Sandra Graham-Bermann

Contact Information:
2265 East Hall
530 Church
Ann Arbor, Mi 48109-1043
734.763.3159
Email: sandragb@umich.edu

Website:
http://www.sandragb.com/

Biography: Sandra Graham-Bermann, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Women's Studies, is consultant to national research centers as well as women's shelters, including the SAFEHouse Center of Ann Arbor, and the Better Homes Fund Homeless Program. The focus of her research is documenting traumatic effects, resilience and gender paradigms in children exposed to family violence. With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention she studied the efficacy of a brief intervention program for children and their mothers in woman-abusing families. The program was effective in changing attitudes and beliefs about violence as well as improving children's social and emotional adjustment. She is currently assessing a similar program for preschoolers and their mothers traumatized by exposure to domestic violence. A grant from DHHS allowed her to study the impact of community, family and media violence on the health and well-being of at-risk preschoolers and their mothers. This longitudinal study demonstrated the ways in which violence affects gender socialization and, ultimately, children's physical and mental health. Sandra has given national presentations and published her research on the social relationships and adjustment of children in homeless families, woman-abusing families, and high-risk families. She is co-editor (with J. Edleson) of Domestic Violence in the Lives of Children: The Future of Research, Intervention and Social Policy (2001).