oppression, and Social Justice
• SW 7660 Human Behavior in the Social Environment II: Diversity in a Multicultural Society

Areas of Expertise

SUBSTANTIVE

• Risk outcomes associated with bullying and peer victimization (e.g., substance use, sexual risks, suicidal thoughts/behavior)
• Youths’ perceptions of safety in school
• Predictors of school shootings
• Effects of family violence (e.g., maltreatment, inter-parental violence) on aggressive behavior in children and adolescents)
• Delinquent behaviors among youth involved in the child welfare system

METHODS 

• Quantitative research
• Secondary data analyses

Research Interests

Grand Challenges Project

A Longitudinal Examination of Syndemic Traumatic Violence on African American Youth Trajectories of Substance Use and Sexual Risk

In collaborations with colleagues in the University of Toronto, Washington University in St. Louis, Texas Tech, USC, and Chungwoon University (in South Korea), Sung Hong is exploring how age-specific violence exposures, the combination of syndemic traumatic violence exposures, and youth characteristics, such as gender, self-efficacy and future orientation influence African American youth substance use and sexual risk trajectories. Third, using a dyadic sample of youth and caregivers, the study would explore how protective parenting might influence African American youth resiliency and coping to ameliorate the negative effects of syndemic traumatic violence.

Courses taught by Jun Hong

Winter Term 2025 (future)

• SW3110 - Diversity, Oppression and Social Justice
• SW6585 - Introduction to International Social Work

Fall Term 2024

• SW3510 - Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Winter Term 2024

• SW3110 - Diversity, Oppression and Social Justice

Winter Term 2023

• SW3110 - Diversity, Oppression and Social Justice

Fall Term 2022

• SW3510 - Human Behavior in the Social Environment
• SW7560 - Lifespan Development in the Social Context

Winter Term 2022

• SW3110 - Diversity, Oppression and Social Justice

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