Research

The scholarly and scientific activities of the faculty in the school of social and family dynamics rest on the core value of engaging in research that ultimately leads to improvements in the lives of children, youth, adults, families and social institutions. Such efforts may be driven by scholarship that changes or advances people’s lives or in scholarship that attempts to understand and formulate the principles and dynamics that may lead to successful outcomes and interventions.

Faculty in the school accomplish this through innovative and cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, instruction and outreach programs. Activities in the school transcend traditional divisions among academic disciplines and between basic and applied research. They are guided by an overarching emphasis on understanding the dynamic interactions between individuals and their social groups within the larger societal environment, and how these interactions play-out across time and space. The central foci of inquiry and academic training reflect the developmental, social, cultural, health and demographic aspects underlying human behavior, families, institutions and societies.