Annah Bender, Ph.D.

Dr. Bender received her Ph.D. from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, and her MSW from the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Her research interests include intimate partner violence and the development of and recovery from mental health/substance use disorders among individuals with a history of trauma. Dr. Bender is currently funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development (PI: Dr. Erica Koegler) on a project estimating the prevalence of human trafficking in South Africa. Along with Dr. Baorong Guo, Dr. Bender has also received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to test a policy innovation aimed at increasing household food security among low-income families with children in the St. Louis region. She is also a faculty affiliate with UMSL's Gender Studies Program. Previously, Dr. Bender has worked as a shelter advocate and community mental health counselor in locations including New York, Michigan, Guatemala, and southwest Missouri.

In addition to her work as an instructor (see courses below), Dr. Bender currently serves as a faculty advisor to MSW students in the Family Practice Concentration. Her service to the community involves volunteer work with Safe Connections, an agency serving survivors of intimate partner and sexual violence based in St. Louis.

Courses Taught

SOCWRK 3100 – Introduction to Social Work Practice with Individuals
SOCWRK 3510- Human Behavior in the Social Environment
SOCWRK 6611 – Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice

Education

Ph.D. , Social Work, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis (2015)

MSW, University of Michigan School of Social Work (2008)

B.A., English, Missouri State University (2004)

Recent Publications

Peer-reviewed journals

Bender, A.K., Koegler, E., & Rich, E.G. (Accepted). Mental health and substance use concerns among transgender individuals living on the margins in Cape Town, South Africa: Preliminary selected findings from the Western Cape Stop Exploitation (RESET) study. HPHR Review.

Gearhart, M., Bender, A.K., Barnhart, S., Berg, K. & Jones, C. (2021). Youth profiles of police-initiated posttraumatic stress symptomatology. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. doi: 10.1007/s10560-021-00741-4

Bender, A. K., & Lauritsen, J. L. (2021). Violent victimization among lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations in the United States: Findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017-2018. American Journal of Public Health, 111(2), 318-326. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.306017

Bender, A.K., Meyers, J.L., Subbie-Saenz di Viteri, S., Schuckit, M., Chan, G., Acion, L., Kamarajan, C., Kramer, J.K., Anohkin, A., Kinreich, S., Pandey, A., Hesselbrock, V., Hesselbrock, M., Bucholz, K.K. & McCutcheon, V.V. (2021). A latent class analysis of alcohol and posttraumatic stress symptoms among offspring of parents with and without alcohol use disorder. Addictive Behaviors, 112, 1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106640

Bender, A.K., Koegler, E., Johnson, S.D., Murugan, V. & Wamser-Nanney, R. (2020). Guns and intimate partner violence among adolescents: A scoping review. Journal of Family Violence, 1-13. doi: 10.1007/s10896-020-00193-x

See Dr. Bender's CV for a complete list of publications.

Research Interests

Dr. Bender's research interests include intimate partner violence and mental health/substance use sequelae among survivors of trauma. She is particularly interested in how violent relationships develop and the ways that survivors cope, seek help, and ultimately recover from abuse and reconnect with others.