Dean Laura Abrams

Dr. Abrams was Professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and served as Chair of the Department of Social Welfare from 2017 to 2024, where she led efforts to strengthen the department’s focus on equity-centered teaching, faculty development, and policy-relevant research.

Dr. Abrams’ research addresses the experiences of youth and adults impacted by incarceration, with emphasis on identity development, reentry, and racial justice. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and several influential books, including Compassionate Confinement and Everyday Desistance, which examine the lived experiences of incarcerated youth. She is co-editor of The International Handbook of Youth Imprisonment and The Voluntary Sector in Prisons, and leads cross-national studies on the juvenile legal system, reentry, and imprisonment.

Her most recent book, Young Black Changemakers and the Road to Racial Justice, examines how Black youth in Los Angeles engage in civic and political life as a response to systemic racism. The book highlights the innovative, justice-driven strategies young people are using to transform their communities and reimagine a more equitable future. 

Dr. Abrams is also the Principal Investigator of the first-ever national study of Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP), funded by the Arnold Ventures Foundation. This groundbreaking project examines the legal, social, and developmental dimensions of life sentences for youth across the United States, with the goal of informing more humane and just sentencing practices.

A committed public scholar, Dr. Abrams has served as an expert witness in juvenile legal proceedings and has provided testimony to lawmakers on youth sentencing, reentry, and alternatives to incarceration.

She is a prominent leader in the social work profession. Dr. Abrams currently serves as Vice President of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW), where she was elected a Fellow in 2019—the first woman from UCLA to receive this distinction. She previously served as Vice President of the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE) and as President of the California Association of Deans and Directors of Social Work Programs (CADD), where she played a key role in advocating for increased state investment in MSW student funding and workforce development.

Her recognitions include the UCLA Chancellor’s Public Impact Research Award (2021) and the Frances Lomas Feldman Excellence in Research Award (2025), reflecting her longstanding commitment to justice, education, and social impact.

Dr. Abrams earned her BA from Brandeis University and her MSW and PhD in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley.

California Social Welfare Archives, Frances Lomas Feldman Award for Excellence in Social Work Education, February 2025. 

UCLA Chancellor’s Public Impact Research Award, June 2022.

 UCLA Faculty Mentoring Honor Society, Inducted May 2022. 

Outstanding Social Work Book, Society for Social Work and Research, January 2020. 

Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, Inducted January 2020. 

Feminist Mentorship Award, Council on Social Work Education, 2019. 

Fellow of the Society for Social Work and Research, Inducted January 2016.

Honorable Mention, Outstanding Social Work Book, Society for Social Work and Research, January 2015. 

Frank R. Bruel Memorial Prize from the University of Chicago, Social Service Review, 2014. 

Seabury Lecturer in Social Welfare, UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare, October 2013. 

Faculty Diversity Fellowship, University of California, Los Angeles, 2008. 

John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation, Faculty Fellowship, 2007. 

School of Social Work, Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Minnesota, 2005. 

School of Social Work, New Career Excellence Award, University of Minnesota, 2003. 

Lois and Samuel Silberman Award for Social Work Research, 2002. 

Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, University of California, Berkeley, 1999. 

Claude W. Place Class of 1901 Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, 1996.

2020-present 

• Member, American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare 
• Nominations and Elections Committee (2020-2025) 
• Elected Board Member (2024-2027) 
• Vice-President (2025-2027)

1999-present 

• Member, Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) 
• Elected Member of the Board of Directors (2016-2019) 
• Co-Chair: Qualitative Methods Interest Group, (2011-2018) 
• Co-Chair: Crime and Criminal Justice Cluster (2015-2016; 2025-2027) 

2017-2024 

• Member, California Association of Deans and Directors 
• President, California Association of Deans and Directors (2021-2024) 

2009-2015 

• Member, Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education (GADE) 
• Steering Committee Member (2012-2015) 
• Vice-Chair (2013-2015)