Ph.D., Human and Community Development, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
M.S., Human and Community Development, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
B.S., Psychology, Indiana University-Bloomington

I am an interpersonal violence and family science scholar who studies intimate partner violence (IPV) from the perspective of victimized adults, young adults with childhood IPV exposure histories, and professionals who provide support or help to individuals and families victimized by IPV. Intimate partner violence is a global crisis impacting millions of people, with implications for current and future health, well-being, and interpersonal, academic, and economic outcomes. Childhood exposure to IPV is one of the most impactful adverse childhood experiences (ACES). Yet, these exposed and otherwise victimized youth and adults engage in a variety of protective and coping strategies, including help-seeking from friends, family, teachers, medical and mental health professionals, and legal systems, to strive for safety, healing, and justice for themselves and their families. I am particularly interested in how childhood exposure to IPV impacts young adults and their help-seeking decisions, as the transition to adulthood is an excellent developmental stage for interventions. My disciplinary perspective as a family scientist informs how I conduct this research and the interventions I co-develop. For example, I am attentive to how diverse individuals, families, communities, sociocultural groups, and historical contexts influence the perceptions and impact of IPV victimization and exposure to IPV, as well as help-seeking decision-making. My expertise is in qualitative methodologies, specifically grounded theory methods and reflexive thematic analysis. However, I often use mixed methods and purely quantitative studies to collaborate with faculty and graduate students with advanced statistical expertise.

I am the director of Family Violence Across the Lifespan, a research team that works closely with community organizations and faculty and graduate students in social work, nursing, higher education, counselor education, sociology, and psychology to examine IPV and develop trauma-informed interventions from a biopsychosocial perspective. Currently, our team is predominately focused on three collaborations: (1) Young Adults Live and Learn Project, examining the health, well-being, interpersonal dynamics, and coping strategy utilization of a sample of 18-25-year-olds exposed to IPV during their childhood; (2) a community-engaged needs assessment of IPV-specific services and perceptions of services for the Knoxville Family Justice Center (PI Dr. Kristen Ravi, College of Social Work); (3) REVEAL Project, examining the health, wellbeing, substance use/misuse, and protective strategy utilization of a sample of IPV-victimized adult women in Knoxville, Tennessee, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Metro Boston Area. Here is a sample of projects conducted from 2023 through the present by graduate students on this team: Saudi Arabian women’s IPV-related help-seeking decision-making; young adults’ perceptions of police and policing in the context of IPV exposure; Black men’s IPV victimization experiences, particularly coercive control and coercive violence; young adult women’s relationships with their mother in the context of father-mother-perpetrated IPV; and how mothers navigated early stages of COVID-19 in the context of IPV.

Intimate partner violence
Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence
Qualitative methodologies

The Family Violence Across the Lifespan research team conducts community-engaged research. I also serve as a member of the Faculty Senate.