Laura Voith, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences

Dear Colleagues:

Even people who think there should be limits on the idea that “the personal is political” must see a role for public policy to reduce “intimate partner violence.” The November murder of Aisha Fraser by her ex-husband, former judge Lance Mason, who had already served nine months in prison for a previous assault on her, provoked horror, sorrow and, now, a proposed “Aisha’s Law” to better protect victims.

Yet this cannot be only a policing problem. The challenges begin with the broader vulnerability of victims – often women who rely, economically or psychologically, on something they get from their partners. But the other side is equally difficult: policies to reduce domestic violence must change the processes that lead men (mainly) to attack their partners.

Laura Voith’s research shows that there is a victimization cycle, in which exposure to violence at home and in the community while young makes men more likely to be violent as adults. One implication is that interventions that focus on individual perpetrators or potential perpetrators might be too late or too narrow. But knowing what might be necessary does not tell us how to do it. Join us as Professor Voith considers what her and other research tells us about the prospects for policies that could reduce the horrific toll of domestic violence.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Dr. Laura Voith, an Assistant Professor, has worked over the last decade to address violence against girls and women through counseling, agency- and community-based coordination efforts, and research.

Her research focuses on the prevention and intervention of violence against girls and women by working with boys and men to uncover the etiology of violence using trauma-focused and health disparities lenses. Her research shows that exposure to adversity and violence in family- and community-settings in childhood and adolescence are significant factors that, if gone unaddressed, can lead men to perpetrate violence in adulthood. Dr. Voith’s research aims to inform the development and evaluation of violence prevention programs with at-risk youth, and improve batterer intervention programming with men.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library.

* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

March 15: No Discussion, Spring Break

March 22: Germany’s New Party Politics? With Andreas Sobisch, Associate Professor of Political Science, John Carroll University.

March 29: Punishment Beyond Prison: The Effects of Collateral Sanctions. With Michael Shields, Researcher, Policy Matters Ohio.

April 5: Budget Blues: Yes, It Can Get Worse. With Joe White, Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy.

April 12: The Polar Silk Road? With Kathryn C. Lavelle, Ellen and Dixon Long Professor of World Affairs.

April 19: Managing in a Trumped-Up Economy. With Mark Sniderman, Executive-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor of Economics, Weatherhead School, and former Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

April 26: What Do We Know About the Health and Safety Effects of Marijuana: Medical, Recreational, or Otherwise? With Theodore Parran Jr. MD, Isabel and Carter Wang Professor and Chair in Medical Education and Associate Director, Rosary Hall at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center.