Overview
Sandra A. Graham-Bermann, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Women¹s Studies Program at the University of Michigan. She studies the impact of different forms of family violence on children's social and emotional adjustment. This work spans the ages from 3 to 13 and includes children in a variety of contexts such as preschools, community settings, as well as shelters for battered women. With funding from the National Institutes of Justice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), she has studied multiple forms of violence in the lives of children using a nested ecological framework, social-cognition and trauma theories to explain results. With these tools she is able to demonstrate which children are most affected by family violence, in what ways, and how best to intervene for children with particular adjustment profiles. In order to study processes that mediate the link between children¹s reactions to violence and their adjustment, she developed new measures of children¹s fears and worries, family stereotyping, sibling relationships, and traumatic stress in children. She is regular consultant to local domestic violence programs and Head Start schools, Nationally, she has served as research consultant to the US Department of Justice, DHHS, and the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to authoring numerous research journal articles, her new book, with co-editor Jeff Edleson, is titled: Domestic violence in the lives of children: The future of research, intervention, and policy (2001), Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Books.
Education
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute
of Child Development, University of Minnesota (1988-1990)
Ph.D. Personality and Clinical Psychology, University of Michigan (1987)
A.M. Psychology, University of Michigan (1984)
Internship, University of Michigan Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospitals
(1982-1984)
B.A. Psychology, with Honors, Magna Cum Laude (1979)
Research and Teaching Positions
Associate Professor of Psychology (1997-present)
Associate Professor of Women’s Studies (1998-present)
Assistant Professor of Psychology (1990-1996)
University of Michigan Department of Psychology
Co-Director, Interdisciplinary Research Program on Violence
Research Consultant
University of Michigan Institute for Research on Women and Gender (1994-present)
Research Associate
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC (1998-2000)
Institute of Child Development,
University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN (1988-1990)
Clinical and Clinical Consulting Positions
Clinical Program Director and Practicum Supervisor
Clinical Psychologist Consultant
The Kids’ Club and Moms’ Parenting Empowerment groups
Domestic Violence Project, SAFEHouse, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (1992-present)
Domestic Violence Project, SAFEHouse, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (1992-present)
Head Start Preschool Program, Jackson, MI (1998 - present)
Ann Arbor Y Childcare, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (1987-1997)
First Step Program for Battered Women
Canton, MI (1995, 1997)
Clinical staff and intern supervisor
Child and Family Therapist
University Center for the Child and Family, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (1990-1994)
Ann Arbor Center for the Family, Inc.,
Ann Arbor, MI (1984-1988)
Formal Courses Taught
Marriage and the Family
Psychology of Aging
Introduction to Psychology as a Social Science
Freshman Seminar: The Psychology of Violence in the Lives of Children
Graduate:
Lifespan Developmental Psychopathology - Child
Clinical Psychology Research Topics
Child Therapy
Clinical Psychology Community Practicum
Seminar: Development, Psychopathology, and Mental Health
Seminar: Gender and Clinical Theory
Seminar: Family Violence Research