BSW, SUNY at Stony Brook
MSW, Virginia Commonwealth University 
Ph.D., Smith College School of Social Work
End of Life Care Specialist: Smith College School of Social Work

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Linda Darrell is the inaugural DSW Program Director at Morgan State University School of Social Work. Dr. Darrell has served as an Associate Professor in the MSW Department, Assistant Professor in the BSW Department, and Assistant Director of Field Education. She has extensive clinical, organizational, and collaborative experience providing services for persons challenged by health, mental health, and behavioral health concerns. Dr. Darrell has specific clinical skills working in urban-based tertiary care facilities supporting the development of a Palliative Care program, working with End of Life Care patients and their families and those facing chronic illnesses such as End Stage Liver Disease and End Stage Kidney disease and other traumatic life events.

Dr. Darrell has extensive experience working with families of homicide victims and is extremely interested in the concept of Prolonged Grief as it relates to the impact of homicide on African American urban families.

Her research interests include Cultural Competence in Urban Medical Centers; Mental and Behavioral Health in the African American Community; Prolonged Grief in the Urban Environment; Health Disparities within the African American Community, and the inclusion of faith as it pertains to sustaining individuals and families within underserved, disparate urban centers.

Professional/Research Interests

Cultural Competence; Mental Health in the African American Community; Families & Children; Obesity in the African American Community

Recent Publications

Darrell, L.P. (2018, November). Work Life Balance Reality or Rationalization. National Association of Christians in Social Work 68th Convention, Harford, Ct.

Darrell, L.P., & Wilson, D. (2018, April). Autumn Diva's: Women of Color pursuing doctorates after age 50. Smith College Women of Color Conference: Persistence, Possibilities, and the Power of Our Voices, Northampton, MA.

Darrell, L., & Rich, T. (2017) Faith & Field: The Etical Inclusion of Spirituality within the Pedagogy of Social Work. Field Educator, 7.1, Spring 2017. DOI:10.1300/J377v23no4-02

Darrell, L. (2017) End of Life Care Issues. Encyclopedia of Social Work (On-line). National Association of Social Workers and Oxford University Press USA, 2016 Online Publication Date: Feb 2017 DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.1197

Darrell, L. (2016, January 26). Live your dreams. shared grace. http://nacsw.org/blog/2016/live-your-dreams/

Darrell, L. (2016) Faith that God cares: The experience of spirituality. Social Work & Christianity, 43(2), 189-212.

Darrell, L., Littlefield, M., & Washington, E.M. (2016) Safe spaces, nurturing places. Journal of Social Work Education, 52(1), 43-49.

Darrell, L., & Lewis-Boyer, L. (2015). Urban health: Four issues of concern. In R. Wells-Wilbon, A. McPhatter, & H. Vakalahi (Eds), Social work practice with African Americans in urban environments. New York, NY: Springer.

Strigo, T.S., Ephraim, P.L., Pounds, I., Hill-Briggs, F., Darrell, L., Ellis, M., Boulware, L.E. (2015). The TALKS study to improve communication, logistical, and financial barriers to live donor kidney transplantation in African Americans: Protocol of a randomized clinical trial. BMC Nephrology, 16, 160. DOI 10.1186/s12882-015-0153-y

Current Courses

SOWK 505 (Life Course Development (HBSE I); SOWK 501 (Generalist Social Work Practice); SOWK 622 (Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan); SOWK 601(Psychopathology and Clinical Interventions; SOWK 602 (Urban Black Families and Clinical Interventions; SOWK 506 (Urban Organizations, Neighborhoods & Communities)

Click to view Dr. Darrell's poster presentation at the National Association for Death Education and Counseling, March 2015.

Darrell, L. ​(2015, May, 4). From Grief to Growth: Post Bereavement Group with African American Women. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/GeiVmJWdpCU