Current Research

Principal Investigator. Funded by National Institute of Mental Health, 2007-2012.
Collaborative partnership with a community-based, specialty care agency serving female victims of domestic violence or sexual assault to 1) advance knowledge about developing research infrastructure in community settings and establishing collaborative research partnerships; (2) identify and incorporate factors in community settings that may be associated with quality care and optimal outcomes for clients; and (3) test adapted, evidence-based interventions in a community-based agency serving victims of violence against women.

Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. 2000-2008.
This grant involves enhancing advocacy efforts for those currently being served by MSU Safe Place (the domestic violence program on campus) and the Counseling Center's Sexual Assault Program. The project has also involved improving community education efforts in residence halls, for incoming students, and for classes, and complete trainings for police, judicial boards, sororities and fraternities and for the athletic department. We have also improved outreach and services for international students and their spouses by translating materials into 10 languages and providing training for translators.

Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by National Institute of Mental Health, 2007-2012.
Collaborative partnership with a community-based, specialty care agency serving female victims of domestic violence or sexual assault to 1) advance knowledge about developing research infrastructure in community settings and establishing collaborative research partnerships; (2) identify and incorporate factors in community settings that may be associated with quality care and optimal outcomes for clients; and (3) test adapted, evidence-based interventions in a community-based agency serving victims of violence against women.

Co-Investigator.
Interview study of 500 battered women of Asian descent, using life history calendar methodology in order to delineate their life-course experience of interpersonal violence and contact with the criminal justice system.

Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Institute of Justice. 2006-2007.
The purpose of this project is to determine whether prosecution rates for adult sexual assault cases in a Midwestern community increased after the implementation of a SANE program, and to identify the critical ingredients that contributed to that increase sexualized violence.

Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by National Institute of Mental Health, 2007-2012.
Collaborative partnership with a community-based, specialty care agency serving female victims of domestic violence or sexual assault to 1) advance knowledge about developing research infrastructure in community settings and establishing collaborative research partnerships; (2) identify and incorporate factors in community settings that may be associated with quality care and optimal outcomes for clients; and (3) test adapted, evidence-based interventions in a community-based agency serving victims of violence against women.

Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Institute of Justice. 2006-2007.
This project (funded by NIJ) examines the circumstances and contexts under which SANE programs increase prosecution, and seeks to identify the mediating mechanisms that explain how and why SANE programs affect case outcomes. Using a systems change theoretical perspective, this project has five objectives.

First, we will compare prosecution charging rates and court outcomes for cases examined in a SANE program (intervention group) to a sample of adult sexual assault cases examined using standard hospital protocols in the same community prior to the implementation of the SANE program (comparison group). The second objective is to identify victim (e.g., race, age), case (e.g., victim-offender relationship), and forensic medical evidence (e.g., injury, DNA) characteristics that predict prosecutors' charging decisions. The third objective examines the impact that SANEs have on police as a mediating pathway to increased prosecution rates. The investigational practices for police officers who have completed a SANE criminal justice training program (intervention group) will be compared to those who have not gone through training (comparison group) to determine if there have been substantive changes in police reports since the emergence of the SANE program. The fourth objective in this project is to explore how the emotional support provided to victims/survivors by the SANE program and victim advocates increased their participation during investigation and prosecution. The final objective is to create a practitioner-oriented program evaluation toolkit that can be used by other communities to assess post-SANE systems change.

Principal Investigator.
Funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 2006-2007.

Principal Investigator
Funded by the Evaluation Contracts from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, Office of Violence Against Women & Office of Victims of Crime-Department of Justice. 2006-2008.

Principal Investigator. Funded by Michigan State University.
This study examines the relationships between homelessness, cumulative violence exposure (i.e. community, family, and partner violence), stigma and discrimination, mental health and school-related outcomes, and resilience processes within a small sample of pregnant and/or parenting adolescent women (N = 20) who are currently homeless.

Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, 2006-WV-BX-0004, $113,203. 2006-2007.

Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, 2006-IJ-CX-0005, $35,000. 2006-2007.

Funded by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, $51,767. 2006-2007.
This research seeks to assess the extent to which the prosecution, conviction or sentencing of offenders reduce repeat violence between intimate partners. A secondary focus is to determine whether the effectiveness of criminal justice interventions is conditioned upon an offender’s stakes in conformity (i.e., employment, marriage, etc.). Prior empirical research has reported that repeat offending has increased, been reduced and remained unchanged following the prosecution, conviction or sentencing of intimate partner violence offenders. Similarly diverse results exist for the role of an offender’s stakes in conformity. However, these findings stem from individual research studies that use heterogeneous samples of cases, different indicators of criminal justice interventions, diverse measures of repeat offending, and a variety of bivariate and multivariate statistical tests. In addition, we have identified several research projects whose data on the effects of prosecution have never been analyzed. This research will use archived data from thousands of victim interviews and official records collected by thirteen prior studies to provide more consistent and more rigorous tests of the effects of criminal justice sanctions. Following an approach used successfully to assess the effects of arrest on subsequent violence, we will combine data, where appropriate, from different studies to produce cross-site analyses. This research will generate insight into the nature and extent of repeated violence between intimates, address several measurement and methodological issues in this research field and contribute to the policy debate over the effectiveness of criminal prosecution.

Principal Investigator. Funded by the Intramural Research Grants Program (IRGP), Michigan State University. $39,686. 2006 – 2007.
The purpose of this study is to explore barriers and precursors of accountability and change among Latino men referred for domestic violence treatment. A qualitative methodology will be utilized to learn about the experiences of 70 Latino men referred for batterer treatment. Findings of this study will be utilized to culturally adapt domestic violence interventions for Latino men.

Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by the Michigan Department of Community Health. $994, 034; 2006-2007.
This project is designed to promote the efficient operation of the Medicaid program by determining the current rates of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of vulnerable Medicaid populations and by estimating the current and projected impact of such recipient maltreatment on Medicaid funds. A special focus of this study will be to assess differential use and treatment of ethnic minority Medicaid recipients.

Principal Investigator. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 2007- 2008
A review of court records in one Michigan county found that 90% of felony drug convicted women were not sentenced to state prison but community probation. However due to mental health, substance abuse and trauma related disorders many women were failing probation and ultimately being sent to prison. All but 2 of the 84 women interviewed experienced interpersonal trauma as children or adults and the purpose of the study and it's follow up is to assist the courts and service providers in recognizing how trauma exposure may precede addiction and other mental health issues.

Co-Investigator. Funded by the Detroit Wayne County Community Mental Health Board. 2003-Present

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control Michigan Department of Community Health.1996-2006.
This project is in its tenth year and it involves collecting sexual assault data to provide incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality, risk and protective factors.