Jean J. Schensul is a medical anthropologist and senior scientist at The Institute for Community Research, in Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Schensul is most notable for her research on HIV/AIDS prevention and other health-related research in the United States, as well as her extensive writing on ethnographic research methods. She has made notable contributions to the field of applied anthropology, with her work on structural interventions to health disparities leading to the development of new organizations, community research partnerships, and community/university associations. Schensul’s work has been dedicated to community-based research on topics such as senior health, education, and substance abuse, among others.
Background
Schensul studied anthropology at the University of Manitoba (B.A., 1963), anthropology and linguistics at the University of Minnesota (M.A., 1967), and completed a PhD in cultural anthropology at the University of Minnesota in 1974.
From 1971 through 1974, Schensul was a research scientist at the Institute for Juvenile Research in Chicago, then between 1974–75 and 1977-79 was program evaluator for the Center for New Schools, also in Chicago. From 1975 until 1980, Schensul served as the director of Research in Action Inc., which operated in Connecticut and Florida. Schensul helped to create the research and training infrastructure at the Hispanic Health Council in Hartford, Connecticut, an organization she served as associate director for from 1978-1987. In 1987, she founded the Institute for Community Research, an independent research institute conducting prevention research in communities in the United States, India, Peru, Sri Lanka and China, where she has since served as executive director and currently senior scientist.
Dr. Schensul is also a research affiliate with the Yale Department of Psychology as well with the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA).
Scholarship
Schensul’s scholarly work has focused on studies of health inequalities, particularly those centering on HIV, substance use, mental health, and sexual risk, in multiethnic and multicultural urban areas within the United States as well as abroad. Her research with HIV and substance abuse has been funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), with grants totaling over $35,000,000. Through her work with community-based approaches to service delivery and social change, Schensul is notable for her development and evaluation of multilevel interventions as well as her work on developing and furthering participatory researchSchensul, Jean J. "2010 Malinowski Award Engaged Universities, Community Based Research Organizations and Third Sector Science in a Global System." Human Organization 69.4 (2010): 307-320. in the context of dynamic systems change theory.Schensul, Jean J. "Community, culture and sustainability in multilevel dynamic systems intervention science." American journal of community psychology 43.3-4 (2009): 241-256. To date, Schensul has founded or cofounded four community-based health social science research institutes, including The Institute for Community Research and the Hispanic Health Council in the United States, the Instituto Nacional de Salud Comunitaria in Peru, and the Center for Intersectoral Community Health Studies in Sri Lanka. Dr. Schensul is also the co-author of The Ethnographer’s Toolkit, a seven book series that details ethnographic and qualitative research methods at every stage of the research process.
Her current research is an NIAAA-funded study of drinking and sexual risk among young men in Mumbai, India and a NIMH-funded study of women’s reproductive health and sexual risk in Mumbai.
Recognition
1985 - President, Council on Anthropology and Education 1987 - Hispanic Health Council Service Award for research in Latino communities 1990 - Solon T. Kimball Biennial American Anthropology Association. Policy Research Award 1992 - San Juan Center/OPUS Community Service Award for research on aging in Latino communities 1995-1997 - President, Society for Applied Anthropology 1996 - Audrey Lorde Award for Scholar-Activist Collaboration in Women's Studies, Union Institute 2002 - Charter Oak Rice Heights Health Center 25th Anniversary Award for Community Service 2004 - Recognition from the State of Connecticut for accomplishments as a noted immigrant 2004 - Asian Family Services certificate of recognition for service to promote a multi-ethnic society 2009 - Mayor’s Award for Women contributing to the Welfare of Hartford 2010-13 - Elected Member, Executive Board, American Anthropological Association 2010 - Bronislaw Malinowski Career Award, Society for Applied Anthropology
Publications
1976 Schensul, J. School, community and regional development in Mexico. Centros de Estudios Educativos. Mexico: D.F. 1978 Schensul, J. Ensenanza para el futuro y el futuro de la ensenanza. Coleccion Sep-Setentas, SEP. Mexico: D.F. 1978 Yoshida, B., Pelto, P. & Schensul, J. The principal and special education placement. The National Elementary Principal (8). 1978 Schensul, S. & Schensul, J. Advocacy and applied anthropology. In Social Scientists as Advocates: Views from the Applied Disciplines. G. Weber and G. McCall, eds. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. 1980 Schensul, J. & Cerda, M. Parent involvement in bilingual education. ERIC publication 1981 Schensul, J. (ed.). Applied Anthropology in the Connecticut Region, Special Issue of Practicing Anthropology, Vol. 3(1). 1982 Schensul, S. & Schensul, J. Self-help groups and advocacy: a contrast in beliefs and strategies. In Beliefs and Self-Help: Cross Cultural Perspectives and Approaches. G. Weber and L. Cohen, eds. Science Press. 