Teaching Faculty Profiles

Susan Sorenson
Professor of Criminology; Professor of Social Policy; Senior Fellow in Public Health

B.S., Iowa State University, 1977; M.S., Illinois Institute of Technology, 1980; Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, 1985

Email: sorenson@sp2.upenn.edu
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Research Areas

Professor Sorenson’s research is conducted from population and public health perspectives. She has published in the areas of homicide, suicide, sexual assault, battering, child abuse, and firearms. A primary focus of her work is how gender, ethnicity, and nativity are associated with risk of violent behavior and violent victimization.

Current Projects

Professor Sorenson currently is working on a project, funded by the Joyce Foundation, about the firearm purchase and possession provisions of the federal 1994 Violence Against Women Act. The research examines restraining orders (also known as protection from abuse orders), handgun purchases, and lethal outcomes.

Academic Positions Held

1985 - 2006: Professor, School of Public Health, UCLA
2006 - present: Professor of Social Policy and Criminology, University of Pennsylvania

Career and Recent Professional Awards

Elected Fellow of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues

Elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association

Elected Member of Delta Omega, the Honorary Society in Public Health

Robert Chin Award for research on child abuse and social policy, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues

Chaim Danieli Young Professional Award, Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

Representive Publications

Female aggression toward male intimate partners: An examination of social norms in a community-based sample. Sorenson SB, Taylor CA, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 2005;29:78-96.

Restraining orders in California : A look at statewide data. Sorenson SB, Shen H. Violence Against Women, 2005;11:912-933.

Developing a practical forecasting screener for domestic violence, Berk RA, He Y, Sorenson SB. Evaluation Review, 2005;29:358-383.

Recreational use of firearms among adolescents. Vittes KA, Sorenson SB, Health Education and Behavior, 2005;32:751-766. Selected for Certified Health Educator Specialist continuing education credit

Community-based norms about intimate partner violence: Putting attributions of fault and responsibility into context, Taylor CA, Sorenson SB. Sex Roles, 2005;53:573-589.

The gender gap starts young: Survey responses by teenagers regarding guns in the home, Cook PJ, Sorenson SB. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 2006;22:61-76.

Taking guns from batterers: Public support and policy implications, Sorenson SB. Evaluation Review, 2006;30:361-373.

Firearms use in intimate partner violence: A brief overview, Sorenson SB. Evaluation Review, 2006;30:229-236.

Judgments about intimate partner violence: A statewide survey about immigrants, Sorenson SB. Public Health Reports, 2006;121:445-452.

Are temporary restraining orders more likely to be issued when applications mention firearms? Vittes KA, Sorenson SB. Evaluation Review, 2006;30:266-282.

Intimate parnter violence and firearms. Sorenson SB (ed.) Special issue of Evaluation Review. June 2006.

The missing half of suicide prevention (letter), Sorenson SB, Miller M. American Journal of Public Health, 2006;96:1194.

Risk-taking among adolescents who say they can get a handgun, Vittes KA, Sorenson SB. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2006;39:929-932.

Intervention on behalf of children exposed to intimate partner violence: Assessment of support in a diverse community-based sample, Taylor CA, Sorenson SB. Child Abuse and Neglect, 2007;31:1155-68.

Violence and injury. Sorenson SB. In Goldman L (ed.) Cecil Textbook of Medicine (23rd ed.), Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co., in press.

“We’ve got a gun?”: Comparing reports of adolescents and their parents about household firearms, Sorenson SB, Cook PJ. Journal of Community Psychology, 2008; 36:1-19.

Keeping guns out of the hands of abusers: Handgun purchases and domestic violence restraining orders, Vittes KA, Sorenson SB. American Journal of Public Health, in press, expected release May 2008.

Mental health and firearms in community-based surveys: Implications for suicide prevention, with Katherine A. Vittes. Evaluation Review, in press, expected release June 2008.

Domestic violence and weapons, Sorenson SB. In C. Mitchell and D. Anglin (eds.), A Primer on Domestic Violence, Oxford University Press, in press, expected release October 2008.

Restraining orders among victims of intimate partner homicide, with Katherine A. Vittes, Injury Prevention, in press, expected release in 2008.

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