Studies in Social Justice: South Ph.D. Student Focuses on At-Risk Youths

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Posted on January 24, 2022

Thomas Becnel

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The University of South Alabama is running a series beginning Martin Luther King Jr. Day that focuses on South students, employees and alumni who are advancing Dr. King鈥檚 vision in six areas 鈥� poverty, jobs and wages, housing, education, justice and peace. Today鈥檚 story is on justice. 

Kim Pusey, a Ph.D. student in clinical and counseling psychology, is writing a dissertation that will explore different categories of juvenile offenders based on intelligence, personality and childhood trauma.

Her master鈥檚 thesis, a South nominee for the Council of Southern Graduate Schools Thesis Contest, examined the influence of racial and crime stereotypes on verdicts and death penalty recommendations.

Pusey鈥檚 interest in social justice dates back to her education at Dr. Michael Krop Senior High School north of Miami. As the daughter of Jamaican immigrants living in a diverse community, she wondered why some students were headed off to college, while others wound up incarcerated or worse.

One of her classmates was Trayvon Martin.

He was the 17-year-old Florida student shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a Neighborhood Watch volunteer, who was later acquitted by a jury of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The 2013 trial drew national attention to Martin鈥檚 hooded jacket and Zimmerman鈥檚 鈥淪tand Your Ground鈥� defense for shooting an unarmed person.

For Pusey, 25, the case was a wake-up call.

鈥淚 grew up under the false impression that racism was a thing of the past, we鈥檙e not doing that anymore, we鈥檙e good,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen the trial came about, and there was no justice, that changed my perception of race and racism and what鈥檚 going on in the country. That was the biggest turning point for me. I decided I needed to do my part in some way. Part of my work, part of the research I do, is in service of trying to make things better for little black and brown kids.鈥�

Pusey and Martin weren鈥檛 close friends. More like friends of friends who鈥檇 share lunch and see each other in passing.

鈥淗e was cool, a sweet kid, just like any other kid who went to my school,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was devastating to know he could be killed, and nothing would be done about it. I could see how Black Lives Matter emerged from that. I remember thinking that my life, the lives of my friends, the lives of my cousins, they didn鈥檛 matter. That means there鈥檚 a lot of work to be done.鈥�

Pusey chose the University of South Alabama for graduate school because the Mobile Juvenile Court Collaborative, a partnership which began in 2008, gave her the opportunity to work with at-risk youths. That鈥檚 been her focus. She鈥檇 like it to become her career.

Dr. Tres Stefurak, professor of counseling psychology and associate dean in the College of Education and Professional Studies, is Pusey鈥檚 adviser and mentor. She鈥檚 worked for him as a psychologist-in-training at the Strickland Youth Center, a juvenile detention facility in Mobile, providing mental health services.

鈥淚鈥檝e watched her get horribly traumatized teenagers to open up to her,鈥� Stefurak said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 very unassuming. She doesn鈥檛 try to control people. If you鈥檝e been through a lot of things, that makes you feel comfortable, because you don鈥檛 feel like that person is a threat.

鈥淪he鈥檚 one of the most authentic people we鈥檝e had in the program. She鈥檚 open, transparent, and she always puts clients at ease.鈥�

Pusey is more interested in clinical services than academic research, but she won recognition with her master鈥檚 thesis. It involved surveying prospective jurors about the details of a mock trial vignette in which the race of the offender and type of crime committed were manipulated. Her work will be recognized at the Spring Graduate Research Forum in March.

鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 choose the easy route,鈥� Stefurak said. 鈥淎 lot of times, for a thesis, we allow students to do easier projects with existing data, but she was adamant about developing her own idea and methods. What she chose is something I鈥檝e not done a lot of work in, so she was kind of leading me into that territory.鈥�

Miami, Tampa and Mobile

Pusey (pronounced 鈥減ew-zee鈥�) grew up in South Florida.

Both of her parents are from Jamaica. Her father worked in real estate before retiring, while her mother is a psychiatric nurse. She has little or no accent, but Jamaican phrases will sneak into her conversations. She 鈥減lugs out鈥� electronic devices, for instance, rather than unplugging them.

In high school, Pusey won a state poetry contest with an entry called 鈥渟cribble On Me and Make Me Yours.鈥� She also taught herself computer coding.  At the University of South Florida in Tampa, she studied psychology with a minor in creative writing.

At South, with classes, counseling and work on her dissertation, Pusey hasn鈥檛 had much free time. She doesn鈥檛 see many movies. Only recently did she watch 鈥淕ood Will Hunting,鈥� the 1997 Oscar-winner about a therapist counseling a troubled young genius.

In Mobile, Pusey has been to a Mardi Gras ball, and enjoys tumbling and roller skating. After completing her dissertation this spring, she plans to do a year-long internship. She鈥檚 applied to programs across the country.

鈥淢y time in Mobile is coming to an end,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 very sad, actually.鈥�

Career in Counseling

In three years at South, Pusey has gotten training and practical experience. Sometimes she鈥檒l do 20 hours of counseling a week. She鈥檚 still learning her craft.

鈥淚t still feels new; I still get nervous,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 want to help my clients. I want the very best for them.鈥�

Pusey says she鈥檚 more comfortable listening than talking. She loves to hear about the lives of people who come to her.

Developing professional detachment is one of the challenges for young counselors.

鈥淲hen I come away from a client, I take pieces of their story home with me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think about my clients. I think about them when they鈥檙e not my clients. Self-care is a big way to make sure I don鈥檛 feel too much of the burdens of my job.鈥�

This spring, Pusey will find out where she鈥檚 going for her year-long internship. After that, she鈥檚 not sure. She thinks one day she might return to Florida.

She鈥檚 enjoyed her academic work at the University of South Alabama, but doesn鈥檛 think she鈥檚 interested in a career in teaching or research. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I have the zeal for scientific work that I see in academics here,鈥� Pusey said. 鈥淢y zeal, my passion, is for people. I want to work on a multidisciplinary team. I want to be doing therapy, assessment and consultation. And I鈥檓 hoping to work with system-involved and justice-involved youths and families. That鈥檚 the dream.鈥�

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