My lab examines relationships among regulatory systems and their impacts on low-income mothers’ economic security, reproductive health, and criminal justice involvement. As an interdisciplinary feminist psychologist, I am especially interested in how dominant ideologies about race, gender, class, and sexuality are embedded within policies and institutional practices that disproportionately affect poor women of color and their families. Intersections between the welfare system, the criminal legal system, the healthcare system, and the family policing system are a central focus. Utilizing qualitative methodologies, my research fundamentally seeks to advance reproductive justice, which envisions a world in which all people can make decisions about their health, bodies, and parenting free from state surveillance, coercion, and punishment.
My research has received funding from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS), and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI).
Publications
Singh, M.R. (under review). Institutionalized surveillance and policing of women’s bodies. In H.E. Bullock & E. L. Zurbriggen (Eds.), The handbook of feminist political psychology. DeGruyter.
Stevenson, M.C., Ravipati, V.M., Singh, M.R., & Schaefer, C.T. (2025). Workplace violence and patient suffering amid the COVID-19 pandemic uniquely predict nurses’ compassion fatigue. Traumatology. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000577
Bullock, H.E. & Singh, M.R. (2023). Toward an intersectional understanding of gender, power, and poverty. In E. L. Zurbriggen and R. Capdevila (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of power, gender, and psychology (pp. 151-172). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41531-9_10
Singh, M.R. & Bullock, H.E. (2020). An intersectional analysis of newspaper portrayals of the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 6, 344-355. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000255
Bullock, H.E., Reppond, H.A., Truong, S.V., & Singh, M.R. (2020). An intersectional analysis of the feminization of homelessness and mothers’ housing precarity. Journal of Social Issues, 76, 835-858. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12406
Ryan, D.A., Singh, M.R., Hentschke, E.A., & Bullock, H.E. (2018). “Minding the gap:” Social psychological insights for strengthening interclass relations and advancing economic justice,” Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 4, 187-197. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000158
Reports
Singh, M. R., Ryan, D. A., & Bullock, H. E. (2022, June). “A Circle of Vulnerability:” Housing Challenges Facing UCSC Student Parents. Center for Economic Justice and Action. https://online.fliphtml5.com/mtnrt/rhwy/#p=1
Singh, M. R., Ryan, D. A., & Bullock, H. E. (2022, June). “Sink or Swim:” Graduate Students’ Experiences with the University and County Rental Market. Center for Economic Justice and Action. https://online.fliphtml5.com/mtnrt/gpim/#p=1
Ryan, D. A., Singh, M. R., & Bullock, H. E. (2021, February). Student Housing Insecurity and Catalysts to Seeking Assistance: An Analysis of Slug Support Case Notes. Center for Economic Justice and Action. https://online.fliphtml5.com/mtnrt/rnwr/#p=1
Singh, M. R., Toolis, E. E., & Bullock, H. E. (2020, October). Struggling to Make Ends Meet: Low-Income Students’ Experiences Navigating the Off-Campus Housing Market in Santa Cruz. Center for Economic Justice and Action.
Melina Singh, PhD 