New Kensington, PA 15068
Biography
Dr. Penelope Morrison is an Associate Professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State New Kensington. She also serves as the program coordinator for the undergraduate Biobehavioral Health degree and as a University College Senior Faculty Mentor. Dr. Morrison has served as a co-facilitator for the Men Embracing Non-Violence and Safety program through the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh and as a research consultant on the National Battering Intervention Services Network. She currently serves as an executive board member for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Dr. Morrison earned her PhD in medical anthropology and master’s in public health from the University of Pittsburgh. She also has extensive training in health services research, having completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship with the RAND/University of Pittsburgh Health Institute. In her spare time, Dr. Morrison is a volunteer lighthouse keeper, an avid baker, and an amateur naturalist.
Research Interests
Dr. Morrison’s early research was focused on understanding adolescent sexual and reproductive health risk taking among underserved, unhoused populations of youth in the both the United States and Brazil. Her more recent work seeks to understand what strategies work best for reducing abusive behaviors among individuals with a known history of partner violence. She has published extensively on the experiences of facilitators, clients, and others involved in battering intervention services, with an eye toward uncovering best practices for reducing the incidence of abuse, and on the risk factors associated with engaging in partner violent behaviors. She has also recently expanded her work to include an understanding of co-occurring IPV and opioid use disorders among victims, and the potential utility of engaging in a medical-legal partnership model of care for this population as a way to reduce stigma and other barriers to care. In addition to her own work, Dr. Morrison has served as a co-investigator and qualitative and ethnographic methodological expert on a wide variety of projects addressing health inequities for young women and girls.
Publications
Partner violent men's perspectives on the factors they beleive contributed to their abusive behaviors, Violence Against Women - October 31, 2022
Collaborators: Adren Warling; Rhonda Fleming; Judy Chang
Exploring the use of Justice Reinvestment: perceptions of victims service providers and the promise of reinvestment, Victims and Offenders - October 10, 2022
Collaborators: Richard Wentling, Author; Elian Buchi, Co-Author
Male IPV perpetrators' self-reports of accountability: a content analysis of exit letters written by clients who completed a batterer intervention program between 1990 - 2015., Partner Abuse - 2021
Collaborators: Alyssa Stewart; Jesse Cenci; Ashley Worlds; Judy Chang
An exploratory study of the relationship between human service engagement, recidivism and completion of a batterer intervention program., Journal of Family Violence - May 20, 2021
Collaborators: Kelley Jones; Elizabeth Miller; Patricia Cluss; Donna George; Rhonda Fleming; Judy Chang
The challenges of working with men who perpetrate partner violence: perspectives and observations of experts who work with batterer intervention programs., Journal of Interpersonal Violence - April, 2021
Collaborators: Lynn Hawker; Patricia Cluss; Elizabeth Miller ; Rhonda Fleming; Donna George; Terry Bicehouse ; Jessica Burke; Kalem Wright; Judy Chang
Key components of the batterer intervention program processes: an analysis of observational data from two-community based BIPs., Journal of Family Issues - January 4, 2021
Collaborators: Sara Goodkind; Patricia Cluss; Lynn Hawker; Donna George; Elizabeth Miller; Judy Chang
COVID-19 and its impact on intimate partner violence: The intersection of health, justice, and the path forward - October 23, 2020
Collaborator: Richard Wentling, Co-Author
Pregnant victims of intimate partner homicide in the National Violence Death Reporting System database, 2003-2015: A descriptive analysis., Journal of Interpersonal Violence - July 26, 2020
Collaborators: Chelsea Pallatino; Rachel Fusco; Tanya Kenkre; Judy Chang; Elizabeth Krans
Male IPV perpetrators perspectives on facilitation of batterer intervention programs., Partner Abuse - December, 2019
Collaborators: Patricia Cluss; Elizabeth Miller; Rhonda Fleming; Terry Bicehouse; Judy Chang
Human services utilization among male IPV perpetrators: Relationship to timing and completion of batterer intervention programs., Violence and Victims - 2019
Collaborators: Kelley Jones; Elizabeth Miller; Patricia Cluss; Lynn Hawker; Donna George; Terry Bicehouse; Rhonda Fleming ; Judy Chang
Male intimate partner violence perpetrators’ perceptions of the positives and negatives of peer interactions in group batterer intervention programs., Violence Against Women - November, 2019
Collaborators: Donna George; Patricia Cluss; Elizabeth Miller; Lynn Hawker; Rhonda Fleming; Terry Bicehouse; Jessica Burke; Judy Chang
