Dr. Amy B. Smoyer is an Associate Professor with expertise in qualitative research methods, macro practice, and the structural determinants of health. Her social work practice began in the 1990s as a community organizer and housing advocate with communities impacted by HIV/AIDS in South Florida.
Dr. Smoyer earned her PhD at City University of New York and completed an NIH post-doctoral fellowship at the Yale School of Public Health. Prior to joining the Simmons University faculty, Dr. Smoyer was a tenured professor of Social Work at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT (2015–2025). She also worked as a Research Associate at the Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (2003–2013).
Dr. Smoyer's community-engaged practice and research includes ongoing collaboration with justice-involved women, community partners, and academics in New Haven (CT), Montgomery (AL), and Galicia, Spain. These partnerships seek to inform social work practice with incarcerated women by building knowledge about food justice in carceral settings, bladder health, HIV care and prevention, LGTBQ+ prison experiences, and re-entry housing insecurity. Dr. Smoyer is committed to engaging students in social work research and consistently includes undergraduate and graduate students on her research teams.
Research and Special Projects
2025: Principal Investigator. Women's Lived Experience of Incarceration in a Mixed-Gender Spanish Prison. Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.
2022–2025: Principal Investigator. Impact of COVID-19 Criminal-Legal Practices on HIV Risk among Women Who Use Drugs: A Multi-Methods Qualitative Exploration (1R15DA056285-01). NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Award: $425,000. Study website: www.theshawnproject.com
Select Publications
Smoyer, A. B. (2024). Impact of changes in criminal-legal practices during the COVID-19 pandemic on the HIV risk behaviors of women who use drugs: Protocol for a multimethods qualitative study. JMIR Research Protocols, 13, e58285. https://doi.org/10.2196/58285
Smoyer, A. B. & D’Angelo, K (2024). Anti-oppression pedagogy in action: The undergraduate research methods course. Journal of Social Work Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2024.2386297
Smoyer, A. B., Schwarz, P., Camenga, D., & Rickey, L. (2023). Negotiating toilet access: A qualitative exploration of women’s incarceration. The Prison Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/00328855231173146
Smoyer, A. B., Pittman, A., & Borzillo, P. (2023). Humans peeing: Justice-involved women’s access to toilets in public spaces. PLoS One, 18(3), e0282917. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282917
Smoyer, A. B., Ferris, S., & Earnshaw, V. (2022). Incarcerated people living with HIV: A qualitative exploration of stigma. Health & Social Work, 47(4), 274-283. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlac020
Smoyer, A. B., Divita, D., & Perrault, A. (2021). Masculine embodiment among sexual minorities in a women’s prison. Australian Social Work 74(2), 172-185. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2020.1850818
Smoyer, A. B., Keene, D., Oyola, M., & Hampton, A. (2021). Ping-pong housing: Women’s post-incarceration trajectories. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 36(3), 336-356. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109920954416
Smoyer, A. B. (2020). Taking Social Work undergraduates inside: The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. Journal of Social Work Education, 56(1), 186-192. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2019.1648223
Keene, D., Smoyer, A.B., & Blankenship, K. (2018). Stigma, housing and identity after prison. The Sociological Review, 66 (4), 799-815. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038026118777447
Smoyer, A.B. & Lopes, G. (2017). Hungry on the inside: Food as concrete and symbolic punishment in a women’s prison. Punishment & Society, 19 (2), 240-255. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474516665605
Smoyer, A.B. (2015). Feeding relationships: Food and social networks in a women’s prison. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 30 (1), 26-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109914537490
Select Presentations
Smoyer, A. B. (2025, October). Vilomah: Experiences of maternal grief and loss among justice-involved women who use drugs. Paper at Annual Program Meeting for CSWE: Council on Social Work Education. Denver, CO.
Smoyer, A. B. & Ziemba, E. (2025, June). Impact of harm reduction principles on group work with BSW research assistants: A process evaluation. Paper at 2025 Conference of International Association for Social Work with Groups: Virtual
Smoyer, A. B. (2024, October). Engaging social work undergraduates in research through experiential learning: The SHAWN Project. Paper at the Annual Program Meeting for CSWE: Council on Social Work Education. Kansas City, MO.
Smoyer, A. B. (2024, October). Planting & tending: Integrating wisdom from Braiding Sweetgrass into social work research curriculum. Poster at the Annual Program Meeting for CSWE: Council on Social Work Education. Kansas City, MO.
Smoyer, A. B. (2024, May). HIV risk among justice-involved women who use drugs: Lessons from COVID. Paper at 36th National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS. Orlando, FL.
Smoyer, A. B. (2024, March). Women’s lived experience of incarceration in a mixed-gender Spanish prison. Paper at the European Society of Criminology Prison Working Group: Oslo, Norway.
Smoyer, A. B., Malcein, J., Massaquoi, M., Morrison, S., Worth, S., & Ziemba, E. (2023, November). Criminal legal systems and women’s HIV risk behavior during COVID-19. Paper at Annual Meeting of American Society of Criminology (ASC): Philadelphia, PA.
Smoyer, A. B. & Ruff, N. (2023, May). Community-engaged research: Everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask! Pre-conference workshop session presented at the 35th National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS. Washington D.C.
Smoyer, A. B. Jones, E., Mahon, S., Massaquoi, M., Worth, S., Yaser, S. & Ziemba, E. (2023, March). HIV Risk & COVID: Engaging BSW Undergraduates in Collaborative Community-Based Research with Justice-Involved Women. Workshop presented at The Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors Annual Meeting: Birmingham, AL.