MEDIA ADVISORY: Pitt Sociologist Available to Discuss U.S. Policy as It Relates to Poverty and Battered Women

PITTSBURGH—As the nation marks October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Pitt associate professor of sociology Lisa D. Brush is available to discuss what she calls the intersection of poverty, welfare-to-work programs, and domestic violence.

In her new book, Poverty, Battered Women, and Work in U.S. Public Policy (Oxford University Press, 2011), Brush explores how physical abuse and other coercive methods of control factor into women’s poverty, their ability to comply with welfare eligibility requirements, and their progress towards safety and solvency through paying jobs.

Brush is available to discuss:

• How conflicts at home can follow women to work;
• Why waged work is not necessarily the solution to all social problems;
• How the shortage of jobs and lack of control over personal relationships undermine women’s ability to be successful; and
• Why some policies must change to improve the situation.

Brush is available at 412-648-7595 (office), 412-608-5962 (cell), or lbrush@pitt.edu.

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10/4/11/mab/lks/jdh