Grants and opportunities

APF grant fosters research against discrimination

Meifen Wei, PhD, an associate professor of counseling psychology at Iowa State University, received APF's 2009 Div. 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) Counseling Psychology Grant. Wei is the principal investigator for her proposed study "Coping with Discrimination among Asian-American Community Adults," which will explore the protective factors in dealing with racial discrimination and reducing stress among Asian-American adults. Previously, Wei has studied how ethnic-minority populations deal with stress that comes from discrimination and other factors.

The Div. 17 grant supports activities that advance counseling psychology.

Cattaneo wins grant to study effective ways to empower domestic violence victims

The court system can intimidate almost anyone. And the fear only mounts if you are a victim of domestic abuse, already battered and afraid.

Lauren Cattaneo, PhD, of George Mason University, understands the importance of working effectively with the court system. APF has given her the Raymond A. and Rosalee G. Weiss Innovative Research and Programs Grant to research how best to empower victims of intimate partner violence who seek help from the court system.

Cattaneo will develop a measure of empowerment that will help victims of intimate partner violence seek help from the court system. In many jurisdictions, victims do not have any choice regarding whether the prosecution's case against their batterer goes forward; the victim also may not have a choice in testifying against his or her batterer. Her measure will compare different jurisdictions and assess the degree to which victims' interactions with the court allow them to voice and make concrete progress toward their own priorities.

Cattaneo's work has the potential to contribute to a foundation for refining current programs and policies and for developing new ones. Her goal is to create better outcomes in the courts for all victims of intimate partner violence and to decrease their exposure to future violence.