Professional Bio

Michael P. Johnson (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Women’s Studies, and African and African American Studies at Penn State, where he taught sociology and women’s studies for over thirty years and was designated an Alumni Teaching Fellow, Penn State’s highest teaching award. He is an internationally recognized expert on domestic violence, invited to speak at conferences and universities throughout the United States and around the world. His current research focuses on the implications of differentiating among types of violence in intimate relationships, and he consults regularly with community organizations and government agencies regarding domestic violence policy. He is widely published in scholarly journals, and his work on domestic violence is summarized in A Typology of Intimate Partner Violence: Intimate Terrorism, Violent Resistance, and Situational Couple Violence (Northeastern University Press, 2008).