Dissertation of the Year Award
COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY DISSERTATION OF THE YEAR AWARD
The Society for Community Research and Action grants an annual dissertation award to the best dissertation identified on a topic in the field of community psychology completed during the prior two years. The Dissertation Award was established in 1982.
Past Award Recipients
| 2019 | Amie Thurber, Vanderbilt University |
| Advisor: Sara Safransky | |
| Dissertation Title: The Neighborhood Story Project: Keeping More Than Our Homes | |
| 2018 | Domique Thomas, Georgia State University |
| Advisor: Winnie Chan | |
| Dissertation Title: Black Scholars Matter: Development and validation of a campus racial climate measure for African-American college students | |
| 2017 | Jessica Shaw, Michigan State University |
| Advisor: Rebecca Campbell | |
| Dissertation Title: Justifying injustice: How the Criminal Justice System Explains its Response to Sexual Assault | |
| 2016 | Kate Dorozenko, Curtin University |
| Advisor: primary supervisor Brian Bishop, co-supervisor Lynne Roberts | |
| Dissertation Title: The Identities and Social Roles of People with Intellectual Disabilities: Challenging Dominant Cultural Worldviews, Values and Mythologies | |
| 2015 | Ashley Anglin |
| Advisor: | |
| Dissertation Title: Collaborative Identification of Assets in South Rome, Georgia Using the Community Capitals Framework: Exploring Influential Factors and Discovering Community Strengths | |
| 2014 | Susan Eckerle Curwood |
| Advisor: Robb Travers | |
| Dissertation Title: The 'Warrant of Common Sense': Ideology and Poverty in Canada and the United States | |
| 2013 | Urmitapa Dutta |
| Advisor: Mark Aber | |
| Dissertation Title: The Long Way Home: A Critical Ethnography of Youth and Conflict in Northeast India | |
| 2012 | Sarah Lowe, University of Massachusetts at Boston |
| Advisor: Jean Rhodes | |
| Dissertation Title: Trajectories of Psychological Distress Among Low-income Female Survivors of Hurricane Katrina | |
| 2011 | Steven James Pierce, Michigan State University |
| Advisor: | |
| Dissertation Title: Using Geostatic Models to Study Neighborhood Effects: An Alternative to Using Hierarchical Linear Models | |
| 2010 | Jennifer Watling Neal, University of Illinois at Chicago |
| Advisor: Karina Olga Reyes | |
| Dissertation Title: Examining Relations in Relational Aggression: The Role of Peer Social Networks | |
| 2009 | Darcy Freedman, Vanderbilt University |
| Advisor: Paul Speer | |
| Dissertation Title: Politics of Food Access in Food Insecure Communities | |
| 2008 | Sarah Chilenski, Pennsylvania State University |
| Advisor: Mark Greenberg | |
| Dissertation Title: Community Risks and Resources in Rural America: What matters? | |
| 2007 | Branda Nowell, Michigan State University |
| Advisor: Pennie Foster-Fishman | |
| Dissertation Title: The Role of Social Capital in Interorganizational Alliances | |
| 2006 | Adam Long, Vanderbilt University |
| Advisor: William P. Smith, Douglas Perkins, Peggy Thoits | |
| Dissertation Title: Residential Community Identification and Psychological Well-Being | |
| 2005 | Marci R. Cully, University of Missouri-Kansas City |
| Advisor: Joseph Hughey | |
| Dissertation Title: Power and ‘Official’ Vehicles for Public Participation in a Local Hazardous Waste Setting: A Community Case Study | |
| 2004 | no award given |
| 2003 | Margaret Davis, DePaul University |
| Advisor: Leonard Jason | |
| Dissertation Title: Sex Differences in Alcoholics and Addicts Recovering in Oxford House: Exploring Characteristics Social Support, and Self-Efficacy. | |
| 2002 | Nicole Allen, Michigan State University |
| Advisor: Pennie Foster-Fishman | |
| Dissertation Title: Coordinating Councils as a Vehicle for Achieving a Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence: An Examination of Context-Specific Correlates of Effectiveness | |
| 2001 | Camille Preston, University of Virginia |
| Advisor: Dick Reppucci | |
| Dissertation Title: Policing domestic violence: The Influence of Community Resources on Provider Attitudes About Pro-arrest Policies | |
| 2000 | Bret Kloos, University of Illinois, Urbana Champagne |
| Advisor: Julian Rappaport | |
| Dissertation Title: Cultivating Identity and Meaning Making in the Context of Residential Treatment Settings for Persons with Histories of Psychological Disorders | |
| 1999 | Hirokazu Yoshikawa, New York University |
