Anna S. Pruitt, PhD
Community Psychologist, Interim Director | Office for Poverty Research & Action | Social Science Research Institute | University of Hawaii at Manoa | Honolulu, H.I.
Research-based. Community-led. Systems-focused.
Anna S. Pruitt, PhD is a community psychologist whose research focuses on understanding and addressing poverty through community-led solutions.
Her research has focused primarily on the effects of extreme poverty—particularly, housing and food insecurity—and the ways in which poverty’s systematic and disproportionate impacts contribute to health disparities.
Conceptualizing poverty as complex trauma that can have long lasting impacts beyond material deprivation, Dr. Pruitt’s work takes an ecological, multilevel approach, from investigating policy impacts to developing community interventions.
Areas of Expertise
Poverty, Housing, & Homelessness
Understanding the multilevel impacts of poverty on individuals and communities, particularly houseless communities.
Community-based Participatory Research
Implementing research with–not on–marginalized communities, often using innovative qualitative and quantitative methods.
Trauma & Health Disparities
Exploring the disparate impacts of poverty-related trauma on individuals’ and communities’ health and developing multilevel solutions to address these disparities.
