News and Events

Sheryl Pimlott Kubiak, Ph.D.
--Dr. Kubiak was invited to give a presentation about her research with incarcerated women at an advanced legal advocacy training sponsored by the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

--Dr. Kubiak was invited to give a presentation on evidence-based interventions at the Los Angeles Conference on Intervention Research in Social Work.

--Dr. Kubiak’s research on the help-seeking strategies used by women exiting the jail was accepted as a poster presentation at the American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting.

--In an effort to enhance services for women involved in the criminal justice system, Dr. Kubiak has formed a dynamic relationship with Dr. Stephanie Covington from the Center for Gender and Justice and the Michigan Department of Corrections. Dr. Covington, an international expert in the treatment of substance use disorders in women, has a number of manualized curriculums that focus on the relationship between substance use and trauma and is consulting with the MDOC staff and contractors on improving outcomes for women that enter treatment during incarceration. Dr. Kubiak has been working closely with Dr. Covington and will be leading the evaluation of outcomes for the project. In July, Dr. Covington and Dr. Kubiak spent two days conducting focus groups with women at Huron Valley Prison to inform a related project focused on treating women with assaultive offenses.

Megan Greeson, M.A. 
--Completed in June 2009, Megan Greeson's thesis research indicates that survivors are active participants within the legal and medical systems. As they navigate these systems, survivors engage in four key processes: (1) complying with the expectations of the system in order to increase the likelihood that their case will result in the outcome that they desire (i.e., justice); (2) not complying with the system’s expectations in order to protect themselves from further emotional and physical harm; (3) challenging the response to their case in order to change how their case is being handled; and (4) mobilizing resources, specifically social and informational support, to facilitate their navigation of these system. These findings may be useful to stakeholders (such as legal and medical personnel and victim advocates) who work with rape survivors and seek to facilitate their participation within these systems.

Adrienne Adams, Ph.D.  
--In May, Adrienne Adams received her doctorate degree. For her dissertation research, Dr. Adams conducted two related but distinct studies investigating the mediating role of job stability on the economic and mental health effects of intimate partner violence (IPV). The first study tested the mediating effect of job stability on the relationship between IPV and women’s economic well-being. Study 2 further explicated the association between IPV and women’s mental health by examining the mediating role of job stability on the IPV-mental health relationship. Findings revealed that recent IPV uniquely compromised the job stability, economic well-being, and mental health of current and former welfare recipients. In fact, the job instability associated with IPV was partly responsible for the economic and mental health issues women confronted. Specifically, the findings suggested that IPV reduces women’s capacity to sustain employment and, as a result, their economic and mental health can suffer.

Rebecca Campbell Ph.D.
--This past spring Dr. Rebecca Campbell was invited to give a presentation to the National Institute of Justice about her research with Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs. This presentation has been made available by National Institute of Justice as a series of four interviews called "The Impact of SANE Programs on Adult Sexual Assault Investigation & Prosecution." [more]