Research Summary

I use place-based, arts-based, and participatory methods to explore (and reimagine) supportive settings and care practices for young people at the margins. My current research explores third places (community settings) and sense of community among young people in permanent supportive housing, mutual aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, peer support among young people experiencing homelessness, and the impacts of prison arts programming for those who participate in -- and witness -- it.

Education

  • BA, Theatre; Creative Nonfiction Writing, Northwestern University
  • AM (MSW equivalent), Social Services Administration, University of Chicago
  • PhD, Social Work, University of Denver. Project: Sense of Community and (Third) Place Among Young Adults in Permanent Supportive Housing: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry

Selected Works

  • Littman D.M., Valdovinos M. & Sliva S. (2023). “He went from being a monster to a person:” Using narrative analysis to explore how victim-offender dialogue (VOD) participants transform through the VOD process. Qualitative Social Work. Published, 09/13/2023.
  • Mollica M., Littman D.M., Lucas T., Marvin C., Erangey J., Bender K. & Milligan T. (2023). “Like a weight off my shoulders”: Participating in peer support from the perspectives of young people experiencing homelessness. (pp. 2563-2580). Vol. 51, Journal of Community Psychology. Published, 09/01/2023.
  • Littman D.M., Morris K., Hostetter C.R., Boyett M., Bender K., Holloway B., Dunbar A.Z. & Sarantakos S. (2023). How was mutual aid being conceptualized during its proliferation in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic? A critical phenomenological analysis. (pp. 193-214). Vol. 31, Journal of Community Practice. Published, 01/01/2023.
  • Danielle Littman, Keely Resing, Tara Milligan, Omotola Williams & Kimberly Bender (2023). Sense of community among young adults before and after moving into Permanent Supportive Housing: A mixed-methods longitudinal analysis. Children and Youth Services Review. Accepted, 12/08/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107413
  • Kimberly Bender, Kate Saavedra, Tara Milligan, Danielle Littman, Annie Zean Dunbar, Maveryck Boyett & Brendon Holloway (2023). How mutual aid participation developed social bonds and sense of collective responsibility in the early months of COVID-19. American Journal of Community Psychology. Published, 11/17/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12721
  • Littman D.M. (2021). Third place theory and social work: Considering collapsed places. Journal of Social Work. Vol. 21, 1225-1242. Published, 09/01/2021.
  • Littman D.M., Bender K., Mollica M., Erangey J., Lucas T. & Marvin C. (2021). Making power explicit: Using values and power mapping to guide power-diverse Participatory Action Research processes. (pp. 266-282). Vol. 49, Journal of Community Psychology. Published, 03/01/2021.
  • Littman D.M., Boyett M., Bender K., Dunbar A.Z., Santarella M., Becker-Hafnor T., Saavedra K. & Milligan T. (2022). Values and Beliefs Underlying Mutual Aid: An Exploration of Collective Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic. (pp. 89-115). Vol. 13, Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. Published, 03/01/2022.
  • Littman D.M., Sliva S.M. & Lin J. (2022). Closer to the problem: can a virtual prison arts event foster psychological proximity to the issue of incarceration?. (pp. 4-23). Vol. 25, Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal, Social, and Restorative Justice. Published, 01/01/2022.
  • Danielle Littman, Anna Ortega-Williams, Ramona Beltran, M. Alex Wagaman, Kimberly Bender & Laura Wernick (2023). Navigating, subverting, and replacing conventional academic structures and expectations to co- create with PAR teams: Where to for PAR scholarship? . Journal of Community Practice. Vol. 31, 466-487. Published, 12/22/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2023.2271923