Faculty Profile

Carolyn West, Ph.D.

• Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Missouri, St. Louis, 1994.

Dr. Carolyn M. West is Associate Professor of Psychology in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program at the University of Washington, Tacoma where she teaches courses on Family Violence, Human Sexuality, and Psychology of Women.

As an interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. West draws on her academic background in Psychology, Women's Studies, and Ethnic Studies to investigate violence in the lives of ethnically diverse families. She has lectured internationally and conducted workshops and presented papers at more than 100 conferences. As an award-winning scholar, Dr. West has authored or co-authored more than 40 journal articles and book chapters.

Dr. West also has given television, radio, newspaper, and magazine interviews (Washington Post, National Public Radio). She has served as an expert witness in domestic violence cases and testified at Congressional Briefings in Washington, DC.

In recognition of her scholarship, she was honored as the first holder of the Bartley Dobb Professorship for the Study and Prevention of Violence (2005-2008).

Selected Publications:

West, C. M. (2008). Mammy, Jezebel, Sapphire, and their Homegirls: Developing an "oppositional gaze" toward the images of Black women. In J. Chrisler, C. Golden, & P. Rozee (Eds.), Lectures on the psychology of women (4th Ed. pp. 286-299). New York: McGraw Hill.

West, C.M. (2008). "A thin line between love and hate?" Black men as victims and perpetrators of dating violence. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, 16, 238-257.

West, C. M. (2007). Black battered women arrested for domestic violence. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, & Trauma,15 (3/4), 95-121.

West, C. M. (2002). Violence in the lives of Black women: Battered, black, and blue. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press (Winner of the 2004 Carolyn Payton Early Career Award).

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