David J. BridgettAssistant Professor, Psychology
Ph.D., Washington State University
My program of research focuses on identifying contributors to infant/toddler emotion regulation, such as aspects of parent emotion regulation and parenting, how parent emotion regulation affects parenting of young children and the broader family environment (e.g., marital adjustment, chaos), and how early individual differences in emotion regulation contribute to risk for early developmental psychopathology.
E-mail: dbridgett1@niu.edu
Homepage: http://www.niu.edu/emotionreg/
Keri B. BurchfieldAssistant Professor, Sociology
Ph.D., Penn State
My primary research interests focus on investigating the causes and consequences of local social control, specifically investigating neighborhood structural effects and the effects of community organization on crime prevention and control in urban communities. My recent research has also examined the sociological experiences of sex offenders, including their use of local social capital and social ties.
E-mail: kburchfield@niu.edu
Homepage: http://www.niu.edu/sociology/staffdirectory/burchfield.shtml
Julie CrouchDirector
Ph.D., Northern Illinois University, 1995
My research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of child physical abuse and intimate partner violence. My recent work focuses on applying social cognitive paradigms as a means of understanding why some parents physically abuse their children. Also, I am conducting research and evaluation projects examining innovative interventions designed to promote positive parenting practices.
E-mail: jcrouch@niu.edu
Rebecca J. HannaganAssistant Professor, Political Science
Ph.D., University of Nebraska
My research focuses broadly on the biological underpinnings of gendered political attitudes and behavior. My work examines how sex and gender mediate political decision making in groups. Another current project specifically considers women in the context of warfare both as combatants and victims of sexual harassment and assault. I have published articles in Political Behavior, PS: Political Science and Politics, the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Perspectives on Politics, Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, and Biology & Philosophy.
E-mail: rhannaga@niu.edu
Homepage: http://www.niu.edu/polisci/faculty/profiles.shtml#hannagan
Michelle M. LillyAssistant Professor, Psychology
Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2008
My research interests focus on the exploration of mental health outcomes following interpersonal trauma, with a particular focus on intimate partner violence. I am particularly interested in the ways in which world views, attachment and coping affect outcome following trauma. My future work will likely continue to focus on intimate partner violence, as well as expand to focus on interactions between violent dyads more generally.
E-mail: mlilly1@niu.edu
M. Christine LovejoyAssociate Professor, Psychology
Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1986
My research interests are in the areas of child clinical psychology and parenting. Specifically, I am interested in the effects of parental psychopathology and stress on parent-child interactions and adult perceptions of child behavior. I am also interested in social information processing as it is applied to abnormal child behavior in assessment and treatment settings.
E-mail: mlovejoy@niu.edu
Fred E. MarkowitzAssociate Professor, Sociology
Ph.D., State University of New York at Albany
My research focuses on issues related to crime, mental illness, and social control. I am especially interested in stigma and recovery from mental illness. I am currently conducting a study of punitive attitudes towards veterans with mental illness involved in domestic violence. My research has been published in American Journal of Sociology, Criminology, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Psychology Quarterly, and Journal of Family Violence.
E-mail: fredm@niu.edu
Thomas McCanneProfessor Emeritus, Psychology
Ph.D., Ohio State University, 1974
My research interests include psychophysiological reactivity, physiological response of child abusers, psychological problems in victims of abuse and alcohol drug use and abuse.
E-mail: tmccanne@niu.edu
Joel S. MilnerProfessor Emeritus, Psychology
Ph.D., Oklahoma State University, 1970
My programmatic research efforts have focused on the description and assessment of child physical and child sexual abusers and on the testing of various components of a social information processing model of child physical abuse. In addition, my current research includes a multiple-year randomized clinical trial of a new intervention for preventing child physical abuse, which is based on my social information processing model of child physical abuse and related empirical studies.
E-mail: jmilner@niu.edu
Holly K. OrcuttAssociate Professor, Psychology
Associate Director
Ph.D., SUNY-Buffalo, 1998
My research interests are in the areas of traumatic stress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specifically, I am interested in identifying risk factors that operate to increase individual vulnerability to PTSD following exposure to traumatic events as well as factors that mediate the link between trauma exposure and increased risk for subsequent trauma exposure. I also have related research interests in forgiveness and experiential avoidance.
