MY RESEARCH
My research interests has two major aims:
1) To promote ethnoracial and gender equity in the juvenile legal system with a focus on policing and carceral settings.
2) To develop culturally- and trauma-informed mental health programming for children and adolescents who use violence.
Below you will find selected publications, and an overview of my current projects.
My full CV can be found here.
Photo of my hand (second to right) with other participating researchers at an ethnoracial equity training institute. This institute inspired my interest in community-centered work.
Some Recent Publications
Fix, R. L. (2025). Singing for self-affirmation and healing: How Black young people articulate growth and mental health through music. Arts & Health. doi: 10.1080/17533015.2025.2541369
Fix, R. L., Luken, A., Nair, R., & Fix, S. T. (2025). Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in substantiated child maltreatment: A state-level analysis of U.S. incidence rates. Children and Youth Services Review. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108332
Fix, R. L. (2025). Beyond denial: Police-recommended solutions to community policing challenges. American Journal of Community Psychology. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12810
Fix, R. L., Thompson, K. R., & Doan, B. (2024). Is there a mental health wake following the COVID‐19 pandemic on adolescents in a male juvenile prison? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 34(4), 1486-1499. doi: 10.1111/jora.13015
*Note. For a more comprehensive listing of my publications, please see my Research Gate profile.
Current Projects I Am Leading
Title: Truth to Power: Engaging young people in creative writing to interrupt cycles of violence.
Principal Investigator: Rebecca Fix
Sponsoring Agency: Bloomberg American Health Initiative
Main Objectives: I am partnering with Truth to Power to better understand the impact of violence and trauma on Baltimore City youth (ages 14-19) through writing activities and workshops including music production, producing testimony that can influence local and national policy. Our intervention centers media literacy and use of writing as a coping mechanism.
Title: Redefining and investing in community: Improving telehealth care and educational programs among people incarcerated in rural state prisons
Principal Investigators: Jacob Eikenberry; Machli Joseph (P2P)
Principal Responsibilities: Co-Investigator (community organization-led grant)
Sponsoring Agency: National Institutes of Health (1OT2OD035976-01)
Main Objectives: We will support the installation of high-speed internet into 14 state prisons within the states of Maryland and Missouri. We are prioritizing prisons in rural areas that serve a predominantly Black incarcerated population. We will also develop educational programming to reduce stigma about physical and mental health, and courses to promote physical and mental health care knowledge for people in the carceral system and staff working in the carceral system.
Title: Modern social movements to dismantle anti-Black racism in policing: Perspectives from Black youth, caregivers, and community leaders
Principal Investigator: Rebecca Fix
Sponsoring Agency: Johns Hopkins University
Main Objectives: In partnership with youth and their caregivers in Baltimore City, we will illuminate perspectives on modern social movements to dismantle anti-Black racism in policing (e.g., Black Lives Matter, Defund the Police, Police Free Schools). We also seek to assess the gaps and disparities in stakeholders’ understanding of and attitudes about these movements and to develop and disseminate tools to support education about and opportunities for direct youth participation in these movements.
Title: Toward a trauma-informed system: Improving implementation of approaches to care for youth assault trauma patients
Principal Investigator: Rebecca Fix (Co-PI Hoops)
Sponsoring Agency: Innovation Grant – Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Main Objectives: For this study, we are working with adolescent patients and caregivers of adolescent patients who have received inpatient care for assault trauma and conducting medical chart reviews from 150 adolescents admitted to inpatient care for assault trauma. Results will inform changes to policies and protocols for adolescent assault survivors in the medical system.
Title: Optimizing youth-police interactions in Baltimore City: A pilot to develop a novel police training curriculum
Principal Investigator: Rebecca Fix (Co-PI Jackson)
Sponsoring Agency: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg American Health Initiative
Main Objectives: The overarching goal of our project is to co-create a training curriculum with youth, community partners, and the Baltimore City Police Department and produce preliminary materials for a novel police training curriculum on youth-police interactions.
