Maria del Mar Farina

I am an Associate Professor at Westfield State University Graduate Social Work Program, Adjunct Professor at Smith College School for Social Work, and Course Facilitator at Boston University, School of Social Work. In addition to my Doctoral and Master degrees in Clinical Social Work from Smith College, I hold a Masters in Business Administration from Western New England College.

My research area is in political psychology, with a focus on American immigration policy, immigrant integration, and contemporary rising sociopolitical ideologies in Europe and the United States--nationalism, nativism, populism, and white power groups discourse. I have presented my work in Europe, the United States and Canada, including at the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP), and Processes Influencing Democratic Ownership and Participation (PIDOP), part of the European Commission, under the Seventh Framework Programme. My most recent publications include two books, "Psychological Borders in Europe and the United States: Contemporary Nationalism, Nativism and Populism" (November, 2023), and "White Nativism, Ethnic Identity and U. S. Immigration Policy Reforms: American Citizenship and Children in Mixed Status, Hispanic Families" (2018).

My clinical social work experience has ranged from individual/family therapy with adults, children and college students in outpatient/inpatient and college settings, to supervision and program start up, development and management. I continue to maintain a clinical practice, working primarily with the Latinx and immigrant communities in Massachusetts and Connecticut.