Research Expertise

• HIV/STD prevention for high-risk youth

Background

Professor Naomi Farber joined the faculty of the College of Social Work in 1998, where she is also the MSW program coordinator. Prior to joining the University of South Carolina, Farber was an assistant professor at the Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.

Farber was co-principal investigator of a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)/National Institute of Health (NIH), Office on AIDS-funded research award for a five-year study on creating a multi-level HIV/STD prevention strategy for high-risk youth. Later research created a social network pilot study for African-American and other high-risk adolescent Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) and behavioral assessment.

Farber has authored two books on adolescent pregnancy. Her most recent publication, Adolescent Pregnancy: Past, Present and Future Trends and Issues (MDPI, 2016) examines insights and findings associated with the recent decline in worldwide adolescent pregnancy and childbearing. Farber previously authored, Adolescent Pregnancy: Policy, Programs and Prevention Services, 2^nd Edition (Springer Press, 2009), which provided information for social workers on identifying pregnancy risk levels in adolescents, STI and HIV/AIDS prevention strategies, and pregnancy prevention programs. She has also co-authored scientific journal articles on topics including, benefits of group and individual prenatal care and the effects on psychosocial outcomes, perceived difficulties of performing selected HIV/AIDS preventative behaviors, and HIV/STI risk among African-American adolescents based on neighborhood conditions, geographic location and family formation among low-income women. Farber’s publications have been featured in scholarly journals, such as Social Service Review, the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, and AIDS and Behavior.      

Farber is currently a faculty affiliate of the college’s Institute for Families in Society and a member of the Research Consortium on Children and Families. She is also a board member of the Foster Care Review Board of South Carolina.

Farber received her Master of Social Work with a concentration in interpersonal practice in health settings from the University of Michigan School of Social Work. She earned her Ph.D. with a combined policy and clinical concentration from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.