Vivian J. Carlson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Contact
Phone: 860.231.5341
E-mail:
vcarlson@sjc.edu
Department Web Page:
Personal Web Page:
www.sjc.edu/vcarlson
Dr. Carlson is a developmental psychologist and a professional special educator who brings over 30 years of home-based early intervention experience to her research and teaching career. Dr. Carlson emphasizes the clinical applications of interdisciplinary research for human service professionals. Her publications and presentations focus on the interface of culture and development and its impact on parenting, attachment, and the relational context of aggression among girls. Her current work includes an ongoing ethnographic study of women from resource-poor backgrounds in Guyana, South America and the U.S. who become transformative leaders in their communities. Her research has challenged the cultural biases inherent in definitions of optimal parenting in attachment theory, and provided concrete examples and applications of cultural knowledge for professionals from fields as diverse as early intervention, marriage and family therapy, and law enforcement.
Dr. Carlson also travels to Georgetown, Guyana each year with a group of students and faculty members to provide workshops, developmental consultations and evaluations for hospitals, orphanages, families, and children's homes. Learning from and working alongside colleagues in the developing world provides many unexpected lessons about the power of human relationships and the remarkable strength, dignity, and grace possible in daily life in spite of overwhelmingly resource poor surroundings. She finds the challenges and triumphs of preparing a new generation of human service providers to be intensely rewarding. As the chair of the Saint Joseph College Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Dr. Carlson is able to teach in a caring and supportive environment that does an exceptional job of helping students develop into effective, reflective professionals.
Degrees
Ph.D., University of Connecticut, Family Studies, 2000
M.A., University of Connecticut, Educational Psychology, 1976
B.A., Tufts University, Jackson College for Women, Major: Child Study, 1973
Research/Publications
Carlson, V.J. (2010). [Review of the book Nasty, Brutish and Long: Adventures in Old Age and the World of Eldercare by I. Rosofsky]. Educational Gerontology, 36, 260-261.
Carlson, V. J. (2009). Attachment, Culture, and the Caregiving System: The Cultural Patterning of Everyday Experiences Among Anglo and Puerto Rican Mother-Infant Pairs. Koln, Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing. ISBN 978-3-8383-1736-6
Carlson, V. J. & Philips, C. (2008) “Harm2Harmony: Intervening in Girls’ Relational Aggression” Four pamphlets for preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school teachers & parents. Hopeworks: West Hartford, CT
Carlson, V. J. (2008). No choice but to fight or be a punk: Violent girls and the police. Law Enforcement Executive Forum, 8, 61-75.
Carlson,
V. J. (2007). A Community-Based Study of Aggression Among Girls: Is a Culture
of Avoidance Inherently Evil? Interdisciplinary.Net
Perspectives on Evil and Human
Wickedness.
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/evil/perspectives-on-evil/project-archives/8th/session-13-evil-feminine/
Carlson, V., Feng, X., & Harwood, R., "The 'Ideal Baby': A Look at the Intersection of Culture and Temperament," ZERO TO THREE: Journal of the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, 24, 22-28, March 2004.
Carlson, V. & Harwood, R., "Alternate Pathways to Competence: Culture and Early Attachment Relationships," in S.M.Johnson & V. Whiffen (Eds.), Attachment Processes in Couple and Family Therapy, (pp. 85-99), NY: Guilford Press, 2003.
Carlson, V.J. & Harwood, R.L., "Attachment, Culture, and the Caregiving System: The Cultural Patterning of Everyday Experiences Among Anglo and Puerto Rican Mother-infant Pairs," Infant Mental Health Journal, 24, 53-73, 2003.
Harwood, R.L., Miller, A.M., Carlson, V.J., & Leyendecker, B., "Child-rearing Beliefs and Practices During Feeding Among Middle-class Puerto Rican and Anglo Mother-infant Pairs," J.M. Contreras, K.A. Kerns, & A. M. Neal-Barnett (Eds.), Latino Children and Families in the United States, (pp. 133-154), Westport, Connecticut, Praeger Publisher, 2002.
Harwood, R.L., Leyendecker, B., Carlson, V.J., Asencio, M., & Miller, A.M., "Parenting Among Latino Families in the U.S," in M. Bornstein, (Ed.) The Handbook of Parenting (2nd ed.): Vol. 4 Social Conditions and Applied Parenting, (pp. 21-46), Mahwah, New Jersey, Erlbaum, 2002.
Carlson, V.J., "Learning to Dance Together: A look at Culture, Collaboration, and the Celebration of Diversity in Head Start," Children and Families, The magazine of the National Head Start Association, XV (1), 52-57, 2001.
Carlson, V. J. & Harwood, R.L., "Understanding and Negotiating Cultural Differences Concerning Early Developmental Competence: The six Raisin Solution,"ZERO TO THREE Bulletin of the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, 20, 3, pp. 19-24, 2000.
Carlson, V. J., & Anderson, S. A., "Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Head Start Families: A University Collaborative Model," National Head Start Association Dialog, 3, 2, 215-233, 2000.
Presentations
Nickoletti, P. & Carlson, V.J. (2009, October). Walking the Talk: Integrative Learning in Human Services. Integrative Learning: Addressing the Complexities Conference. American Association of Colleges and Universities, Atlanta: GA.
Carlson, V. J. (2007, March). A Community-Based Study of Aggression Among Girls: Is a Culture of Avoidance Inherently Evil? Paper presented at 8th Global Conference Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness. Salzburg, Austria.
Carlson, V. J. (2007, November). Aggression Among Girls: What do we know? What can we do? Keynote presentation at 13th Annual Children, Youth, and the Police Conference, co-sponsored by Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, Office of Policy and Management, and Connecticut Consortium for Law & Citizenship Education, Inc., Cromwell, CT.
Carlson, V. J. (2007, April). Babies’ and Toddlers’ Memory. Interview for national parenting magazine. Dick Jones Communications.
Carlson, V. J. (2007, April). Mean Girls. Interview by New York Times correspondent, Jennifer Steinhauer.
Carlson V. J. (2007, March). The Gap in Teacher Personnel Preparation and Minority Teacher Recruitment. Presentation at Addressing the Achievement of Connecticut’s Black and Hispanic/Latino male Students Conference, co-sponsored by CT. Department of Education, State Education Resource Center, & CT African American Affairs Commission. Meriden, CT.
Carlson, V.J., "Parental Ethnotheories: A Tool for Understanding and Serving Diverse Families", invited presentation at the Early Head Start and Child Care Birth to Three Institute Conference entitled "The Future is Now: Building a Strong Foundation for Life", Washington, D.C., June 2005.
Carlson, V. J., "Cultural Reciprocity in Practice: Honoring Diversity among Students and Families," keynote presentation at "Supporting Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners and Their Families" conference, Trumbull, Connecticut, May 2005.
Carlson, V. J., "Cultural Reciprocity: Finding a Shared Space," presentation at "Reaching Every Child. Closing Connecticut's Achievement Gaps by Empowering Educators to Meet the Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners" conference, Trumbull, Connecticut, April 2005.
Carlson, V.J. (2004, April). Studying ourselves: Action research in the undergraduate classroom. Roundtable discussion session presented at Association of American Colleges and Universities Network for Academic Renewal Pedagogies of Engagement Conference, Chicago, IL.
Carlson, V.J. (2003, April). Migration and Cultural Change: Puerto Rican Mothers’ Structuring of Mealtime Routines for Toddlers. Poster presented at the Biennial Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL.
Carlson, V.J., "Temperament in the First Years of Life," symposium presented at the ZERO TO THREE National Training Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 2003