1982 Schensul, J. The interaction of theory, research and practice in applied educational anthropology. In The Generator (Newsletter of AERA Division G). 1982 Schensul, J. Issues in applied anthropology training programs. Practicing Anthropology, Vol. 4. 1982 Schensul, J. & Nieves, I. The crisis event in the Puerto Rican community. Urban Anthropology 11(1):101-128. 1982 Borrero, M., Schensul, J. & Garcia, R. Research, training and organizational change. Urban Anthropology 11(1):129-153. Published 1984. 1982 Schensul S. & Schensul, J. Helping resource use in a Puerto Rican community. Urban Anthropology 11(1):59-80. 1983 Schensul, J. President's report on reorganization. Anthropology and Education Quarterly 1985 Schensul, J. Cultural Transmission and Cultural Transformation: Educational anthropology in the Eighties. Anthropology and Education Quarterly (16(1):1-7. 1985 Schensul, J. Applying ethnography in educational change. Anthropology and Education Quarterly 16(2) 149-164. 1985 Schensul, J. & Eddy, E. M. (Eds.) Applying Educational Anthropology. Special Issue of the Anthropology and Education Quarterly. Vol. 16(2), Summer. 1985 Schensul, J. & Stern, G. (Eds.) Collaborative Research and Social Policy. Special issue of American Behavioral Scientist. Vol. 29(2). November/ December. 1985 Schensul, J. Introduction: Collaborative Research and Social Action. In special issue of American Behavioral Scientist, edited by Jean J. Schensul and Gwen Stern. Vol. 29(2): 131-133. 1985 Schensul, J. Systems consistency in research, policy formulation and social change. American Behavioral Scientist 29(2):186-204. 1985 Pelto, P. & Schensul, J. Theory and practice in policy research. In Applied Anthropology in America edited by E. Eddy and W. Partridge. NY: Columbia U. Press. 1985 Schensul, J. Urban women: migration, adaptation and nutritional status. Urban Nutrition in the Tropics edited by Reiner Gross and Noel Solomon, German Technical Agency, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1987 Schensul, J. Urban Comadronas. In Collaborative Research and Social Policy: Anthropology in Action, edited by Donald Stull and Jean J. Schensul. Col: Westview Press. 1987 Schensul, J. Knowledge Utilization: An Anthropological Perspective. Practicing Anthropology, Vol. (4). 1987 Schensul, J. & Stull, D. Introduction: Collaborative Research and Social Policy. In Collaborative Research and Social Policy: Anthropology in Action, edited by Donald Stull and Jean J. Schensul. Col: Westview Press. 1988 Schensul, J. Community Based Long Term Care. Hartford, CT. Institute for Community Research Publication. 1988 Schensul, J., Singer, M., Burke, G., Torres, M. et al. AIDS Knowledge Attitudes and Behaviors Survey in a Multi-Ethnic Neighborhood of Hartford. AIDS Community Research Group. Institute for Community Research Publication. 1989 Schensul, J., Singer, M., Burke, G., Torres, M. et al. AIDS Knowledge Attitudes and Behaviors Survey in a Multi-Ethnic Neighborhood of Hartford. AIDS Community Research Group. Institute for Community Research Publication. Phase II. 1989 Wetle, Terrie & Schensul, J. Identifying Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease among Elderly Puerto Ricans and their Family Caregivers. Newsletter of the University of Connecticut Travelers Center on Aging, Winter. NIDA/NADR and Principal Investigators. Risk Behaviors for HIV Transmission among Intravenous Drug Users not in Drug Treatment - United States, 1987-1989. 1990 Carroll, T. & Schensul, J. (eds). Cultural Diversity and the Future of Education: Visions of America, special issue of Education and Urban Society. Beverly Hills: SAGE. August. Schensul, J. Carroll, T. Visions of America in the 1990s and Beyond: Negotiating Cultural Diversity and Educational Change, in Cultural Diversity and the Future of Education: Visions of America, special issue of Education and Urban Society, edited by Thomas Carroll and Jean J. Schensul. Beverly Hills: SAGE. 1991 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 39(16):273-276. . 1991 Schensul, S. & Schensul, J. Ethnographic Evaluation of AIDS Programs in New Approaches to the Evaluation of AIDS programs. New Jersey: Jossey Bass. 1991 Schensul, J. & Weeks, M. Ethnographic Evaluation of AIDS Programs. NIDA NADR Proceedings DHHS: NIDA. 1991 Singer S, Irrizary R & Schensul J. Needle Access as an AIDS Prevention Strategy for IV Drug Users: A Research Perspective. J. Human Organization, 50(2):142-153. 1991 Reprinted in Caves R. Reading in the Urban Area: An Introduction. Newbury Park: Sage. Schensul, J. Organizing Cultural Diversity Through the Arts, in Cultural Diversity and the Future of Education: Visions of America, special issue of Education and Urban Society, edited by Thomas Carroll and Jean J. Schensul.Vol. 22(4):377-392. Beverly Hills: SAGE. 1991 McGraw S, Carillo E, Schensul J. Sociocultural Factors Associated with Smoking Behavior by Puerto Rican Adolescents in Boston.. Social Science and Medicine 33(12):1355-1364 1991 Schensul J. & Schensul, S. Collaborative Research, Chapter in Handbook on Qualitative Research Methods in Education, edited by Judith Goetz and Margaret LeCompte. NY: Academic Press 1991 M Singer, Z. Jia, M.Weeks & J. Schensul. IV Drug User Attitudes Toward Needle Exchange: Findings from the Hartford NADR Program.Research in Progress, NIDA 1992 Weeks, M. & Schensul, J. Ethnographic Research on AIDS Risk Behavior and the Making of Policy in Fetterman D (ed.) Speaking the Language of Power: Communication, Collaboration and Advocacy, London: Falmer Press. 1992 Singer, M., Jia, Schensul, J., Weeks, M., Page, B.. AIDS and the IV Drug User: the Local Context in Prevention Efforts. Medical Anthropology, Medical Anthropology 14(1):1- 22.