Research

I have spent over a decade in higher education teaching and doing research. I am an interdisciplinary scholar who pulls from public administration, human services, psychology, and neuroscience to understand interactions that occur between individuals and the public servants who implement public policy.

I have been especially interested in interactions that occur within an organization or between individuals with disparate amounts of power (teacher/student, public servant/individual, boss/worker, parent/child, etc).

Research Agenda

I’m fascinated by all the things that happen when people encounter each other; not the actual encounter itself (like the words, environment, resolution, etc) but more the in-betweens of the encounter, including what each person brings to an encounter (nervous system state, past trauma, etc), how they experience it, and the lasting impact.

My research primarily focuses on interactions that occur within an organization or between individuals with disparate amounts of power (for example: teacher/student, public servant/individual, boss/worker, parent/child, etc).

I’ve explored specific contexts of interactions; for instance interactions between public servants and children, interactions with public servants and unaccompanied migrant children; police departments interacting with their communities, and more.

I’ve also explored a number of methods or tools to support interactions; for instance, social media, empathy, curiosity.

My work is currently focused on exploring dynamics that mediate our interactions, by acting as intervening factors between the inputs and outputs of an interaction.

My CV →

Google Scholar →

Recent Publications

Here are some of the works I am most proud of. If you would like to read something and can’t access it because it is behind a paywall, send me an email and I will get it to you.

Year	Publication Details
(2024)	Edlins, Mariglynn. “Exploring the Role of Felt Experience and the Autonomic Nervous System in Human Service Interactions,” Journal of Health and Human Services. (forthcoming).
2021/2019	Edlins, Mariglynn. “Developing a Model of Empathy for Public Administration,” Administrative Theory and Praxis. (online).
2019	Larrison, Jennica and Edlins, Mariglynn. "Exploring the Responsibilities of Street-Level Bureaucrats through the Perspectives of Unaccompanied Migrant Youth and their Sponsors" International Journal of Public Administration. (online).
2019	Larrison, Jennica and Edlins, Mariglynn. “Navigating the Immigration Process Alone: Unaccompanied Minors Experiences in the United States” in Sirkeci, Ibrahim, Isik Kulu-Glasgow, and Monika Smit, eds., Unaccompanied Children from Migration to Integration. Transnational Press London, 2019, (online).
2018	Edlins, Mariglynn and Larrison, Jennica. “Street-Level Bureaucrats and the Governance of Unaccompanied Migrant Children,” Public Policy and Administration, (online).
2018	Edlins, Mariglynn and Dolamore, Stephanie. “Ready to Serve the Public? The Role of Empathy in Public Service Education Programs,” Journal of Public Affairs Education, Vol 24, Issue 4, (online).
2018	Dolamore, Stephanie and Edlins, Mariglynn. “Storytelling from Public Records: Finding Empathy in the Days Following the 2015 Unrest in Baltimore City,” Public Voices, Issue XV-2, (online).
2017	Larrison, Jennica and Edlins, Mariglynn. “Activating Agency and Discretion: Identifying Factors Affecting the Interactions Between Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Public Servants,” International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, Vol 3, No. 4, p. 308-327, (online).
2016	Edlins, Mariglynn and Brainard, Lori. “Pursuing the Promises of Social Media? Changes in Adoption and Usage of Social Media by the Top 10 U.S. Police Departments,” Information Polity, Vol 21, No. 2, pp. 171-188, (online)
2015	Edlins, Mariglynn. “Devil, Hero or Sleeping Beauty? The Making of Orphan Myths and Public Administration,” Public Voices. Vol XIV, No. 2 (2015), p. 66-83. (online).
2014	Brainard, Lori and Edlins, Mariglynn. “Top 10 U.S. Municipal Police Departments and Their Social Media Usage,” American Review of Public Administration. Vol 45, Issue 6, p. 728-745 (online).
2013	Edlins, Mariglynn. “Administration Without Consideration: Public Administration’s Oversight of Children.” Administrative Theory and Praxis. Vol 35, No. 4 (December 2013), p. 530-552. (online).