Chitra
Raghavan
Professor of Psychology, Director of The Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program, Coordinator of Victimology Studies in Forensic Psychology
Phone number
Please e-mail
Room number
10.63.10 NB
Education

2000, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Yale University School of Medicine

1998, PhD,   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1995, MA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1992,  A.B. Smith College, Magna cum Laude

1990-1991, Université Paris (V) ( Participated in the Smith Junior Year Abroad program)

Bio

Chitra Raghavan Professor in the psychology department and the Director of the Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program. In her role as Director, she created and oversees the Advanced Certificate of Victim Studies and the Victim Track specialization contained within the Forensic Mental Health Counseling degree.

Dr. Raghavan conducts research on coercive control--power dynamics in intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, sex trafficking and related traumatic outcomes. A second area of interest is applying Eastern Psychological principles to forensic psychology. She has written over fifty scientific articles and authored two books; Raghavan, C. & Levine, J. (Eds.). (2012). Self Determination and Women’s Rights in the Muslim World. HBI Series on Gender, Culture Religion, and Law. Boston: Brandeis University Press and Raghavan C. & Cohen, S.J. (Eds.) (2013). Domestic Violence: Methodologies in Dialogue. Northeastern Series on Gender, Crime, and Law, Northeastern University Press. She is a practicing psychologist and deemed an expert by the courts in intimate partner violence, sex trafficking, coercive control, trauma, and trauma bonding. Her research and testimony has created case law  in New York State (https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/other-courts/2018/2018-ny-slip-op-28161.html). For more information, please visit her websites (http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/faculty/chitra-raghavan) or (craghavan.com).

 

 

JJC Affiliations
Psychology, Graduate Center
Courses Taught

BA in Psychology: Psychological Analysis of Criminal Behavior, Global Portraits of Domestic Violence, Gender, Community, and Violence, Multicultural Issues in Forensic Psychology, Culture, Psychopathology, and Healing, Psychology of Gender

MA in Forensic Mental Health Counseling: Trauma and Dissociation, Psychology of the Victim, Family Violence and Disputes, Advanced Research Methods, Research Design Methods, Advanced Psychology of Personality, Clinical Interviewing

PhD in Clinical Psychology: Cognitive and Affective Aspects of Behavior, Diversity, Psychopathology

Study Abroad: In addition teaching a trauma and victimization classes at John Jay, I also lead two study abroad programs, one to Bali Indonesia, and the other to Morocco. The Bali program introduces students to the cultural study of the self and the Morocco program examines gender and feminism in a non-Western context.

 

Languages
English, Tamil, French, Bahasa Malaysia
Scholarly Work

Books

 

case law

Case law: https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/other-courts/2018/2018-ny-slip-op-28161.html

 

Selected Peer Review Publications (Please see CV for full list)

  • Raghavan, C., Beck, C. J. A., Menke, J. M., & Loveland J. E. (2019). Coercive controlling behaviors in intimate partner violence in male same-sex relationships: A mixed methods study. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720.2019.1616643Doychak, K &
  • Raghavan, C. (2018). “No voice or cote:” trauma-coerced attachment invictims of sex trafficking. Journal of Human Trafficking, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2018.1518625
  • Barbaro, L. & Raghavan, C. (2018). Patterns in coercive controlling behaviors among men mandated for batterer treatment: Denial, minimization, and consistency of tactics across relationships. Partner Abuse, 9(3), 270-290.
  • Kaplenko, H., Loveland, J. E., & Raghavan, C. (2018). Relationships among shame, restrictiveness, authoritativeness, and coercive control in men mandated to batterer treatment. Violence and Victims, 33(2), 296-309.
  • Loveland, J. E., & Raghavan, C. (2017). Coercive control, physical violence, and masculinity. Violence and Gender, 4(1), 1-6.
  • Viñas-Racionero, R., Raghavan, C., Soria-Verde, M. Á., & Prat-Santaolaria, R. (2017). The association between stalking and violence in a sample of Spanish partner violence cases. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 61(5), 561-581.
  • Raghavan, C., & Doychak, K. (2015). Trauma-coerced Bonding and Victims of Sex Trafficking: Where do we go from here? International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience, 2015, 17(2), 583-587.
  • Raghavan, C., Cohen, S., and Tamborra, T.  (2015). Development and Validation of A New Sexual Coercion Scale. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 21(3), 271-289.
  • Loveland, J.E., & Raghavan, C. (2014). Near-lethal violence in a sample of high-risk men in same-sex relationships. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 1, 51-62.
  • Beck, C.J.A., & Raghavan, C. (2010). Intimate partner violence screening in custody mediation: The importance of assessing coercive control. Family Court Review, 48, 555-565.
  • Tanha, M., Beck, C.J.A., & Figueredo, A.J., & Raghavan, C. (2010). Coercive control as motivational factor for intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25, 1836-1854.
  • Raghavan, C., Rajah, V., & Gentile, K., Collado, L., & Kavanagh, A-M. (2009). Community Violence, social support networks, ethnic group differences, and male perpetration of intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24, 1615-1632.
  • Kingston, S., & Raghavan, C.  (2009). The relationship of sexual abuse, early initiation of substance use, and adolescent trauma to PTSD. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22, 65-68.
  • Raghavan, C., Mennerich, A., Sexton, E., & James, S. (2006). Community violence and it's direct, indirect, and mediating effects on intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 12, 1-18.
  • Raghavan, C., & Kingston, S. (2006).  PTSD in substance abusing women: The role of early drinking and exposure to violence. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 269-278.

 

 

Research Summary

Current Projects in violence research

Currently, I am working on three separate projects on how coercive control and trauma bonding operate in sex trafficking, sexual coercion, and cults.  

 

Recent Completed Projects

  • How male abusers use different tactics including coercive control and sexual coercion to achieve control over their female intimate partners.
  • How coercive control (and partner violence) is enacted in gay couples and how these dynamics may vary across gender and sexual orientation.
  • The integration of the arts in the teaching of psychology and the pedagogy of study abroad, in collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Pipitone.