Maria Liegghio
Associate Professor
Office: Ross Building, S876
Phone: (416) 736-2100 Ext: 22847
Email: mlieg@yorku.ca
Accepting New Graduate Students
Maria Liegghio is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her main areas of research are social work epistemology in mental health; the stigma of mental illness in child and youth mental health, or more critically children's psychiatrization; critical social work education, theory, and practice; and collaborative, community-based and participatory action research. She has extensive experience working as a child and family mental health therapist. Her current work is focused on the experiences psychiatrized children and youth and their caregivers have of crisis responses, policing, and police encounters. She has three projects: 1) a study exploring the "mental health" experiences children and youth have, in particular, their experiences of "crisis/distress" and of accessing and using mental health services, specifically crisis and police services; 2) a study exploring the emotional, functional, and financial (provisioning) contributions youth make living in low-income, lone mother households; and 3) an international collaboration exploring theories about "trauma" and "resilience" as organizing frameworks for violence prevention and intervention in El Salvador, with a particular focus on de-colonial research and practice approaches.
Degrees
PhD, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaMSW, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
BSW (honours), University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
The purpose of this study is to explore youth resilience, poverty and provisioning in the Global North, specifically in two major Canadian urban centres – Toronto and Vancouver. The aim is to understand the emotional, instrumental, and financial formal and informal activities and roles youth living in poverty undertake to meet their own needs and those of other family members; that is, how children and youth help families "make ends meet".
Start Date:
- Month: Apr Year: 2019
Collaborator: Dr. Lea Caragata (principal investigator)
-
Summary:
The purpose of this 2 year, community-university partnership is to pilot a study - its methods, questions, and theoretical orientation - to explore crisis responses, policing, and police encounters with children and youth in need of, or involved with the child and youth mental health system.
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2018
Funders:
SSHRC Insight Development Grant
-
Summary:
The focus is on the lived experiences children and youth diagnosed with a mental health issue, and their caregivers, have of police and police encounters.
Start Date:
- Month: Jan Year: 2014
End Date:
- Month: Jun Year: 2018
Funders:
SSHRC Small Grants Program
Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
-
Summary:
The focus of this research was to develop a mental health literacy program for frontline child and youth mental health professionals on the stigma of mental illness
- Month: Mar Year: 2012
End Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2012
Funders:
Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health
-
Summary:
The purpose of this study was to explore self and family stigma of mental illness from the perspective of youth diagnosed with a mental health issue, their caregivers and siblings.
Funders:
Mental Health Commission of Canada
-
Summary:
Working in collaboration with the School of Social Sciences (Escuela de Ciencias Sociales) in the Faculty of Sciences and Humanities (Faculitad de Ciencias y Humanitades) at the University of El Salvador, the aim of this project is to develop a larger research partnership to explore cross-nationally what it means to be “Salvadoran” 25 years after the country’s civil war (1980-1992) from the perspectives of the war and postwar generations.
End Date:
- Month: Jun Year: 2018
Funders:
LA&PS Seed Grant for Collaborative Research Initiatives
Liegghio, M. (2018). Za młodzi, żeby być szaleni. Upośledzaja zderzenia z “normalnośia” z perspektywy młodzieży doświadczajacej psyshiatryzacji. (Polish, English translation: Too young to be Mad: Disabling encounters with ‘normal’ from the perspectives of psychiatrized youth). In A. Witeska-Młynarczyk (ed)., Antropologia psychiatrii dzieci i młodzieży: Wbór tekstów. (p.p. 250-279) Warzawa, Poland: Oficyna Naukowa.
Liegghio, M. (2013) . Chapter 5: A denial of being: Psychiatrization as epistemic violence. In B. LeFrancois, R. Menzies, & G. Reaume (Ed.s.), Mind matters: A critical Canadian reader. (p.p. 122-129). Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Liegghio, M.; Truong, A.H.; Canas, H. & Al-Bader, H. (accepted August 2020). “I don’t want people to think I’m a criminal”: Calling for more “compassionate policing” in child and youth mental health. Journal of Community Safety & Well-being.
