My research interests are quite varied. At present, I am involved in several different areas of research, all of which broadly address issues related to psychology, public policy, and law. These diverse areas all provide opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to become involved in clinical research, often working in direct contact with interesting and unique patient populations. More importantly, students routinely become involved in, and participate in national and international conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications. My primary areas of research, along with representative publications from each area, are described below:
Risk Assessment and Risk Management in Stalking and Domestic Violence
For several years now I have been studying stalking offenders with a particular emphasis on risk assessment and risk reduction/management. This research, which is an outgrowth of my earlier interest and research on the effectiveness of treatments for domestic violence offenders, includes the development of a clinical intervention for stalking offenders, research on the perception of stalking by victims and the general public, and the impact of anti-stalking legislation on the criminal justice system. In the past few years, my colleagues and I have published several articles related to risk assessment and recidivism in stalking offenders. More recently, we have developed a clinical intervention designed to reduce recidivism in stalking offenders and have begun to study this intervention in cooperation with the New York City Department of Probation. Although still preliminary, this intervention promises to become an important avenue for research into the motivations, behaviors, and psychological characteristics of stalking offenders. Some of the recent publications related to stalking include:
Rosenfeld, B., and Harmon, R. (2002). Factors associated with violence in stalking and obsessionalharassment. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 29(6), 671-691.
Rosenfeld, B. (2003). Recidivism in stalking and obsessional harassment. Law and Human Behavior, 27(3), 251-265.
Phillips, L., Quirk, R., O’Connor, M., & Rosenfeld, B. (2004). Is it stalking ? Perceptions of stalking among college undergraduates. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 31, 73-96.
Rosenfeld, B. (2004). Violence risk factors in stalking and obsessional harassment: A review and preliminary meta-analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 31(1), 9-36.
Rosenfeld, B., & Lewis, C. (2005). Assessing violence risk in stalking cases: A Classification Tree approach. Law and Human Behavior, 29, 343-357.
Rosenfeld, B., Galietta, M., Ivanoff, A., Garcia-Mansilla, A., Martinez, R., Fava, J., Fineran, V., & Green, D. (2007). Dialectical Behavior Therapy for the treatment of stalking offenders. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 6(2), 95-103.
Assessment of Trial-Related Psychological States
Another area of research, in which my involvement has waxed and waned over the past decade, are issues related to trial competence and malingering. More recently this interest has taken the form of studies of malingering, with a particular interest in the analysis of assessment tools across different cultures, the integration of multiple assessment techniques, and the special challenges posed by particular populations (e.g., mentally retarded or severely mentally ill individuals). In addition, I have been involved in a number of studies of competence to stand trial, as well as competence in other legal arenas (e.g., medical treatment decision making). Some of the recent publications related to this line of research include:
Carr, A., Rotter, M., Steinbach, M., Dole, T., Garcia-Mansilla, A., Goldberg, S., Green, D., & Rosenfeld, B. (2006). Structured Assessment of Correctional Adaptation (SACA): A measure of the impact of incarceration on the mentally ill. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 50, 570-581.
Farkas, M. R., Rosenfeld, B., Robbins, R., & van Gorp, W. (2006). Do tests of malingering concur? Concordance among malingering measures. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 24, 659-671.
Kucharski, L. T., Tang, P., & Rosenfeld, B. (2007). Detecting denial of severe psychiatric disorder: An MMPI-2 investigation of criminal defendants. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 6, 145-152.
Green, D., Rosenfeld, B., Dole, T., Pivovarova, E., & Zapf, P. (2008). Validation of an Abbreviated Version of the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms in Outpatient Psychiatric and Community Settings. Law and Human Behavior, 32, 177-186.
Psychological Functioning at the End of Life / Interest in Physician-Assisted Suicide
A third line research area in which I have been active for the past several years involves end-of-life issues and, in particular, issues related to physician assisted suicide and the desire for hastened death. For the past decade, I have maintained a collaborative relationship with colleagues in the Psychiatry Department of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. We have conducted (and published) numerous research studies focusing on the desire for hastened death, as well as interventions studies of delirium and fatigue in patients with advanced and/or terminal cancer. More recently, my colleagues and I have developed a spirituality-based clinical intervention (Meaning-Centered Group Psychotherapy) to enhance spiritual well-being for terminally ill patients. This intervention is currently the focus of a 5-year NIH-funded research study on which several graduate students participate. Some of the recent publications related to this line of research include:
Pessin, H., Rosenfeld, B., Burton, L., and Breitbart, W. (2003). The role of cognitive impairment in desire for hastened death. General Hospital Psychiatry, 25(3), 194-199.
McClain, C., Rosenfeld, B., and Breitbart, W. (2003). The influence of spirituality on end-of-life despair among terminally ill cancer patients. Lancet, 361, 1603-1607.
Mystakidou, K., Rosenfeld, B., Parpa, E., Tsilika, E., Katsouda, E., Galanos, A., & Vlahos, L. (2004). The Schedule of Attitudes toward Hastened Death: Validation analysis in terminally ill Greek cancer patients. Palliative and Supportive Care, 2, 395-402.
Abbey, J. G., Rosenfeld, B., Pessin, H., & Breitbart, W. (2006). Hopelessness at the end of life: An analysis of the Beck Hopelessness Scale. British Journal of Health Psychology, 11¸ 173-183.
Rosenfeld, B., Breitbart, W., Gibson, C., Kramer, M., Tomarken, A., Nelson, C., Pessin, H., Esch, J., Galietta, M., Garcia, N., Brechtl, J., & Schuster, M. (2006). Desire for hastened death among patients with advanced AIDS. Psychosomatics, 47, 504-512.
Sorger, B. M., Rosenfeld, B., Pessin, H., Timm, A. K., & Cimino, J. (2007). Decision-making capacity in elderly, terminally ill patients with cancer. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 25, 393-404.
Pessin, H., Nelson, C., Galietta, M., Rosenfeld, B., & Breitbart, W. (2008). Burden and benefit of psychosocial research at the end of life. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 11(4), 627-632.
Olden, M., Rosenfeld, B., Pessin, H., & Breitbart, W. (In press). Measuring Depression at the End of Life: Is the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale a Valid Instrument? Assessment.
Effects of Torture and Political Violence on Mental Health
A final area of research that I have recently become involved in involves the impact of torture and war-related trauma on psychological functioning in immigrants and refugees. In collaboration with the Bellevue Hospital Program for Survivors of Torture , my colleagues and I have conducted a handful (and rapidly growing number) of studies focusing on the impact of INS detention practices on the mental health of refugees seeking asylum, as well as the phenomonology and mediating influences on response to torture. This line of research has only recently begun to generate peer-reviewed research, but graduate and undergraduate students have increasingly become involved in the many opportunities that this relationship affords.
Keller, A. S., Ford, D., Trinh-Shevrin, C., Meserve, C., Sachs, E., Leviss, J. A., Singer, E., Smith, H., Wilkinson, J., Kim, G., Allden, K., and Rosenfeld, B. Mental Health of Detained Asylum Seekers. (2003). Lancet, 362, 1271-1273.
Keller, A., Lhewa, D., Rosenfeld, B., Sachs, E., Aladjem, A., Cohen, I., Smith, H., & Porterfield, K. (2006). Traumatic experiences and psychological distress among an urban refugee population. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194, 188-194.
Hooberman, J., Rosenfeld, B., Lhewa, D., Rasmussen, A., & Keller, A. (2007). Classifying the torture experiences of refugees living in the U.S. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22, 108-123.
Rasmussen, A., Rosenfeld, B., Reeves, K., Keller, A. S. (2007). The subjective experience of trauma and subsequent PTSD in sample of undocumented immigrants, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195, 137-143.
Rasmussen, A., Rosenfeld, B., Keller, A., & Reeves, K. (2007). The effects of torture-related injuries on long-term psychological distress in a Punjabi Sikh sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116(4), 734-740.
Sachs, E., Rosenfeld, B., Lhewa, D., Rasmussen, A., & Keller, A. (2008). Entering Exile: Trauma, Mental Health and Coping among Tibetan Refugees Arriving in Dharamsala, India. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 21, 199-208.
Each of these research areas provide opportunities for graduate students to become involved, with roles varying from data collection and analysis, often in fulfillment of the MA Thesis or Dissertation requirement, to manuscript preparation, and conference presentations. Many current and former graduate students have been involved in peer-review publications, either as co-authors or, at times, as first authors.
