ABBY STEIN, Ph.D. - John Jay College Of Criminal Justice - CUNY

Presentations (continued)
Prologue to violence: Child abuse, dissociation, and crime. American Psychological Association,
Division 39, New York, April 10, 2008.
Prologue to Violence: Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime. International Society for the Study of
Trauma and Dissociation. Philadelphia, PA: November 13, 2007.
Clinical supervision of mandated clients. The Osborne Association, August 21, 2009.
Prologue to Violence: Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime. William Alanson White Institute of
Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology. New York, NY: Sept. 25, 2007.
Prologue to Violence: Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime. President’s Book and Author Series,
John Jay College of Criminal Justice. New York, NY: May, 2007.
Prologue to Violence: Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime. CUNY BA Book Talk, Graduate Center,
Cit University of New York. New York, NY: March 25, 2007.
Maximum Perversion. Sexual Abuse Service, William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry,
Psychoanalysis, and Psychology, Fall, 2006.
Breaking tradition: Redefining gender pedagogy for the next century. Better Teaching Seminar, John
Jay College of Criminal Justice, Spring, 2006.
Rape: Myths and realities. Women’s History Month Seminars, John Jay College of Criminal Justice,
Spring, 2003 & 2001
Using dream journals in undergraduate psychology courses, Better Teaching Seminar, John Jay
College of Criminal Justice, Fall, 1997.
Beyond Diagnosis: An alternative to DSM III-R keyed adolescent protocols. Paper (co-authored, with
D.O. Lewis) presented at the International Perspectives on Crime, Drugs and Public Order
Conference, New York, NY, 1995.
Peer-reviewer
Psychoanalytic Psychology
Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
Current research: The Emotional Empowerment Project (IRB approved)
Over the years, in the course of interviewing offenders in the prisons, and non-offenders in a
clinic based practice, I have become interested in the different ways that individuals use what feminist
philosophers have called “negative” emotions, such as anger or contempt (Spelman, 1989; Mason,
2003, Bell, 2005). This research will test the hypothesis that developing feelings of “contempt” for
one’s abuser-and his abusive acts-is an emotional prerequisite for the decision to leave the
relationship. The nature of contempt and its impact on subsequent behaviors are being explored in a
qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews, in an attempt to understand ways that women may
use feelings of moral superiority to empower their break-ups. At a later date, I plan to do the same
type of interviews with female offenders who have killed their abusers, in order to assess possible
differences in the type, intensity, and/or persistence of the emotions that drove their homicides.