Faculty in the News

J. David Hawkins

Hawkins Wins 2009 Flynn Prize for Research
J. David Hawkins, endowed professor of Prevention in the School of Social Work and founding director of the Social Development Research Group (SDRG), was awarded the prestigious Flynn Prize for Research on March 8.

Administered by the School of Social Work at the University of Southern California (USC), the prize recognizes research and scholarship that is:

• Rigorous and creative
• Focused on severe and persistent problems of society
• Interdisciplinary in method and substance
• Of demonstrated value to advancing human welfare.

Hawkins’ body of research is wide and deep, with a major focus on understanding and preventing child and adolescent health and behavior problems. He seeks to identify risk and protective factors for these problems across multiple domains; to understand how these factors interact in the development or prevention of problem behaviors; and to test comprehensive prevention strategies that seek to reduce risk through the enhancement of strengths and protective factors in families, schools, peer groups, and communities.

"This prize is such an honor because our work is aimed at trying to make a difference in the real world, and this is validation of the advances of prevention science in promoting the healthy, social, emotional and behavioral development of America's young people," Dr. Hawkins said.

Hawkins is principal investigator in the Seattle Social Development Project, a longitudinal study of 808 Seattle elementary school students that began in 1981 to test strategies for promoting successful development. He is also principal investigator of the Community Youth Development Study (CYDS), a randomized field experiment involving 24 communities across seven states seeking to test the effectiveness of the Communities That Care prevention system developed by Hawkins and Richard F. Catalano.

Hawkins is the author of numerous articles and books and the recipient of many other awards, including distinguished lectureships, the Exemplary Substance Abuse Prevention Programs Award for Preparing for the Drug-Free Years from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Prevention Science Award from the Society for Prevention Research.

The Flynn Prize, which was formally awarded to Hawkins at a formal ceremony at USC’s Town and Gown, carries an honorarium and a medallion.

Davis to Study Alcohol Abuse & Condom Resistance
Kelly Cue Davis, research assistant professor in the School of Social Work, has received grant funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for her project, Alcohol and Condom Use Resistance in Sexually Coercive/Violent Men. Davis’ five-year project (nearly $2.1 million total award) will utilize both experimental and survey methods to investigate the influence of alcohol consumption and sexual assault background on heterosexual men’s responses to women’s condom-use requests. This project seeks to close key knowledge gaps regarding the relationships among men's level of intoxication, sexual violence and sexual risk behavior to help minimize sexual risk and prevent sexual violence. Co-Investigators are William H. George (UW psychology) and Jeanette Norris (UW Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute).  

Special Issue of Child & Family Social Work in May
School of Social Work professors Peter Pecora and Jim Whittaker (professor emeritus), along with Colette McAuley, professor of Social Work Studies and director, Center for Child Well-Being Research Centre, University of Southampton (U.K.) are guest editors of a just-published special issue of Child & Family Social Work, an international Wiley-Blackwell peer-review journal based in the U.K. (May, 2009) on the theme: “High-Risk Youth: Evidence on Characteristics, Needs and Promising Interventions.”

The 10 papers include contributions from Denmark, Belgium and Australia as well as the U.K. and U.S. Full text of all papers are available online now at the journal Web site; a hard copy will be available later this spring in the Social Work Library.