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Rob Whitley

Rob WhitleyRob Whitley is Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School and adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College. He is trained as a medical anthropologist with considerable experience working with various marginalized and minority populations in urban settings across the globe. Dr. Whitley was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by King’s College London (Institute of Psychiatry) after an in-depth ethnographic case study of people from diverse backgrounds living with mental illness in a deprived inner-London neighborhood. He then conducted post-doctoral research at McGill University, examining the psychosocial and healthcare experience of low-income Montreal women by age and ethno-cultural status.

Since 2005, he has been Research Assistant Professor at Dartmouth Medical School. He is principal investigator on a National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research funded five-year study of recovery among low-income African-Americans with severe mental illness in Washington DC. This study is being conducted in partnership with colleagues at Howard University. He is principal investigator of a study of homelessness and community integration amongst people with severe mental illness in New York City, this study being funded by Columbia Center for Homelessness Prevention Studies and conducted in partnership with Pathways to Housing Inc. He is also principal investigator of a participatory-research study of health and health care among the rural homeless in Northern New Hampshire, conducted in partnership with Tri-County Community Action Projects Homeless Program, funded by the Dartmouth Center for Clinical and Translational Research.

Dr. Whitley is a consultant on various other projects nationally and internationally. He has consulted with colleagues on cultural competence in mental health care at the Nathan Kline Institute, NY. He has also consulted with Thresholds Psychiatric Rehabilitation Agency on various projects in Chicago, leading a study of health behaviors and mental health. He is a consultant on a Canadian Institute of Health Research funded study of resiliency among Aboriginal people in Canada. He has conducted research in both Jamaica and Ethiopia on mental health and health-care in low-income countries, continuing to collaborate with colleagues at the University of the West Indies and the University of Addis Ababa. He also continues to work with colleagues at King’s College London on various projects.

In 2009, Dr Whitley is teaching Anthro 17- Anthropology of Health and Illness, and also conducting various workshops throughout the year on research design, execution, analysis and dissemination. Dr Whitley is delighted to hear from motivated students desirous of conducting undergraduate or graduate projects related to medical anthropology. When not conducting research or ruminating on anthropology; Dr Whitley enjoys cricket, soccer, swimming, chess, reading and writing. Dr Whitley is also a lay theologian, speaking and writing regularly on the interface of science (social and physical) and religion.

