Marybeth Shinn has research interests in homelessness, community contexts of human welfare, social policy, and social intervention. She is a former President of the Society for Community Research and Action and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, a fellow of both these organizations and of the Association for Psychological Science, and a former Chair of the Council of Community Psychology Program Directors. She also chaired the Psychology Department at New York University.
Professor Shinn has received several awards for her teaching and research, including the Golden Dozen Teaching Award from New York University (2002), Ethnic/Minority Mentoring Award from the Society for Community Research and Action (1997), and the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Theory and Research from the Society for Community Research and Action (1996). She has also served on the National Institute of Mental Health Child/Adolescent Risk and Prevention Review Committee, and twice served as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Community Psychology.