Liegghio, M. (2020). Allyship and solidarity, not therapy, in child and youth mental health: Lessons from a participatory action research project with psychiatrised youth. Global Studies of Childhood. Special Issue: Psychiatrised childhoods: Observed, understood and experienced, 10 (1), 78-89.
Liegghio, M. & Caragata, L. (2020, July). Covid19 and youth living in poverty: The ethical considerations of moving from in-person interviews to a photovoice using remote methods. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work. DOI: 10.1177/0886109920939051
Liegghio, M.; Canas, H.; Truong, A.H. & Williams, S. (under review 2020). Collaboration rooted in compassionate policing, but calling for depolicing: Distressed children and youth caught between the mental health and police systems. Journal of Community Safety & Well-being.
Liegghio, M., Delay, D., & Jenney, A. (2019). Challenging social work epistemology in children’s mental health: The connections between evidence-based practice and young people’s psychiatrization. The British Journal of Social Work, 49, 1180–1197.
Liegghio, M. (2017) . Our biggest hurdle, yet: Caregivers’ encounters with structural stigma in child and youth mental health. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Sciences, 98 (4), 300-309.
Liegghio, M.; Van Katwyk, T.; Freeman, B.; Caragata, L.; Sdao-Jarvie, K; Brown, K.; & Sandha, A. (2017) . Police involvement among a community population of children and youth accessing mental health services. Social Work in Mental Health, 15 (1), 14-27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2016.1156043
Liegghio, M. (2017) . “Not a good person”: Family stigma in child and youth mental health from the perspectives of young siblings. Child and Family Social Work, 22 (3), 1237-1245. doi:10.1111/cfs.12340.
Liegghio, M. (2016) . Too young to be Mad: Disabling encounters with “normal” from the perspectives of psychiatrized youth. Special Issue: Mad Studies: Intersections with Disability Studies, Social Work and ‘Mental Health’ for Intersectionalities: A Global Journal of Social Work Analysis, Research, Polity, and Practice, 5 (3), 110-129.
Liegghio, M. & Caragata, L. (2016) . “Why are you talking to me like I’m stupid?”: The micro-aggressions committed by the social welfare system against lone mothers. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work. 31 (1), 7-23. doi: 10.1177/0886109915592667
Liegghio, M. (2015) . Over 1000 aluminum cans for forty dollars: The provisioning contributions of older children from the perspectives of welfare-reliant lone mothers. Children & Society, 29, 388-398.
Liegghio, M. & Jaswal, P. (2015) . Police encounters in child and youth mental health: Could stigma informed crisis intervention training (CIT) for parents help? Special Issue on Mental Health: Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community, 29 (3), 301-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2015.1050654
Van Katwyk, T., Liegghio, M. & Laflamme, L. (2014) . Democratic learning: The study circle as a critical approach to social work education. Canadian Social Work Review/Revue Canadienne de Service Social, 31(2), 227-243.
Liegghio, M., Nelson, G., & Evans, S. (2010, September) . Participatory action research with children with mental health issues: Contributions of a sociology of childhood perspective. American Journal of Community Psychology, 46 (1-2), 84-99.