E-mail: horcutt@niu.edu
Homepage: http://www.niu.edu/~horcutt/
Assistant Professor, Psychology
Ph.D., University of Wyoming
My program of research is centered on perceptions of trauma and trauma survivors, particularly as these perceptions relate to trauma disclosure and responses to it. I am primarily interested in these experiences as they relate to sexual assault, and aim to determine how to assist others in best supporting victims post-assault. Currently, I am also conducting research related to the effects of labels for traumatic events (e.g., rape, sexual assault, unwanted sexual contact) on perceptions of the event and the victim.
E-mail: lpaul1@niu.edu
Homepage: http://www.niu.edu/lpaul/
Mandy M. RabenhorstResearch Associate/Coordinator of the Psychophysiology and EEG Laboratories
Ph.D., Northern Illinois University, 2005
My research interests focus on the areas of psychophysiology and interpersonal trauma, particularly sexual assault and family violence. One primary interest is in the association between autonomic arousal and specific risk factors for PTSD. I also am interested in the effects of trauma on information processing. My ultimate goal is to develop a mediational model illuminating the means by which trauma influences long term adjustment. Psychophysiological and cognitive factors, as well as coping strategies (particularly avoidant coping), are among the mediators likely to be included in this model.
E-mail: mrabenho@niu.edu
Robert V. ReichleAssistant Professor, Foreign Languages and Literatures
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 2008
My research focuses on language processing among native speakers and second language learners. My recent work has examined the brain signatures of semantic integration, specifically, the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component. I am currently using the ERP technique to investigate the role of cognitive schemas related to risk factors forchild physical abuse in the processing of written language.
E-mail: rreichle@niu.edu
Homepage: http://www.forlangs.net/~rreichle/Academic/Welcome.html
Alan RosenbaumProfessor, Psychology
Ph.D., SUNY at Stony Brook, 1979
The primary focus of my research agenda has been on understanding and treating intimate partner violence. Specifically, my research group is studying: (1) the etiology of relationship aggression with an emphasis on biological and developmental factors, such as head injury, neuropsychological dysfunction, neuroendocrine deficits, childhood trauma and psychopathology; (2) batterers’ treatment outcome and certification standards; and (3) anger and anger management in males, females, and adolescents.
E-mail: arosenbaum@niu.edu
John J. SkowronskiPresidential Research Professor, Psychology
Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1984
The bulk of my research has explored two broad areas. The first area revolves around social thought. I am interested in how we evaluate others, the trait and motives that we ascribe to them, and the kinds of things that we can remember about them. This research is often driven by theories that postulate various mental processes and mental structures, and is expressly designed to test these theories. In recent years, I have extensively explored the issue of whether people make spontaneous trait inferences about others and the ways in which such inferences can be detected.
The second main area in which I do research is self-thought. I am interested in how we evaluate ourselves, the traits and motives that we ascribe to ourselves, and the kinds of things that we remember about ourselves. This research is also driven by theories that postulate various mental processes and mental structures, and is expressly designed to test these theories. For example, in recent years I have explored whether self-judgments can be affected by temporary variations in construct accessibility and the extent to which the emotions that are prompted by recall of autobiographical events is moderated by social discourse.
E-mail: jskowron@niu.edu
Gregory A. WaasAssociate Professor, Chair of Department of Psychology
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1986
My research has focused on children’s peer relationships and applied social cognition. I’m interested in how children think about their social worlds, how their thinking develops with age, and how their social cognition affects their adjustment. Over the years my students and I have investigated the social problem solving of children who exhibit poor peer relationships. We have also examined how children form social evaluations about peers who exhibit adjustment problems. Most recently, we have investigated children’s perceptions of how peers attempt to cope with bullying behaviors and adolescents’ perceptions of suicide symptomatology. All of these projects share a focus on the way in which children form judgments about their social world and how these judgments impact their perceptions, emotions, and behavior.
E-mail: gwaas@niu.edu
Homepage: http://www3.niu.edu/psychology/ISPA/waas.html