Independent Study

Fall 2008

Public Policy and Psychology undergraduates are encouraged to apply. Contact the faculty member directly to discuss.

Kenneth Dodge, William McDougall Professor of Public Policy and professor of Psychology, would like to work with a student who has ambitions to complete an honors thesis. Possible topics include child protective services reform, adolescent substance-use prevention, or how chronic violence develops across the life span. Professor Dodge can provide access to several large funded research studies that link social science to clinical practice and public policy. Students interested in an independent study project that involves working directly with state and local officials, e.g., Chair of the Durham County Commisioners, Secretary of the State Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, should also contact Dr. Dodge. dodge@duke.edu.

Lisa Berlin is a developmental psychologist and research scientist at the Center for Child and Family Policy. Her research focuses on early (zero to three)child development, child poverty, and child abuse prevention. Attachment theory and research guide much of her work. Dr. Berlin would be interested in working with students who have an interest in any of these areas. One specific student opportunity is to help conduct videotaped laboratory assessments of mothers and their infants(ongoing for the next year at the Erwin Square Mill Building on Ninth Street). For Psychology majors, this research assistance could be part of a full credit IS OR a .5 credit research practicum. Dr. Berlin can also supervise literature review projects, data analysis projects that draw on existing data sets within the Center, or independent investigations that are designed and conducted by the student. Email: ljberlin@duke.edu.

Beth Gifford is a research scientist in the Center for Child and Family Policy.  She welcomes student participation in the following projects.  The first is "Monitoring Substance Abuse in Durham County."  This groundbreaking project involves gathering information from a variety of sources including local hospitals, police forces, social services and others.  The results of this project will be presented in the city of Durham's annual report card and provide valuable information for addressing substance abuse problems in North Carolina.  The second project involves the evaluation of a state-wide project on Child and Family Teams.  This year, North Carolina is placing 100 school nurses and 100 school social workers in 100 schools.  A team from the Center for Child and Family Policy is evaluating the outcomes for this project.  Interested students can be involved by writing literature reviews on timely topics.  A third project involves creating a child health policy portal.  This project is in conjunction with the Center for Health Policy at Duke.  It involves developing a web portal and expert directory for children's health policy.  Finally, Beth is also working on a neighborhood study that examines the effects of neighborhood characteristics on child development. Interested students could write a synthesis of the literature on the effect of neighborhood characteristics on child development. beth.gifford@duke.edu.

Clara Muschkin is a research scientist at the Center for Child and Family Policy with a current research focus on characteristics of schools and how they may affect adolescents' educational attainment and problems behaviors, including substance use. Students interested in pursuing an independent study project related to this topic should contact Dr. Muschkin at muschkin@duke.edu.

Jenni Owen, director of policy initiatives,focuses on the intersection between research and policy. She develops and implements strategies to increase and enhance interaction between the two. There are opportunities for students to work with her on a range of efforts including: writing policy briefs based on the work of research scientists at the Center for Child and Family Policy, the Sanford Institute, and faculty in other departments; assistance with research, planning and coordination of the annual Family Impact Seminar for North Carolina lawmakers and policy leaders; and research into models of successful research-to-policy efforts in North Carolina and beyond. Interested students should contact Jenni at jwowen@duke.edu.

David Rabiner is a clinical child psychologist and senior research scientist at the Center for Child and Family Policy and the director of Undergraduate Studies in Psychology and Neuroscience. Dr. Rabiner conducts research on violence prevention, ADHD, and the impact of attention difficulties on students' academic achievement. He would be interested in working with students who have an interest in any of these areas, and can supervise either literature review type projects, data analysis projects that draw on existing data sets within the Center, or independent investigations that are designed and conducted by the student. He can be reached at drabiner@duke.edu.

Joel Rosch, a senior research scholar at the Center for Child and Family Policy, is interested in supervising an independent study project with students interested in how social service systems are organized and services are delivered to children and families. He also has long-term interests in crime policy, policing, dispute resolution, and substance abuse policy. Possible topics include criminal justice policy, how public agencies define and measure success, how public agencies are portrayed in film and other forms of popular culture, and strategies to improve collaboration between agencies. He would be happy to work with a student who has ambitions to complete an honors thesis. Dr. Rosch works closely with a number of child-serving agencies and can provide access to decision makers. Interested students should contact Dr. Rosch at jbrosch@duke.edu.

Mary Terzian is a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Child and Family Policy. She is has a background in social work and psychology and expertise in developmental psychopathology, peer relations, school-based prevention programs, theories of antisocial behavior, and quantitative methods. She is currently conducting research on gender-specific pathways to substance use. Mary is interested in working with a student who wishes to conduct research related to the development of antisocial behavior in youth and/or the relationships between peer influences, behavior, and academic achievement. She can be contacted at mary.terzian@duke.edu .