WORLD'S TOP CHILD ABUSE EXPERT COMES TO CAMPUS

Murray Straus, widely considered the world's preeminent researcher and scholar in the areas of family violence, child abuse, corporal punishment and child discipline, will deliver two lectures in Norfolk April 9 and 10.

Co-sponsored by Old Dominion and Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, the lectures are free and open to the public.

The first lecture, "Discipline that Works," will be given from 7-8:30 p.m. Monday, April 9, in CHKD's Brickhouse Auditorium. Katharine Kersey, Old Dominion professor of early childhood and special education, will join Straus, a professor of sociology and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire, for the talk.

Straus' second lecture, "The Effectiveness and Side Effects of Spanking: What the Research Shows and What to Tell Parents," will be given from 7:30-9 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, in Old Dominion's Mills Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building, Room 101.

"April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and Dr. Straus' insights and research can certainly help achieve that goal," said Karen Polonko, professor of sociology. "As scholars, we feel fortunate he is conducting one of his rare public lectures at Old Dominion, but it is parents in Hampton Roads who really will benefit by hearing firsthand from one of the experts on family violence, corporal punishment and child abuse."

According to Lucien Lombardo, professor of sociology and criminal justice, "Professor Straus' research has profound implications for understanding the production and prevention of violence in society."

To register for the April 9 lecture, call 668-7500 or e-mail healthline@chkd.com. Registration is not required for the April 10 lecture.

For more information contact Lombardo at 683-3800 or llombard@odu.edu.