| Advisor: Ed Seidman | |
| Dissertation Title: Welfare Dynamics, Support Services, Mothers’ Earnings, and Child Development: Implications for Contemporary Welfare Reform | |
| 1998 | Michael J. Solomon, University College London |
| Advisor: Nancy Pistrang | |
| Dissertation Title: What do Parents of Children with Disabilities and Special Needs Find Helpful about Mutual Support Groups? | |
| 1997 | Rebecca Campbell, Michigan State University |
| Advisor: William Davidson | |
| Dissertation Title: The Community Response to Rape: An Ecological Conception of Victims’ Experiences | |
| 1998 | Danielle Papineau, Universite de Montreal, Canada |
| Advisor: Margaret Kiely | |
| Dissertation Title: Citizen Empowerment Through Economic Development in a Multiethnic Neighborhood | |
| 1995 | Gabriel P. Kuperminc, University of Virginia |
| Advisor: Joseph Allen | |
| Dissertation Title: Social Orientation, Social Competence and the Prevention of Adolescent Problem Behavior | |
| 1994 | Susan Yeich, Michigan State University |
| Advisor: Ralph Levine | |
| Dissertation Title: Empowerment and Structural Change: The Creation of a Homeless Persons Union | |
| 1994 | Caroline Kroeker, Claremont Graduate School |
| Advisor: Alan Wicker | |
| Dissertation Title: Empowerment Programs for the Severely Disadvantaged: Lessons From a Process Evaluation of a Nicarguan Agricultural Cooperative | |
| 1993 | Krys Kaniasty, University of Louisville |
| Advisors: James Driscoll & Fran Norris | |
| Dissertation Title: Social Support as a Mediator of Stress Following a Natural Disaster: A Test of Social Support Deterioration Model Using Measures of Kin Support, Nonkin Support, and Social Embeddedness | |
| 1993 | Paul Speer, University of Missouri, Kansas City |
| Advisor: Joseph Hughey | |
| Dissertation Title: Empowerment in Pressure Group Community Organizations: Internal Processes | |
| 1992 | Jerome Short, Arizona State University |
| Advisor: Irwin Sandler | |
| Dissertation Title: An Evaluation of a Preventative Intervention for Children of Problem Drinkers | |
| 1992 | Terrie Sterling, Georgia State University |
| Advisor: James Emshoff | |
| Dissertation Title: Modeling Community Mobilization for Social Change: Preventing Youth Alcohol and Other Drug Use | |
| 1991 | Douglas Perkins, New York University |
| Advisor: Marybeth Shinn | |
| Dissertation Title: The Social and Physical Environment of Residential Blocks, Crime, and Citizens’ Participation in Block Associations | |
| 1991 | Dennis Culhane, Boston College |
| Advisor: Ramsey Liem | |
| Dissertation Title: On Becoming Homeless: The Structural and Experiential Dynamics of Residential Instability. | |
| 1990 | William K. Hallman, University of South Carolina |
| Advisor: Abe Wandersman | |
| Dissertation Title: Coping with an Environmental Stressor: Perception of Risk, Attribution of Responsibility and Psychological Distress in a Community Living Near a Hazardous Waste Facility | |
| 1989 | John E. Prestby, University of South Carolina |
| Advisor: Abe Wandersman | |
| Dissertation Title: Leaders and Leadership in Grassroots Voluntary Organizations: An Examination of Personal Resources, Participation Benefits/costs, and Incentive/cost management | |
| 1988 | No award given |
| 1987 | Joseph P. Allen, Yale University |
| Advisor: Seymour B. Sarason | |
| Dissertation Title: Adolescent Behavior Problems and Differing Patterns of Social Adaptation: The Role of Social Contingency Beliefs | |
| 1986 | Richard Gist, University of Missouri, Kansas City |
| Advisor: Joseph Hughey | |
| Dissertation Title: An Analysis and Social Learning Examination of Recent Trends in Adolescent Suicide Rates | |
| 1985 | Richard C. Birkel, University of Virginia |
| Advisor: Robert Emery | |
| Dissertation Title: Sources of Caregiver Strain on Long-term Home-care | |
| 1984 | Kenneth Bachrach, Arizona State University |
| Advisor: Alex Zautra | |
| Dissertation Title: Coping with a Community Stressor: A Proposed Hazardous Waste Disposal Facility | |
| 1983 | Donald Davis, Michigan State University |
| Advisor: William Davidson | |
| Dissertation Title: Innovation, Adaptation, and Organizational Change-Program Evaluation in Gerontology- G. Johnson | |
| 1982 | Charles H. Kieffer, University of Michigan |
| Advisor: Richard Price | |
| Dissertation Title: The Emergence of Empowerment: The Development of Participatory Competence Among Individuals in Citizen Organizations |