Mary Ann Forgey

BA, MSW, Boston College

PhD, Columbia University

Intimate partner violence

Evidence based assessment

Military social work

International social work

Mary Ann Forgey is a Professor at Fordham University Graduate School of Social Work (GSSS) and has been a member of the Fordham faculty since 1993. She has taught a range of courses in the foundation and specialist area and developed Fordham’s first elective in military social work. Over the course of her career, she also served multiple terms on the University Faculty Senate and its Executive Committee, and from 2014-2015, she served as Senate President. 

Dr. Forgey’s practice and research interests include: military social work; international social work practice and education; intimate partner violence assessment; the use of standardized clients (actors) in social work education; social work and the law; and distance education. She served as the principal investigator on two multi-year research projects related to intimate partner violence within the military and most recently on an international comparison study of the roles of military social workers in multiple countries. As a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Forgey taught at the University College Dublin, Ireland and conducted joint research on intimate partner violence assessment practices in Ireland.  From 1999 to 2005 she served as the co-director of the Fordham Interdisciplinary Center for Family and Child Advocacy, a joint initiative between Fordham GSSS and the Law School. 

Dr. Forgey has presented her work on social work practice and education at national conferences and internationally in Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, and Vietnam. She organized the first roundtable conference on International Military Social Work held at West Point in 2019 and is a founding member and coordinator for the International Military Social Work Consortium, a group of uniformed and civilian military social work practitioners, educators and researchers from over 15 countries. She is the co-editor of “Military Social Work Around the Globe,” the first book published about military social work from an international perspective. 

Dr. Forgey’s practice experience includes employment as a civilian military social worker for the U.S. Army in Wiesbaden, Germany, where she served as Director of Army Community Services and Family Advocacy Program Manager. Prior to her work within the military she was a senior social worker in the Protective Services Unit of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services. Dr. Forgey received her BA and MSW from Boston College and her Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Forgey, M.A., He, K., & Cai, Y. (in press) Occupational social work: A field of practice in need of revival. Families in Society. 

Forgey, M.A. & Green-Hurdle, K. (eds.) (2023) Military Social Work Around the Globe. Military and Veteran Studies, Springer Nature: Cham, Switzerland. 

Forgey, M.A. & Green-Hurdle (2023). Developing global collaboration in military social work. In Forgey, M.A. & Green-Hurdle, K.(eds.), Military Social Work Around the Globe,  Military and Veteran Studies, Springer Nature: Cham, Switzerland. 

Forgey, M.A. & Green-Hurdle (2023). Strengthening military social work through a global understanding of practice similarities and differences. In Forgey, M.A. & Green-Hurdle, K.(eds.), Military Social Work Around the Globe,  Military and Veteran Studies, Springer Nature: Cham, Switzerland. 

Misca, G. & Forgey, M.A. (2017) The role of PTSD in bi-directional intimate partner violence in military and veteran populations: a research review. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1394, 1-8. 

Forgey, M.A. & Ortega-Williams, A. (2016). Teaching social work practice effectively online: Moving beyond can to how. Advances in Social Work. 17(1), 46-64. 

Forgey, M.A., & Young, S. (2014). Increasing military social work knowledge: An evaluation of learning outcomes. [Special Issue on Military Social Work] Journal of Health and Social Work, 39 (1) 7-15. 

Forgey, M.A., Allen, M. & Hansen, J. (2014). An exploration of the knowledge base used by Irish and US child welfare practitioners in the assessment of intimate partner violence. Journal of Evidence Based Social Work, 11, 1/2. 58-72. 

Forgey, M.A., Loughran, H., & Hansen, J. (2013). Employing video conferencing to introduce an international perspective in foundation social work practice. [Special Issue: Distance Learning and Online Education in Social Work]  Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 33, 4/5, 449-456. 

Forgey, M.A., Badger, L., Gilbert, T., Hansen, J. (2013). Using standardized clients to train social workers in intimate partner violence assessment. Journal of Social Work Education, 49(2) 293-306.

Forgey, M.A., Badger, L., Krase, K. (2011). The development of an evidence-based assessment protocol for intimate partner violence in the US Army. Journal of Evidence Based Social Work, 8 (3) 323-248.

Forgey, M.A. & Badger, L (2010). Patterns of intimate partner violence and associated risk factors among married enlisted female soldiers. Violence and Victims, 25(1) 45-61. 

Allen, M. & Forgey, M.A. (2007). Fuelling an unnecessary fire: Commentary on a national study of domestic abuse in Ireland. Administration, 55(4), 145-158.

Forgey, M.A. & Badger, L. (2006). Patterns of intimate partner violence among married women in the military. Journal of Family Violence, 21, 369-380. 

Colarossi, L. & Forgey, M.A. (2006). Interdisciplinary social work and law curriculum for domestic violence: An evaluation study. Journal of Social Work Education, 42(2), 371-387.

Forgey, M.A. & Colarossi, L. (2003). Interdisciplinary social work and law: A model domestic violence curriculum. Journal of Social Work Education, 39(3), 459-476.

Forgey, M.A., Cohen, C., & Chazin, R. (2003). Surviving translation: Teaching the essentials of foundation social work practice in Vietnam. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 23(1/2), 147-166.

Moynihan, A., Forgey, M.A. & Harris, D. (2001). Achieving justice: Parents and the child welfare system. Fordham Law Review, 70, 287-335. 

Forgey, M.A., & Orenstein, H. (2001). Case Management Working Group Report. Proceedings of the Fordham University Conference: Achieving Justice for Parents in the Child Welfare System. Fordham Law Review. 70, 363-368

Forgey, M.A., Cohen, C., Berger, S., & Chazin, R. (2000). Outsiders on the inside: Reflections on social work teaching in Vietnam. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 5, (1). 

Forgey, M.A., Moynihan, A., Strand, V. & Hill, L. (2000). The professional mandate for the use of  “strategic collaborations” by lawyers and social workers in child maltreatment/intimate partner violence cases. In R. Perez Koenig & B. Rock (Eds.), Social and Economic Justice: Devolution and Social Work Practice.  New York: Fordham University Press.

Forgey, M.A. (2000). Capitalizing on strengths; A resiliency enhancement prevention model for at-risk youth. In E. Norman (Ed.), Resiliency Enhancement: Putting the Strengths Perspective into Social Work Practice. Columbia University Press.

Forgey, M.A. (1999). Social work assessment in intimate partner violence; Integrating the empirical knowledge base. Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 24, (1) 3-16. 

Forgey, M.A., Schinke, S.P. & Cole, K. (1997).  School based interventions to prevent substance abuse among inner-city minority youth.  In D.K. Wilson, J.R. Rodriguez &W.C. Taylor (Eds.), Health Promoting and Health Compromising Behaviors among Minority Adolescents.  Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Schinke, S.P., Forgey, M.A. & Orlandi, M.A. (1996). Teenage sexuality. In B.A. Thayer & M. Mattaini (Eds.), Finding Solutions to Social Problems: Behavioral Strategies for Change. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Schinke, S.P., Orlandi, M.A., Forgey, M.A. et. al. (1992). Multicomponent school-based strategies to prevent HIV/STD among adolescents. Research on Social Work Practice, 2(3), 364-379.