Each month, we select someone from the membership list and ask him/her questions about their experiences in the division. This month's featured member is Ola Barnett, Ph.D. 

CLICK HERE for an archive of previously featured members.

Currently, I am a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Psychology at Pepperdine University. I taught first at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California in 1967 and finished teaching at Pepperdine University, Malibu, California in 1999. Eventually, I coauthored two books with three editions each in the field of family violence.  These best-selling books (in the field) are Family Violence Across the Lifespan and It could Happen to Anyone: Why Battered Women Stay, Sage Publications. I am currently working on one last book even though I am retired and in my 80s. Why, you might ask? Because ending family violence is my passion and my academic mission in life. I am grateful to see that younger scientists are producing new and valuable research in the field.

I joined Division 51 in its early stages.  I became interested in the division after reading a book by Ronald Levant and articles by Gary Brooks and Glen Good. I had also heard convention presentations by several researchers, such as Ed Gondolf and Kevin Hamberger.  Since my research interest was/is family violence, I wanted to learn more about male socialization and its link to men’s violence in the home. I was particularly impressed that male academics took the lead in male-focused information in the journal, Psychology of Men and Masculinity.  The division’s work on men’s depression is especially noteworthy.

For me, the division’s focus on men’s issues is of critical importance. With greater understanding of male socialization, society can support men more effectively in their efforts to fulfill the challenges of the male role. Until the inauguration of Division 51, information about men’s issues often fell by the wayside as women’s needs took precedence.  In the past, most research efforts on men centered on condemning their violence and patriarchal viewpoints, rather than on understanding men. Division 51’s wide-ranging choice of articles has helped me learn and improve the information I included in my books.

My major interest has been on research and teaching.  Grant money and access to male research subjects in prison, juvenile detention facilities, and under treatment in the community, enabled me to collect fresh data. Over the years, my coauthors and I presented original research about men’s family violence as it related to alcohol misuse, hostility, impulsivity, jealousy, anxious romantic attachment, and other personality dimensions.  Along the way, I conducted studies on battered women and uncovered a variety of reasons why it is difficult for them to escape from their violent relationships. Blaming battered women, rape victims, and other victims still occurs and greatly inhibits their recovery. In 2005, Dr. Jennifer Langhanrichen-Rohling called attention to our book, It Could Happen to Anyone: Why Battered Stay. In an article about the Top Ten “Greatest “Hits,” she praised our work showing that battered women love their violent partners and learn to stay (see Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(1),108-118). 

Much of my career, I was able to attract colleagues and students to work with me in conducting research.  In my latter years of teaching, I was able to offer a class on family violence.  Many of the class topics and media presentations evoked strong, even tearful reactions in my students. Some students enrolled in field work experiences, such as working with children at a women’s shelter, accompanying victims to court, working with juvenile delinquents, participating in rape clinic activities, and helping in other venues. A few students gathered research data in these same settings and presented papers at conventions. Such experiences not only helped students learn about family violence, it also helped them improve their resumes when applying to graduate schools. I am proud of my students’ accomplishments.