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University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Department of

Sociology

Graduate Studies in Family Sociology

 

The Family Studies Program in the Department of Sociology offers a unique opportunity to work with active research scholars in the classroom and in individual research projects. Students who complete graduate studies in sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are well prepared to pursue successful careers in the academic and public arenas.

 

Resources and Facilities

  • The department's sponsorship of major family-related studies provides excellent research opportunities for students. These include ongoing national and statewide panel studies. Students are encouraged to do independent or collaborative research in addition to required thesis and dissertation projects.
  • The Bureau of Sociological Research is an outstanding survey research organization equipped with state-of-the-art computer technology. Students gain hands-on experience and participate in bureau projects, or may use bureau staff and facilities to field their own research.
  • The field of family studies is integrated with other specialized fields in Sociology, such as Aging, Social Psychology, and Sex and Gender.
  • The Department maintains a library of journals and books with an emphasis on family studies. These are available for graduate student use.
  • Graduate assistantships are offered with competitive stipends and full tuition remission. Help is given in acquiring fellowships and student loans.
  • Meetings of a family study group enhance faculty-student interaction. Group meetings are informal, with students and faculty taking turns presenting/discussing in the area of family sociology.
  • Through course offerings and opportunities for independent research and scholarly activity, we are able to offer students interested in family sociology a strong graduate program. If you are seeking graduate training in the sociology of the family or know students who are, we welcome inquiries and applications.
  • Faculty in the Department specialize in numerous areas within family sociology including partner violence, family abuse, divorce, marital discord, parent educational investments, the integenerational transfer of mental and physical helath between adults and their children, family structure and family process, social and behavioral consequences of infertility.

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Publications in the Area of Family Sociology with Graduate Students

Stimpson, Jim P., Kimberly A. Tyler, & Dan R. Hoyt. (2005). "Effects of Parental Rejection and Relationship Quality on Depression Among Older Rural Adults." International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 61(3):195-210.

Tyler, Kimberly A., Lisa A. Melander, and HarmoniJoie Noel. (Forthcoming; 2009). "Bidirectional Partner Violence Among Homeless Young Adults: Risk Factors and Outcomes." Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(6).

Tyler, Kimberly A. and Lisa A. Melander. (Forthcoming). "Discrepancies in Reporting of Physical and Sexual Abuse Among Homeless Youth." Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.

 

Faculty Publications in the Area of Family Sociology

Amato, Paul R., and Jacob E. Cheadle. 2008.  “Parental Divorce, Marital Conflict, and Children’s Behavior Problems: A Comparison of Adopted and Biological Children.”  Social Forces, 86(3): 1139-1161.

Amato, Paul R., and Jacob E. Cheadle. 2005.  “The Long Reach of Divorce:  Implications of Marital Dissolution for Three Generations.”  Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(1):191-206.

Brownridge, Douglas A., Diane Hiebert-Murphy, Janice Ristock, Edward K.L. Chan, Agnes Tiwari, Kimberly A. Tyler, and Susy Santos. (2008). "Violence Against Separated, Divorced and Married Women in Canada, 2004." Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 49(3/4):308-329.

Cheadle, Jacob E. 2008. “Educational Investment, Family Context, and Children’s Math and Reading Growth from Kindergarten through Third Grade.”  Sociology of Education, 81:1.

Falci, Christina.  2006.  “Family Structure, Closeness to Residential and Non-Residential Parents, and Psychological Distress in Early and Middle Adolescence.” The Sociological Quarterly 47:123-146.

Goosby, Bridget J., and Jacob E. Cheadle.  2009 (Forthcoming). “Birth Weight, Math, and Reading Achievement Growth: A Multilevel Between-Sibling, Between-Families Approach.”  Social Forces.

McMorris, Barbara, Kimberly A. Tyler, Les B. Whitbeck, and Dan R. Hoyt. (2002). "Familial and on-the street Risk Factors Associated with Alcohol Use among Homeless and Runaway Adolescents." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63:34-43.

Tyler, Kimberly A. and Ana Mari Cauce. (2002). "Perpetrators of Early Physical and Sexual Abuse among Homeless and Runaway Adolescents." Child Abuse & Neglect, 26:1261-1274.

Tyler, Kimberly A. "Social and Emotional Outcomes of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Review of Recent Research." (2002). Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7:567-589.

Tyler, Kimberly A., Ana Mari Cauce, and Les B. Whitbeck. (2004). "Family Risk Factors and Prevalence of Dissociative Symptoms among Homeless and Runaway Youth." Child Abuse & Neglect, 28(3):355-366.

Tyler, Kimberly A. (2006). "The Impact of Support Received and Support Provision on Changes in Perceived Social Support among Older Adults." International Journal of Aging and
Human Development, 62(1):21-38.

Whitbeck, Les B., Dan R. Hoyt, and Kimberly A. Tyler.  (2001). "Family Relationship Histories, Intergenerational Relationship Quality, and Depressive Affect among Rural Elderly People." The Journal of Applied Gerontology, 20:214-229.

 

Affiliated Faculty

Jacob E. Cheadle, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University), studies family processes including divorce, marital discord, and parent educational investments and children’s behavioral and academic outcomes.  Dr. Cheadle is a former Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Research Scholar and his published works have appeared in Social Forces, Sociology of Education, The Journal of Marriage and the Family, Sociological Methodology, and the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness

Bridget Goosby, Assistant Professor (Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University), is interested in the intergenerational transfer of mental and physical health between adults and their children.  Specifically, she is interested in how mental and physical health disparities are perpetuated through stressful contexts and manifested in families with special attention paid to African American families.

Christina D. Falci, Assistant Professor (Ph.D., University of Minnesota), her research interests in family sociology pertain to how family structure and family process influence mental health. She was awarded the Maude Hammond Fling Faculty Research Fellowship for faculty research in the fall of 2006 to support a graduate research assistant for a project on family structure, adolescent health, and propensity score matching.

Julia McQuillan, Associate Professor (Ph.D. University of Connecticut), has research interests in fertility, gender, and mental health.  She is co-investigator of a NICHD grant to study social and behavioral consequences of infertility.  She is a methodologist who teaches basic and advanced graduate statistics seminars, and conducts research using a variety of methods. She has taught Marriage and the Family, Family Diversity, and the Graduate Seminar on the Family. She serves as the current Director of the Bureau of Sociological Research.

Kimberly A. Tyler, Associate Professor (Ph.D. Iowa State University). She is the principal investigator on a K01 award from NIMH that investigates neglect and abuse histories among homeless young adults. She is also principal investigator on NIDA funded project that examines how the social networks of homeless youth impacts their HIV risk behaviors. In addition to these projects, Dr. Tyler has published in the area of child abuse and neglect, including a review of the literature on child sexual abuse. Her work also examines the effect of poor parenting on numerous outcomes such as physical and sexual victimization among homeless and other high risk populations. Dr. Tyler’s current work has focused on bidirectional partner violence and the effect that poor parenting has on dating violence of males and females.

Les B. Whitbeck, John G. Bruhn Professor of Sociology (Ph.D. Washington State University). He is principal investigator for the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Homeless Adolescents and is currently developing a program of research that focuses on homeless women and children. He is also principal investigator for a longitudinal diagnostic study of American Indian children aged 10-12 years.  The project will follow the children and their caretakers as the children move through their high school years.