Raymond Monsour Scurfield

Dr. Raymond Monsour Scurfield, born 1943, is professor of social work at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast. He has been recognized internationally for his expertise in war-related trauma. He has numerous published books and articles exploring the effects of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in both combat veterans and disaster survivors, including a trilogy of books about war’s impact. The trilogy’s third instalment, "War Trauma: Lessons Unlearned from Vietnam to Iraq", was published in October 2006.

Scurfield has also written about the impact of Hurricane Katrina, and helpful interventions to address post-Katrina mental health recovery. Scurfield has been recognized as the 2006 Mississippi Social Worker of the Year by the Mississippi Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, and has received the 2006 and 2007 College of Health Distinguished Teaching Awards.

Dr. Scurfield holds a doctorate in psychiatric clinical social work from the University of Southern California (1979). He is a past director of psychiatric treatment for the Post Traumatic Stress Treatment Program at the American Lakes Veterans Administration Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington.

Background

Scurfield is the son Helen Monsour and his adoptive father Thomas Edward Scurfield. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 3, 1943, but raised in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, about 16 miles outside of Pittsburgh. In 1961 Scurfield enrolled at Dickinson College in Carlise, Pennsylvania. While at Dickinson, he enrolled in Army ROTC. While at Dickinson College he decided that he wanted to become a social worker and he applied to Schools of Social Work. Upon graduation from Dickinson College in 1965, Scurfield was simultaneously commissioned in the Army Medical Service Corps. In the summer of 1965 Scurfield arrived in Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California. This placed Scurfield me right next to where the Watts riots happened. Scurfield has stated that his exposure to urban poverty and racism was a very important learning experience.

Scurfield spent four years in the Army, starting off as outpatient clinic social workers at William Beaumont General Hospital in El Paso, Texas. Complaining about his duty assignment in El Paso, Scurfield was soon given orders for Vietnam. The Vietnam War was a turning point in his life; as a fresh M.S.W., he was the only M.S.W. on a psychiatric team treating psychiatric casualties from I and II Corps of South Vietnam. This was the beginning of Scurfield’s real-life education about trauma and its powerful impact, and getting first-hand knowledge about the terrible consequences of policies and decisions made by our government and military when war is waged.

Work history

From 1982 to 1985, Scurfield held a national level position with the VA's Veterans Counselling Center program at VA HQ in Washington, D.C. Scurfield spent seven years (1985 to 1992) in the Gig Harbor/Tacoma/Seattle area; and then five years (1992 to 1998) in Hawaii. In March 1997 Scurfield accepted an MSW position at the Naval Construction Battalion in Gulfport. He negotiated a one-year position with the VA's National Center for PTSD and moved in October, 1997, to the Gulfport Division of the Biloxi VA to a position that the National Center created for him. In 1998, Scurfield accepted a tenure track position at USM School of Social Work, based at Long Beach.

References

* [http://www.usm.edu/gc/health/scurfield/vietnam.html University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast]
* [http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&z=y&EAN=0875864856 Barnes & Noble book review]