Her research areas are how persons overcome adversities, the development of violent behaviors, and the meanings of violence to perpetrators .
Men Talk About Their Violence.
She won the Excellence in Research Award from the College of Human Ecology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and two awards from the Silberman Foundation. She co-developed the core courses of the Child Abuse Prevention Studies Program, University of Minnesota, and was the developer and faculty director of the Violence and its Prevention series at the University of Minnesota. This series won an Outstanding program award from Continuing Education and Conferences, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She has a Ph.D. from Syracuse University and other graduate degrees from the University of Chicago in social service administration and from the University of Louvain, Belgium, in family studies and sexuality. She also has a bachelor's and master's degree in English literature.