Recent Publications

  • Whitley R (in press) Mastery of mothering skills and satisfaction with associated health services: a socio-cultural study. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry.
  • Whitley R (in press) Introducing psychiatrists to qualitative research: a guide for instructors. Academic Psychiatry
  • Bond G R, Drake R E, McHugo G J, Rapp C A & Whitley R (in press) Strategies for improving fidelity in the National Evidence-Based Practices Project. Research on Social Work Practice.
  • Anbesse B, Hanlon C, Alem A, Packer S & Whitley R. (in press) Migration and mental health: a study of low-income Ethiopian women working in middle-eastern countries. International Journal of Social Psychiatry.
  • Arthur C, Hickling F W, Robertson-Hickling H, Gibson R & Whitley R (in press) Mad, sick, head nuh good: mental illness in Jamaican Communities. Transcultural Psychiatry.
  • Strickler D, Whitley R, Becker D & Drake R (in press) First person accounts of long-term employment activity among people with dual diagnosis. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal.
  • Whitley R (2009) The implications of race and ethnicity for shared decision making. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 32: 227-230
  • Whitley, R., Gingerich, S., Lutz, W., & Mueser K T (2009) Facilitators and Barriers to the Implementation of the Illness Management and Recovery Program in Community Mental Health Settings.  Psychiatric Services 60: 202-9
  • Mancini, A., Moser, L, Whitley R, McHugo G, Bond G, Finnerty M & Burns B (2009) Assertive Community Treatment: Facilitators and Barriers to Implementation in Routine Mental Health Settings. Psychiatric Services 60: 189-9
  • Drake R E, Wilkniss S, Frounfelker R, Whitley R Zipple A M, McHugo G J & Bond G R (2009) The Thresholds-Dartmouth partnership and research on shared decision making. Psychiatric Services 60: 142-4
  • Whitley R and Kirmayer L J (2008) Perceived stigmatization of young mothers: an exploratory study of psychological and social experience. Social Science and Medicine 66: 339-348
  • Whitley R, Harris M, and Drake R E (2008) Safety and security in small-scale recovery housing for people with severe mental illness: an inner-city case study. Psychiatric Services 59: 165-9
  • Whitley R, Harris M, Fallot R D and Wolfson-Berley R (2008) The active ingredients of intentional recovery communities:  Focus group evaluation. Journal of Mental Health 17: 173-182
  • Whitley R, Harris M & Anglin J. (2008) Refuge or rehabilitation? Assessing the development of a Women’s Empowerment Center for people with Severe Mental Illness. Community Mental Health Journal 44: 253-60
  • Whitley R and Green S (2008) Psychosocial stressors and buffers affecting Black Women in Montreal. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health 27: 37-48
  • Whitley R (2008) Postmodernity and mental health. Harvard Review of Psychiatry 16: 352-64
  • Whitley R (2008) Is psychiatry a religion? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.101: 579-82
  • Whitley, R. and Drake, R.E. (2008). How Do Clients Obtain Mental Health Information? Commentary on "Consumer Perspectives on Information and Other Inputs to Decision-Making: Implications for Evidence-Based Practice". Community Mental Health Journal 44: 457-8
  • Woltmann E, Whitley R, McHugo G, Brunette M, Torrey W, Coots L & Drake R. (2008) The role of team turnover in implementation of evidence-based practices in mental health. Psychiatric Services 59: 732-7
  • Shiner B, Whitley R, Van Citters A, & Bartels S. (2008) Learning what matters for patients:  Qualitative analysis of a health promotion program for those with serious mental illness. Health Promotion International 23: 275-82
  • Marty D, Rapp C, McHugo G & Whitley R (2008) Factors Influencing Consumer Outcome Monitoring in Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices:  Results from the National EBP Implementation Project. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research 35: 204-11
  • Bond G R, McHugo G, Becker D R, Rapp C A and Whitley R. (2008) Fidelity of supported employment: lessons learned from the National Evidence-Based Practice Project. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 31: 300-5
  • Rapp C A, Etzel-Wise D, Marty D, Coffman M, Carlson L, Asher D, Callaghan J and Whitley R (2008) Evidence-Based Practice Implementation Strategies: Results of a Qualitative Study. Community Mental Health Journal 44: 213-24
  • Brunette, M.F., Asher, D., Whitley, R. et al. (2008) Implementation of integrated dual disorder treatment: A qualitative analysis of facilitators and barriers. Psychiatric Services 59: 989-95
  • Whitley R and Hickling F (2007) Open papers, Open Minds? Media representations of psychiatric deinstitutionalization in Jamaica.  Transcultural Psychiatry 44: 659-71
  • Whitley R (2007) Cultural competence, evidence-based medicine and evidence-based practices. Psychiatric Services 58: 1588-90
  • Whitley R (2007) Mixed-methods studies. Journal of Mental Health 16: 697-701
  • Whitley R (2007) Social capital and public health- qualitative and ethnographic approaches. In Kawachi I Subramanian S V & Kim, D (Eds.)  Social Capital and     Health (pp95-115) Springer. New York.
  • Woltmann E and Whitley R (2007) The Role of Staffing Stability in the Implementation of Integrated Dual Disorders Treatment: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Mental Health 16: 757-69
  • McHugo G J, Drake R E, Whitley R et al (2007) Fidelity Outcomes in the National Implementing Evidence-Based Practices Project. Psychiatric Services 58: 1279-84
  • Becker D, Whitley R, Drake R and Bailey E (2007) Long-term employment trajectories among supported employment participants with severe mental illness. Psychiatric Services 58: 922-8
  • Whitley R, Kirmayer, LJ, and Groleau D (2006) Public pressure, private protest:  Illness narratives of West Indian immigrants in Montreal with medically unexplained symptoms.  Anthropology & Medicine, 13, 193-205
  • Whitley R, Kirmayer LJ and Groleau D (2006) Understanding immigrants' reluctance to use mental health services:  A qualitative study from Montreal. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 51: 205-209
  • Whitley R and Prince M (2006) Can urban regeneration programmes assist coping and recovery for people with mental illness?  Suggestions from a qualitative case study. Health Promotion International, 21: 19-26
  • Whitley R (2006) An ethnographic study of social capital and mental health in Gospel Oak, London, UK. In McKenzie K and Harpham T (eds.) Social Capital and     Mental Health (pp71-85). Jessica Kingsley, London.
  • Whitley R, Prince, M., McKenzie, K., & Stewart, R. (2006) Exploring the ethnic density effect:  A qualitative study of a London electoral ward. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 52, 376-391
  • Parissis, M., Whitley R., & Ward, A. (2006) Predictors of engagement in psychodynamic psychotherapy deriving from pre-assessment questionnaires. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, 20, 281-296
  • Whitley R and Prince M (2005) Fear of crime, mobility and mental health in inner-city London, UK. Social Science and Medicine 61: 1678-1688
  • Whitley R and Prince M (2005) Is there a link between rates of common mental disorder and deficits in social capital in Gospel Oak, London? Results from a qualitative study. Health and Place 11: 237-248
  • Whitley R, Prince M and Cargo M (2005) Thinking Inside the Bubble: Evidence for a New Contextual Unit in Urban Mental Health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 59: 893-897
  • Whitley R and Crawford M (2005) Qualitative Research in Psychiatry. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 50: 108-114
  • Whitley R and McKenzie K (2005) Social Capital and Psychiatry-Review of the Literature. Harvard Review of Psychiatry 13: 71-84
  • Whitley R and Prince M (2005) Are inner-cities bad for your health? Comparisons of residents’ and third-parties’ perceptions of the urban neighbourhood of Gospel Oak, London. Sociology of Health and Illness 27: 44-67
  • Jarvis G E, Kirmayer L J, Jarvis G K, and Whitley R (2005) The role of Afro-Canadian status in police or ambulance referral to emergency psychiatric services. Psychiatric Services 56: 705-10

Last Updated: 2/23/09