Personal profile

Biography

Dr. Cummings earned a PhD in social work from Michigan State University, with a dissertation on help-seeking behavior of male victims of sexual assault. Her MSW degree with a concentration in Mental Health and Addictions and her Bachelor of Arts degree in women’s studies were received from Indiana University South Bend. 

Her teaching interests include research, practice, theory, gender and sexuality, the human-animal bond, and field education. Dr. Cummings’ primary area of research focuses on victims' interface with health, criminal justice, and social service organizations, and help-seeking behaviors, especially of victims of sexual violence. Gender, especially in relation to masculinity as a barrier to seeking services, plays a prominent role in her current work. Her research aims to understand and reduce disparities and to work towards communities in which victimization is neither gendered or blamed on the victim. She is interested in participatory action research and community engaged methods.

She has practice experience as a veterinary social worker, as well as experience in juvenile residential treatment, case management, and as a social worker in a trauma unit of a hospital. 

Related documents

Education/Academic qualification

PhD, Michigan State University

… → 2018

Summer Institute on Sexuality, Culture, & Society, University of Amsterdam

2015

School of Social Work, MSW, Indiana University at South Bend

… → 2013

Mediation (FAmily Law Clinic course), University of Notre Dame Law School

2012

Women's Studies, BA, Indiana University at South Bend

… → 2009

Licensed Masters Social Worker, License #6801097617, Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

Disciplines

  • Social Work