Elspeth M Slayter

Dr. Slayter is a Professor in the School of Social Work who does disability services research related to addictions and child welfare.  She teaches social welfare policy, research, evaluation, disability practice and forensic social work courses at Salem State since 2005. Dr. Slayter has also taught practice evaluation at Simmons University's School of Social Work, introductory social welfare policy at Boston College’s School of Social Work and a course on qualitative research methods for public policy research at the United Nations University-MERIT program in the Netherlands. 

Dr. Slayter is the coordinator of Salem State's certificate program in Equity-Minded Child Welfare Practice for supervisors and managers from Massachusetts' Department of Children and Families. This program promotes the development of knowledge and skills integral to critically culturally competent, intersectional, and anti-oppressive practice. Practitioners in this mode are intersectionality-conscious and aware of the social and historical context of oppressive practices in child welfare and ancillary systems. The certificate program honors the need for social workers to be aware of a range of social identities, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity and expression, disability, socioeconomic status, and immigration status.

Dr. Slayter obtained both a master’s and doctoral degree in social welfare policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University where her scholarship focused on the disability and health policy arenas.  During her time at Heller, Dr. Slayter was a pre-doctoral trainee supported by the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) and an American Fellow supported by the American Association of University Women (AAUW).  Dr. Slayter received her Master’s degree in social work at New York University in 1995 after completing her undergraduate work in history (with a focus on women’s studies, medical history and medical anthropology) at Macalester College in 1990.

Prior to her doctoral work, between 1995-2000, Dr. Slayter practiced as a forensic social worker in a variety of court-based settings in New York City. These settings included Washington Square Legal Services, where Dr. Slayter partnered with New York University law students in the co-representation of parents charged with child abuse and/or neglect. Dr. Slayter went on to work as a social worker and educational consultant for the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Division in Brooklyn, where she partnered with guardians ad litem in the representation of children on cases related to child protection, juvenile justice and special education law. Dr. Slayter also worked as a social worker in partnership with public defenders at The Bronx Defenders, an early adopter of the “holistic advocacy” model of criminal defense. In the Bronx, Dr. Slayter developed a special interest in the behavioral health concerns of people with disabilities (especially people with intellectual disabilities).

Dr. Slayter’s research has been published in a range of peer-reviewed journals.  Additionally, Dr. Slayter has presented her research at a range of domestic and international conferences in both sociology, social work, psychology and public health.