Eric Mankowski

I am a community psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychology at

Portland State University. My program of action research is aimed at understanding

and transforming gendered violence. In particular, I study how battering intervention

programs work as part of the coordinated community response to intimate partner

violence. I am currently completing a national study of state regulatory standards for

BIPs. At Portland State University, I established the first course ever taught on the

psychology of men and masculinities, where I also teach a course on intimate partner

violence interventions, as well as courses on community psychology and qualitative research 

methods. I conduct trainings locally, nationally, and internationally on battering intervention 

for survivor advocates and BIP providers. I serve on the American Psychological Association’s 

Working Group on Health Disparities in Boys and Men and on the APA’s Expert Panel on Gun 

Violence Prediction and Prevention.  Locally, I co-chair the Oregon Batterer Intervention

Program Advisory Committee and am a member of the Oregon Domestic Violence Fatality

Review Team. I have received grant funding for my research from the National Science

Foundation, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the National Park Service.

Publications of this research include an edited volume, “Men, masculinity, wellness, health

and social justice: Community based approaches”, as well as numerous articles and book

chapters about battering intervention, intimate partner violence, and community-

based programs for boys and men.

Raven N. Douglas

Raven N. Douglas, M.S., is a doctoral student working with Eric Mankowski since Fall 2020. She is on the Applied Social Psychology track within Portland State University’s Applied Psychology program after having earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In addition to research assistant endeavors in collaboration with Dr. Mankowski, she also works as a teaching assistant for undergraduate courses within the psychology department.

Prior to pursuing her doctorate at PSU, she worked as a research assistant at the Kathleen Blanco Public Policy Center (located at UL Lafayette), where she worked to use both program evaluation and empirical data to influence policy related to education, criminal justice reform, and several other social/economic issues prioritized by Louisiana researchers across multiple disciplines.  

Her primary research interests include examining the impacts of power dynamics through the lenses of intersectionality, particularly as it relates to both gender and race, to better investigate how different concepts (e.g. white privilege, white threat, masculinity threat) influence society on a social level, and how these constructs might further impact various policies and intervention attempts for those at both ends of the power spectrum. She hopes to emphasize the use of empirical data in policy making and intervention construction to more efficiently, effectively and more fairly serve members of society.

Maureen Lowell

Maureen Lowell is a doctoral student working with Eric Mankowski in the Applied Community Psychology track. Maureen previously earned a BA in Psychology at Miami University in Ohio and a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University.  Prior to entering the Applied Psychology program at Portland State in 2022, Maureen worked extensively in the field of family violence as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and educator at San Jose State University in the Department of Justice Studies. Her background reflects a range of experience from batterers intervention to interdisciplinary collaboration in a coordinated community response. She enters the program with a research interest in the dynamics of interpersonal violence and how empirically based insights can be applied to optimize the community response across disciplines. 

GRADUATE ALUMNI