Child Maltreatment Fatalities in the United States (PDF)

Emily M. Douglas, Ph.D. is an associate professor of social work at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Her areas of expertise address child and family well-being, and programs and policies that promote positive outcomes. Specifically, her areas of expertise include fatal child maltreatment, medical neglect, corporal punishment, partner violence, divorced families, and the connection between research and public policy. Dr. Douglas and her colleague, Dr. Denise Hines (Clark University), have been among the first researchers to conduct NIH-supported, large-scale research projects on men who sustain partner violence and seek help, and the potential effects on their children. Dr. Douglas has an undergraduate degree in psychology and graduate degrees in public policy; she also completed an NIMH-supported post-doctoral research fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Murray Straus at the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire and has served on alegislative committee in Maine concerned with father involvement. Dr. Douglas is the founder and director of the National Research Conference on Child and Family Programs and Policy which is held annually at Bridgewater State University. Finally, Dr. Douglas is the author of two books on family policy and authored or co-authored 30 peer-reviewed publications, and has presented at numerous national and international conferences. She is the co-author (with Drs. Murray Straus and Rose Medeiros) of a forthcoming book on corporal punishment entitled, The Primordial Violence. During the 2010-2011 academic year, Dr. Douglas was named the Presidential Fellow at her institution, allowing her a full academic year to focus on her research on maltreatment fatalities and the child welfare system.

“Therapists and other professionals who work with families with open child welfare or domestic violence cases can learn about the risk factors for future child fatalities, such as the fact that many deaths occur in families already known to social service agencies. Graduate students, law students, or post docs in the fields of prevention science, family law, social policy, or family studies would also benefit from learning about the multidisciplinary work done in this field.” (Tasha R. Howe, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 62 (7), February, 2017)