Laura S. Abrams is dean of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and is David Lawrence Stein/Violet Goldberg Sachs Professor of Mental Health. Abrams is a nationally recognized scholar, educator and leader in the field of social welfare. Abrams comes to USC after having served as a professor in the Department of Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

At the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Abrams served as Chair of the Department of Social Welfare from 2017 to 2024, where she led efforts to strengthen the department’s focus on equity-centered teaching, faculty development and policy-relevant research.

Abrams’ research addresses the experiences of youth and adults impacted by incarceration, with emphasis on identity development, reentry and racial justice. She has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and several influential books, including Compassionate Confinement and Everyday Desistance, which examine the lived experiences of incarcerated youth. She is co-editor of The International Handbook of Youth Imprisonment and The Voluntary Sector in Prisons, and leads cross-national studies on the juvenile legal system, reentry and imprisonment.

Her most recent book, Young Black Changemakers and the Road to Racial Justice, examines how Black youth in Los Angeles engage in civic and political life as a response to systemic racism. The book highlights the innovative, justice-driven strategies young people are using to transform their communities and reimagine a more equitable future.

Abrams is also principal investigator of the first-ever national study of Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP), funded by the Arnold Ventures Foundation. This groundbreaking project examines the legal, social and developmental dimensions of life sentences for youth across the United States, with the goal of informing more humane and just sentencing practices.

A committed public scholar, Abrams has served as an expert witness in juvenile legal proceedings and has provided testimony to lawmakers on youth sentencing, reentry and alternatives to incarceration.

She is a prominent leader in the social work profession. Abrams currently serves as Vice President of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW), where she was elected a Fellow in 2019 — the first woman from UCLA to receive this distinction. She previously served as Vice President of the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE) and as President of the California Association of Deans and Directors of Social Work Programs (CADD), where she played a key role in advocating for increased state investment in MSW student funding and workforce development.

Her recognitions include the UCLA Chancellor’s Public Impact Research Award (2021) and the Frances Lomas Feldman Excellence in Research Award (2025), reflecting her longstanding commitment to justice, education and social impact.

Abrams earned a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and both an MSW and PhD in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley.