Each year The Graduate School at Florida State recognizes only six special graduate students across campus with the Graduate Student Research and Creativity Award for their exemplary research and creative endeavors.  Two students are selected from three areas: natural and physical sciences (including science, technology, engineering and math); social and behavioral sciences; and, humanities and art.

This year, social work doctoral candidate Annelise Mennicke received one of these prestigious awards in the social and behavioral sciences area.  Recipients are selected for their outstanding contributions to research along with evidence of good academic standing, evidence of outstanding scholarly or creative productivity while at FSU, and evidence of national visibility for these scholarly and creative efforts.

Annelise has set herself apart with a strong commitment to social justice in the areas of women’s issues, particularly focusing on how domestic and sexual violence are used as a mechanism of oppression for women. Much of her research has focused on the gender dynamics of intimate partner violence perpetration, with a goal of developing more effective prevention and intervention programs to reduce the incidence and prevalence of IPV.

One of her major scholarly research projects included a collaborative project with College of Social Work faculty, a doctoral students from the University of Denver, and faculty from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS).  Annelise led a program analysis of a prison-based domestic violence treatment curriculum within a North Carolina prison.  She took on the challenge of organizing and interpreting an insurmountable amount of data compiled over 10 years on over 200,000 offenders, went beyond statistical conclusions to examine the clinical significance and implications of the program, and ultimately concluded that the program had short term benefits and was promising implications for the long-term outcome of reducing recidivism.

Annelise is also involved in several other research projects, including a current project in which she is conducting a secondary analysis of a large-scale national data set to refine theories on the complex dynamics of IPV patterns in both men and women. She is also currently Co-Principal Investigator on a federally funded sexual violence prevention program on FSU’s campus, FSU MeasureUp.

All of these accomplishments make Annelise an ideal recipient of the Graduate Student Research and Creativity Award and she is sure to continue to distinguish herself as a dedicated, creative and passionate social work researcher.

To learn more about her research, contact Annelise at amm09n@my.fsu.edu.