Liegghio, M. (December 2013) . ‘No one gets left behind’: Self and family stigma from the perspectives of youth diagnosed with a mental health issue, caregivers, and siblings; Final report of findings. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: A report to the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Liegghio, M.; Van Katwyk, T.; Pereira, N. & Sdao-Jarvie, K. (2012, August) . A mental health literacy program for frontline child and youth mental health professionals: The stigma of mental illness, facilitator’s guide. Mississauga, Ontario, Canada: Peel Children’s Centre.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2020 | GS/SOWK5913 3.0 | A | Contesting Children's 'Mental Health' | SEMR |
Maria Liegghio is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her main areas of research are social work epistemology in mental health; the stigma of mental illness in child and youth mental health, or more critically children's psychiatrization; critical social work education, theory, and practice; and collaborative, community-based and participatory action research. She has extensive experience working as a child and family mental health therapist. Her current work is focused on the experiences psychiatrized children and youth and their caregivers have of crisis responses, policing, and police encounters. She has three projects: 1) a study exploring the "mental health" experiences children and youth have, in particular, their experiences of "crisis/distress" and of accessing and using mental health services, specifically crisis and police services; 2) a study exploring the emotional, functional, and financial (provisioning) contributions youth make living in low-income, lone mother households; and 3) an international collaboration exploring theories about "trauma" and "resilience" as organizing frameworks for violence prevention and intervention in El Salvador, with a particular focus on de-colonial research and practice approaches.
Degrees
PhD, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaMSW, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
BSW (honours), University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
The purpose of this study is to explore youth resilience, poverty and provisioning in the Global North, specifically in two major Canadian urban centres – Toronto and Vancouver. The aim is to understand the emotional, instrumental, and financial formal and informal activities and roles youth living in poverty undertake to meet their own needs and those of other family members; that is, how children and youth help families "make ends meet".
Project Type: FundedRole: Co-investigator
Start Date:
- Month: Apr Year: 2019
Collaborator: Dr. Lea Caragata (principal investigator)
-
Summary:
The purpose of this 2 year, community-university partnership is to pilot a study - its methods, questions, and theoretical orientation - to explore crisis responses, policing, and police encounters with children and youth in need of, or involved with the child and youth mental health system.
Project Type: FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2018
Funders:
SSHRC Insight Development Grant
-
Summary:
The focus is on the lived experiences children and youth diagnosed with a mental health issue, and their caregivers, have of police and police encounters.
Project Type: FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Start Date:
- Month: Jan Year: 2014
End Date:
- Month: Jun Year: 2018
Funders:
SSHRC Small Grants Program
Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
-
Summary:
The focus of this research was to develop a mental health literacy program for frontline child and youth mental health professionals on the stigma of mental illness
Project Type: FundedStart Date:
- Month: Mar Year: 2012
End Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2012
Funders:
Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health
-
Summary:
The purpose of this study was to explore self and family stigma of mental illness from the perspective of youth diagnosed with a mental health issue, their caregivers and siblings.
Project Type: FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Funders:
Mental Health Commission of Canada
-
Summary:
Working in collaboration with the School of Social Sciences (Escuela de Ciencias Sociales) in the Faculty of Sciences and Humanities (Faculitad de Ciencias y Humanitades) at the University of El Salvador, the aim of this project is to develop a larger research partnership to explore cross-nationally what it means to be “Salvadoran” 25 years after the country’s civil war (1980-1992) from the perspectives of the war and postwar generations.
Project Type: FundedRole: Principal Investigator
End Date:
- Month: Jun Year: 2018
Funders:
LA&PS Seed Grant for Collaborative Research Initiatives
All Publications
Liegghio, M. (2018). Za młodzi, żeby być szaleni. Upośledzaja zderzenia z “normalnośia” z perspektywy młodzieży doświadczajacej psyshiatryzacji. (Polish, English translation: Too young to be Mad: Disabling encounters with ‘normal’ from the perspectives of psychiatrized youth). In A. Witeska-Młynarczyk (ed)., Antropologia psychiatrii dzieci i młodzieży: Wbór tekstów. (p.p. 250-279) Warzawa, Poland: Oficyna Naukowa.
Liegghio, M. (2013) . Chapter 5: A denial of being: Psychiatrization as epistemic violence. In B. LeFrancois, R. Menzies, & G. Reaume (Ed.s.), Mind matters: A critical Canadian reader. (p.p. 122-129). Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Liegghio, M.; Truong, A.H.; Canas, H. & Al-Bader, H. (accepted August 2020). “I don’t want people to think I’m a criminal”: Calling for more “compassionate policing” in child and youth mental health. Journal of Community Safety & Well-being.
