Dr. Emily Smith (also known as Dr. Emily Smith-Greenaway) has written and spoken extensively about structural violence and its impact on children, including how it relates to literacy, though her work often connects these themes through broader discussions of health, social inequality, and systemic barriers.
Structural violence, as Dr. Smith describes, refers to systemic and often invisible barriers that prevent individuals, especially children, from accessing resources essential for survival and thriving, such as healthcare, quality education, and safe environments. She illustrates this concept by highlighting disparities in child health outcomes, using examples such as access to medical care for life-threatening conditions in different countries, and explicitly names these inequities as structural violence.
While much of Dr. Smith’s published research focuses on child mortality, bereavement, and health disparities, she also addresses the role of literacy—particularly maternal literacy—in shaping children’s life chances. In her academic work, she has demonstrated that maternal reading skills are closely linked to child survival and well-being, especially in low-resource settings. This research underscores how structural barriers to education (such as poverty, gender inequality, and systemic racism) can have cascading effects on children’s health, cognitive development, and ultimately, their literacy outcomes.
For example, in her studies on Nigeria, Dr. Smith-Greenaway found that mothers’ reading skills were a significant factor in reducing child mortality, emphasizing that access to education and literacy is not just an academic issue, but a matter of life and death for children in marginalized communities. This finding can be extrapolated to the U.S. context, where structural violence—manifested through underfunded schools, segregated neighborhoods, and discriminatory policies—limits children’s access to quality literacy instruction and resources.
In her book The Science of the Good Samaritan, Dr. Smith also discusses how historical practices like redlining have created lasting disparities in neighborhood wealth and educational opportunities, which directly affect children’s access to literacy resources. She points out that these systemic inequities are not relics of the past but continue to shape children’s educational experiences and outcomes today.
Through her books and public speaking, Dr. Smith emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical and systemic roots of these disparities. She advocates for a “both-and” approach: providing immediate support (such as donating to food banks or sponsoring children) while also working to change the underlying structures that perpetuate inequality, including those that impact children’s literacy.
“Epidemiology is the science of the Good Samaritan… it’s a science of quantifying who is most at need so that we don’t walk by.”
—Dr. Emily Smith
In summary, Dr. Emily Smith frames structural violence as a key factor in children’s literacy outcomes, both globally and in the U.S. She highlights how systemic inequities in education, health, and neighborhood resources create barriers that hinder children’s ability to learn to read and thrive. Her work calls for both compassionate action and systemic change to dismantle these barriers and promote equity in childhood literacy.