Criminal Justice & Criminology Department Professor Linda M. Williams

Linda M. Williams, Ph. D. Criminal Justice & Criminology Department Linda_Williams@uml.edu Spring 2010 Office Hours Wednesday     3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Thursday          8:30 am - 10:00 am     Location:    Mahoney 212 E     Call: 978-934-4118

Background and Interests

Linda M. Williams, received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, where she studied at the Center for Research in Criminology and Criminal Law. Dr. Williams was appointed in 2005 as Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, at the University of Massachusetts Lowell where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on child maltreatment, research methods, and gender, race and crime. She serves on the University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB).  Dr. Williams is principal investigator on a study of prostituted teens and at risk runaways funded by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.  She has directed longitudinal research on sexual exploitation of children and youth, sex offenders, violence against women, family violence, the consequences of child abuse and violence prevention for 34 years.   Dr. Williams is author of 4 books and numerous scholarly publications on child abuse, violence against women, sexual abuse and family violence. She served on the National Research Councils’ Panel on Violence Against Women and as co-director of the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center. Dr. Williams has been principal investigator on 14 U.S. federally funded research projects. She has provided expert testimony and consultation on civil and criminal suits related to recovered memory, sexual abuse in institutional settings, and the consequences of child sexual abuse. Current research includes continuing work in the U.S. and internationally on trauma and memory, child abuse and delinquency, human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Research projects, reports and publications

• Navy Family Study

• Pathways into and out of commercial sexual victimization of children: Understanding and responding to sexually exploited teens

• Final Report

• Recommendations and Policy