Phumlile Mabila
Doctoral Student
About
Phumlile Mabila holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the Eswatini Medical Christian University, where she received the Deans’ Award for being the best student in social work. Recently, she earned her Master of Social Work degree with a Justice Systems specialization at UIC’s Jane Addams College of Social Work as a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. During this time, she interned at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, where she provided trauma-informed counseling to people affected by gun and community violence and co-developed staff wellness initiatives to address burnout. Mabila also worked as a research assistant under the mentorship of former Jane Addams Assistant Professor Michelle-Ann Rhoden-Neita, contributing to papers on racial trauma, child welfare policy, and community violence.
In the south African country of Eswatini, she worked extensively with vulnerable populations - particularly out-of-school youth, women and children, and community caregivers. As a volunteer social worker with the municipal council of Mbabane, Mabila collaborated with multiple agencies to support marginalized youth and their families. She played a key role in educating and sensitizing care workers across community child care centers on the newly implemented Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act. She also coordinated community-based programs addressing mental health awareness and food insecurity around low income communities.
Her work is enriched by a multinational perspective shaped by her diverse lived experiences across various systems. She is a strong advocate for early intervention and prevention-focused youth work. Her research interests lie in examining the structural and institutional contributions to community violence. She is particularly interested in the efficacy of violence prevention programs and policies, focusing on how well they address systemic inequalities and reduce justice system involvement among adolescents in high-risk communities. Mabila is passionate about identifying impactful practices and policy solutions. She envisions adapting effective violence prevention programs to contexts like Eswatini, combining her international experience with rigorous research to design evidence-based, culturally responsive interventions.