# Chitra Raghavan

Chitra Raghavan is a clinical psychologist in New York City, specializing in domestic violence, sex trafficking, sexual harassment, rape, and other types of violent acts against humans. Raghavan focuses her research on both the tactics used by the perpetrators and the traumatic outcomes it causes the survivors.
Raghavan is a tenured Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate Center. She has served as Director of the Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program and Coordinator of Victimology Studies in Forensic Psychology at John Jay. She believes research should only be conducted if it has value that leads to activism, change, and or improves the lives of others. She shares this belief to help her students conduct research that has positive real world application. Her own advances in advocacy and human rights and human trafficking research earned her the title of "New York's New Abolitionists" in 2014 by the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition.

## Education

Raghavan received her B.A. in French Language and Literature and Psychology from Smith College in 1992. She attended graduate school at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she obtained her MA (1995) and Ph.D. (1998) in Clinical and Community Psychology and Quantitative Methods and Personality/Social Ecology. From there she complete a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry from 1998–1999.

## Career

After completing her Ph.D., Raghavan became a research associate at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University for a year in 2001. She then started at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2002, where she currently resides, as of 2024. In 2005, she took the Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) examination and received her clinical licensure. In 2007 she was tenured as a Professor of Psychology and was appointed Director of the Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program and Coordinator of Victimology Studies in Forensic Psychology. In addition, she is part of the doctoral faculty in Criminal Justice and Forensic Psychology, teaching courses in both areas. Raghavan's teaching focuses on the psychological analysis of criminal behavior, trauma, and violence, often with an emphasis on gender and multicultural issues.
Raghavan supervised over twenty completed MA theses and three doctoral theses as of 2024. She also has served as a doctoral thesis committee member for nine students and guided over fifty non-thesis students at the BA and MA levels from 2007–2024.

## Research

Raghavan's studies examine how coercion, manipulation, and psychological abuse contribute to intimate partner violence. She studies psychological tactics used by perpetrators to control their partners (intimidation, degradation, microregulation, threats, etc.) and the subsequent impact on survivors. Within this research she investigates how coercion operates across gay and heterosexual populations as well as Brazilian, Spaniard, and Moroccan cultures. Her work emphasizes that cultural expectations around gender roles and relationship dynamics can often exacerbate vulnerabilities to abuse, especially in marginalized communities. One of Raghavan's notable contributions is in the exploration of trauma bonding, where victims develop emotional attachments to their abusers as a result of intermittent rewards and punishment over time. Her research on this phenomenon has aided in explaining why many victims struggle to leave abusive relationships, even when experiencing severe and intense harm.
Raghavan has extensively studied the psychological methods traffickers use to exploit and control their victims, including grooming, manipulation, threats, and violence. Her research sheds light on how traffickers employ strategies such as false promises, debt bondage, and emotional manipulation to entrap victims. Through qualitative and quantitative studies, Raghavan has captured the lived experiences of trafficking survivors, emphasizing the deep psychological trauma they endure. She explores the complex trauma responses exhibited by survivors, such as dissociation, learned helplessness, and PTSD, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of their psychological needs.

## Books

* Raghavan C. & Cohen, S.J. (Eds.) (2013). Domestic Violence: Methodologies in Dialogue. Northeastern Series on Gender, Crime, and Law, Northeastern University Press.
* Raghavan, C. & Levine, J. (Eds.). (2012). Self-Determination and Women’s Rights in the Muslim World. HBI Series on Gender, Culture Religion, and Law. Boston: Brandeis University Press.