Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work & Criminal Justice

Varner Hall Room 518
371 Varner Drive
Rochester , MI 48309-4482
(location map)
(248) 370-2420
fax: (248) 370-4608
[email protected]

Social Work
Varner, Room 513
371 Varner Dr.
Rochester, MI 48309-4482
(248) 370-2371
[email protected]

Kareen Tonsing

A headshot of Kareen Tonsing.

Associate Professor of Social Work
512B Varner
(248) 370-2756
[email protected]

Research interests

Immigration, mental health, domestic violence

Selected Publications

Tonsing, K.N. (first published online, 2020). Exploratory study of personal wellbeing of Burmese refugees in the United States. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work. doi:10.1080/15313204.2020.1827335.

Tonsing, K.N. & Vungkhanching, M. (2020). The relationship between post-migration living difficulties, social support and psychological distress of Burmese refugees in the United States. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 11(3), 179-186.

Tonsing, K.N., Tonsing, J.C., & Orbuch, T. (2020). Domestic violence, social support, coping and depressive symptomatology among South Asian women in Hong Kong. Journal of Loss and Trauma. First published online.

Tonsing, K.N. & Tonsing, J.C. (2019). Exploring South Asian women’s experiences of domestic violence and help-seeking within the sociocultural context in Hong Kong. Violence Against Women, 25(12), 1417-1432.

Tonsing, K.N. & Ghoh, C. (2019). Savings attitude and behavior in children participating in a matched savings program in Singapore. Journal of Child and Youth Services Review, 98, 17-23.

Tonsing, K.N. (2018). A review of mental health literacy in Singapore. Social Work in Health Care, 57(1), 27-47.

Tonsing, K.N. (2018). Instructor immediacy and statistics anxiety in social work undergraduate students. Social Work Education, 37(2): 223-233.

Tonsing, K.N. & Vungkhanching, M. (2018). Assessing psychological distress in cancer patients: The use of Distress Thermometer in an outpatient cancer/hematology treatment center. Social Work in Health Care, 57(2), 126-136.

Tonsing, K.N. & Ow, R. (Feb 2018). Quality of life, self-esteem, and future expectations of adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. Health & Social Work, 43(1), 15-21.

Courses Taught
SW 210 Introduction to Social Work
SW 310 Human Behavior in the Social Environment I
SW 311 Human Behavior in the Social Environment II
SW 3102 Foundations for Multicultural Social Work
SW 4103 Social Work Practice I
SOC 2010 Introduction to Methods of Social Research