This fall, the Wayne State School of Social Work welcomed Assistant Professor Jun Sung Hong to its faculty. Hong -- an expert on bullying, peer victimization, and school violence -- has conducted extensive research in the United States and South Korea.

Hong's research, which also examines interpersonal violence, child welfare and cultural competence in social work practice, has been published in major peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Adolescence, Children and Youth Services Review, International Social Work, Aggression and Violent Behavior, Educational Psychology Review, Journal of Child and Family Studies, and Child Psychiatry and Human Development. He was a Council on Social Work Education Minority fellow from 2009-10 and a 2010-11 Fulbright junior research scholar.

Hong is currently engaged in research to understand the pathways from school bullying to suicidality, as well as the link between peer victimization and substance abuse. He is particularly interested in bullying that occurs during the transition between elementary school and middle school, and bullying among Latino and Asian American youth.

Hong, who currently teaches a course on human behavior in the social environment, said he considers Wayne State and the city of Detroit "ideal avenues for enhancing our understanding of ethnically and socio-economically diverse children's experiences with school bullying and peer victimization.  I am also particularly drawn to the collaborative and supportive atmosphere of the faculty and students in the School of Social Work."

In addition to his position on the Wayne State School of Social Work faculty, Hong is consulting faculty to the Dasom Children and Youth Research Center of the Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. Before coming to Wayne State, Hong was a doctoral student and an adjunct lecturer in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Wayne State University is a premier institution offering more than 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 29,000 students.