The operational challenges for batterer intervention programs: results from a 2-Year study., Journal of Interpersonal Violence - July 1, 2019
Collaborators: Lynn Hawker; Elizabeth Miller; Patricia Cluss; Donna George; Rhonda Fleming; Terry Bicehouse; Kalem Wright; Jessica Burke; Judy Chang
The role of accountability in batterer intervention programs and community response to intimate partner violence., Journal of Family Issues - March 25, 2019
Collaborators: Chelsea Pallatino; Elizabeth Miller; Jessica Burke; Patricia Cluss; Rhonda Fleming; Lynn Hawker; Donna George; Terry Bicehouse; Kalem Wright; Judy Chang
Messages about contraception and condoms in mother-adolescent dyadic conversations: knowledge, risks and effectiveness., Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology - February 16, 2019
Collaborators: Camille McCallister; Aletha Akers; Ashley Worlds
The influence of batterer intervention programs on male perpetrators of intimate partner violence: Reports of change in beliefs and behaviors., Journal of Offender Rehabilitation - September, 2018
Collaborators: Elizabeth Miller; Lynn Hawker; Patricia Cluss; Terry Bicehouse; Kalem Wright; Donna George; Rhonda Fleming; Jessica Burke; Judy Chang
Hepatitis C virus knowledge among pregnant women with opioid use disorder., Maternal and Child Health - August, 2018
Collaborators: Elizabeth Krans; Scott Rothenberger; Seo Young Park; Leah Klocke; Mary Turocy; Susan Zickmund
Abstinence messages in conversations between mothers and their young adolescent sons and daughters., Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology - April, 2018
Collaborators: Kanika Ramchandani; Melanie Gold; Aletha Akers
Adult male perpetrators' perspectives on what prevention approaches work best for young boys at risk of future intimate partner violence perpetration., Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma - April, 2018
Collaborators: Elizabeth Miller; Jessica Burke; Patricia Cluss; Rhonda Fleming; Lynn Hawker; Donna George; Terry Bicehouse; Kalem Wright; Judy Chang
Identifying strategies for effective telemedicine use in intensive care units: the ConnECCT study protocol., International Journal of Qualitative Methods - October 6, 2017
Collaborators: Kimberly Rak; Courtney Kuza; Lauren Ellen Ashcraft; Derek Angus; Amber Barnato; Marilyn Hravnak; Tina Hershey; Jeremy Kahn
Elements needed for quality batterer intervention programs: perspectives of professionals who deal with intimate partner violence., Journal of Family Violence - July, 2017
Collaborators: Patricia Cluss; Elizabeth Miller; Rhonda Fleming; Lynn Hawker; Terry Bicehouse; Donna George; Kalem Wright; Judy Chang
Bridging the gap between anthropology and health services research, Practicing Anthropology - 2016
Collaborators: Laura Macia, Author; Megan Hamm, Author; Rory McCarthy, Author; Kimberly Rak, Author
“Anything above marijuana takes priority”: obstetric providers’ attitudes and counseling strategies regarding perinatal marijuana use., Patient Education and Counseling - September, 2016
Collaborators: Cynthia Holland; Michelle Nkumsah; Jill Tarr; Doris Rubio; Keri Rodriguez; Kevin Kraemer; Nancy Day; Robert Arnold; Judy Chang
Parental perceptions of the importance of adolescent mental health information, Health and Social Work - 2015
Collaborators: Lovie Jackson Foster, Author; MinJae Lee, Author; Esa Davis, Author; Elizabeth Miller, Author; Aletha Akers, Author
Risk evaluations and condom use decisions of homeless youth: a multi-level qualitative investigation, BMC public health - 2015
Collaborators: David Kennedy, Author; Ryan Brown, Author; Loryana Vie, Author; Gery Ryan, Author; Joan Tucker, Author
Parental report of receipt of adolescent preventive health counseling services from pediatric providers, Patient Education and Counseling - 2014
Collaborators: Aletha Akers, Author; Esa Davis, Author; Lovie Foster, Author; Gina Sucato, Author; Elizabeth Miller, Author; MinJae Lee, Author
Substance use and sexual risk among at-risk adolescents in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, Cadernos de Saúde Pública - 2014
Collaborators: Amy Smith, Author; Aletha Akers, Author
Youth perspectives on risk and resiliency: A case study from Juiz de Fora, Brazil, Youth & Society - 2014
Collaborators: Cara Nikolajski, Author; Sonya Borrero, Author; Susan Zickmund, Author
‘When we think about risk, we think about rights’: community-based organisations’ staff members' perspectives on risk, resiliency and rights in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, Health, Risk & Society - 2013
Collaborators: Cara Nikolajski, Author; Susan Zickmund, Author
Informed consent for inguinal herniorrhaphy and cholecystectomy: describing how patients make decisions to have surgery, The American Journal of Surgery - 2012
Collaborators: Daniel Hall, Author; Cara Nikolajski, Author; Michael Fine, Author; Robert Arnold, Author; Susan Zickmund, Author
Education
MPH, Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
PhD, Medical Anthropology , University of Pittsburgh