Liegghio, M. (2020). Allyship and solidarity, not therapy, in child and youth mental health: Lessons from a participatory action research project with psychiatrised youth. Global Studies of Childhood. Special Issue: Psychiatrised childhoods: Observed, understood and experienced, 10 (1), 78-89.
Liegghio, M. & Caragata, L. (2020, July). Covid19 and youth living in poverty: The ethical considerations of moving from in-person interviews to a photovoice using remote methods. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work. DOI: 10.1177/0886109920939051
Liegghio, M.; Canas, H.; Truong, A.H. & Williams, S. (under review 2020). Collaboration rooted in compassionate policing, but calling for depolicing: Distressed children and youth caught between the mental health and police systems. Journal of Community Safety & Well-being.
Liegghio, M., Delay, D., & Jenney, A. (2019). Challenging social work epistemology in children’s mental health: The connections between evidence-based practice and young people’s psychiatrization. The British Journal of Social Work, 49, 1180–1197.
Liegghio, M. (2017) . Our biggest hurdle, yet: Caregivers’ encounters with structural stigma in child and youth mental health. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Sciences, 98 (4), 300-309.
Liegghio, M.; Van Katwyk, T.; Freeman, B.; Caragata, L.; Sdao-Jarvie, K; Brown, K.; & Sandha, A. (2017) . Police involvement among a community population of children and youth accessing mental health services. Social Work in Mental Health, 15 (1), 14-27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2016.1156043
Liegghio, M. (2017) . “Not a good person”: Family stigma in child and youth mental health from the perspectives of young siblings. Child and Family Social Work, 22 (3), 1237-1245. doi:10.1111/cfs.12340.
Liegghio, M. (2016) . Too young to be Mad: Disabling encounters with “normal” from the perspectives of psychiatrized youth. Special Issue: Mad Studies: Intersections with Disability Studies, Social Work and ‘Mental Health’ for Intersectionalities: A Global Journal of Social Work Analysis, Research, Polity, and Practice, 5 (3), 110-129.
Liegghio, M. & Caragata, L. (2016) . “Why are you talking to me like I’m stupid?”: The micro-aggressions committed by the social welfare system against lone mothers. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work. 31 (1), 7-23. doi: 10.1177/0886109915592667
Liegghio, M. (2015) . Over 1000 aluminum cans for forty dollars: The provisioning contributions of older children from the perspectives of welfare-reliant lone mothers. Children & Society, 29, 388-398.
Liegghio, M. & Jaswal, P. (2015) . Police encounters in child and youth mental health: Could stigma informed crisis intervention training (CIT) for parents help? Special Issue on Mental Health: Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community, 29 (3), 301-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2015.1050654
Van Katwyk, T., Liegghio, M. & Laflamme, L. (2014) . Democratic learning: The study circle as a critical approach to social work education. Canadian Social Work Review/Revue Canadienne de Service Social, 31(2), 227-243.
Liegghio, M., Nelson, G., & Evans, S. (2010, September) . Participatory action research with children with mental health issues: Contributions of a sociology of childhood perspective. American Journal of Community Psychology, 46 (1-2), 84-99.
Liegghio, M. (December 2013) . ‘No one gets left behind’: Self and family stigma from the perspectives of youth diagnosed with a mental health issue, caregivers, and siblings; Final report of findings. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: A report to the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Liegghio, M.; Van Katwyk, T.; Pereira, N. & Sdao-Jarvie, K. (2012, August) . A mental health literacy program for frontline child and youth mental health professionals: The stigma of mental illness, facilitator’s guide. Mississauga, Ontario, Canada: Peel Children’s Centre.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2020 | GS/SOWK5913 3.0 | A | Contesting Children's 'Mental Health' | SEMR |
Keele Campus
4700 Keele Street, Toronto
ON Canada
M3J 1P3
(416) 736-2100