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Chitra Raghavan

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Chitra Raghavan
OccupationProfessor of Psychology
Academic background
Alma materYale University School of Medicine

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Ph.D.) Smith College (B.A.)

Université Paris
Academic work
InstitutionsJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice
Websitehttps://www.craghavan.com/

Chitra Raghavan is a clinical psychologist in New York City, specializing in domestic violence, sex trafficking, sexual harassment, rape, and other types of violent acts against humans. Raghavan focuses her research on both the tactics used by the perpetrators and the traumatic outcomes it causes the survivors.[1][2]

Raghavan is a tenured Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice as well as the Director of the Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program and Coordinator of Victimology Studies in Forensic Psychology at the college.[3] She believes research should only be conducted if it has value that leads to activism, change, and or improves the lives of others.[4] She shares this belief to help her students conduct research that has positive real world application. Her own advances in advocacy and human rights and human trafficking research earned her the title of "New York's New Abolitionists" in 2014 by the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition.[4]

Education

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Raghavan received her B.A. in French Language and Literature and Psychology from Smith College in 1992.[5] She attended graduate school at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she obtained her MA (1995) and Ph.D. (1998) in Clinical and Community Psychology and Quantitative Methods and Personality/Social Ecology.[6] From there she did her Post-doctoral Fellow at Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry from 1998-1999.[7]

Career

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After completing her Ph.D., Raghavan became a research associate at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University for a year in 2001.[8] She then started at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2002, where she currently resides, as of 2024.[9] In 2005, she took the Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) examination and received her clinical licensure.[7] In 2007 she was tenured as a Professor of Psychology and was appointed Director of the Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program and Coordinator of Victimology Studies in Forensic Psychology. In addition, she is part of the doctoral faculty in Criminal Justice and Forensic Psychology, teaching courses in both areas.[9] Raghavan's teaching focuses on the psychological analysis of criminal behavior, trauma, and violence, often with an emphasis on gender and multicultural issues.

Raghavan supervised over twenty completed MA theses and three doctoral theses as of 2024.[7] She also has served as a doctoral thesis committee member for nine students and guided over fifty non-thesis students at the BA and MA levels from 2007-2024.

Research

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Raghavan's studies examine how coercion, manipulation, and psychological abuse contribute to intimate partner violence.[2] She studies psychological tactics used by perpetrators to control their partners (intimidation, degradation, microregulation, threats, etc.) and the subsequent impact on survivors.[10] Within this research she investigates how coercion operates across gay and heterosexual populations as well as Brazilian, Spaniard, and Moroccan cultures.[11][12] Her work emphasizes that cultural expectations around gender roles and relationship dynamics can often exacerbate vulnerabilities to abuse, especially in marginalized communities.[13][14] One of Raghavan's notable contributions is in the exploration of trauma bonding, where victims develop emotional attachments to their abusers as a result of intermittent rewards and punishment over time.[15] Her research on this phenomenon has aided in explaining why many victims struggle to leave abusive relationships, even when experiencing severe and intense harm.

Raghavan has extensively studied the psychological methods traffickers use to exploit and control their victims, including grooming, manipulation, threats, and violence.[16] Her research sheds light on how traffickers employ strategies such as false promises, debt bondage, and emotional manipulation to entrap victims.[17] Through qualitative and quantitative studies, Raghavan has captured the lived experiences of trafficking survivors, emphasizing the deep psychological trauma they endure. She explores the complex trauma responses exhibited by survivors, such as dissociation, learned helplessness, and PTSD, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of their psychological needs.[18]

Books

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  • Raghavan C. & Cohen, S.J. (eds.) (2013). Domestic Violence: Methodologies in Dialogue. Northeastern Series on Gender, Crime, and Law, Northeastern University Press.[13]
  • Raghavan, C. & Levine, J. (eds.). (2012). Self-Determination and Women’s Rights in the Muslim World. HBI Series on Gender, Culture Religion, and Law. Boston: Brandeis University Press.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Hagan, Elizabeth; Raghavan, Chitra; Doychak, Kendra (March 2021). "Functional Isolation: Understanding Isolation in Trafficking Survivors". Sexual Abuse. 33 (2): 176–199. doi:10.1177/1079063219889059. ISSN 1079-0632.
  2. ^ a b Mitchell, Jenny E.; Raghavan, Chitra (February 2021). "The Impact of Coercive Control on Use of Specific Sexual Coercion Tactics". Violence Against Women. 27 (2): 187–206. doi:10.1177/1077801219884127. ISSN 1077-8012.
  3. ^ Chitra Raghavan, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/faculty/chitra-raghavan
  4. ^ a b Raghavan, Chitra (2017). "Dr. Chitra Raghavan". craghavan.
  5. ^ Psychology, Smith College https://www.smith.edu/academics/psychology#chitra-raghavan-%E2%80%9992-4
  6. ^ Chitra, Raghavan, Ph.D., Practising Law Institute, https://www.pli.edu/faculty/chitra-raghavan-ph.d.-i1319623
  7. ^ a b c Raghavan, Chitra. Curriculum vitae.https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/media/faculty/cv/vita2021active.pdf
  8. ^ Faculty Biographies, New York State Unified Court System, https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/IP/womeninthecourts/2.%20Faculty%20Bios.pdf
  9. ^ a b "Raghavan Chitra CUNY Graduate".
  10. ^ Kingston, Sharon; Raghavan, Chitra (February 2009). "The relationship of sexual abuse, early initiation of substance use, and adolescent trauma to PTSD". Journal of Traumatic Stress. 22 (1): 65–68. doi:10.1002/jts.20381. ISSN 0894-9867.
  11. ^ a b Raghavan, Chitra; Levine, James P., eds. (2012). Self-determination and women's rights in Muslim societies. Brandeis series on gender, culture, religion, and law. Waltham, Massachusetts: Brandeis University Press. ISBN 978-1-61168-281-6.
  12. ^ Pipitone, Jennifer M.; Raghavan, Chitra (September 2017). "Socio-Spatial Analysis of Study Abroad Students' Experiences in/of Place in Morocco". Journal of Experiential Education. 40 (3): 264–278. doi:10.1177/1053825917709823. ISSN 1053-8259.
  13. ^ a b Raghavan, Chitra, ed. (2013). Domestic violence: methodologies in dialogue. The Northeastern series on gender, crime and law. Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 978-1-55553-830-9.
  14. ^ Markus, K.; Loveland, J.; Ha, D.; Raghavan, C. (2013). "Domestic Violence: Methodologies in Dialogue". Publication Trends in Intimate Partner Violence: Bridging the Division in Qualitative and Quantitative Methods. Boston, Massachusetts: Northeastern University Press.
  15. ^ Doychak, Kendra; Raghavan, Chitra (2020-05-26). ""No voice or vote:" trauma-coerced attachment in victims of sex trafficking". Journal of Human Trafficking. 6 (3): 339–357. doi:10.1080/23322705.2018.1518625. ISSN 2332-2705.
  16. ^ Pomerantz, Jessica B.; Cohen, Shuki J.; Doychak, Kendra; Raghavan, Chitra (2021-12-01). "Linguistic Indicators of Coercive Control: Evidenced in Sex Trafficking Narratives". Violence and Gender. 8 (4): 175–186. doi:10.1089/vio.2020.0105. ISSN 2326-7836.
  17. ^ Unger, Leslie D.; Doychak, Kendra; Raghavan, Chitra (2023-07-03). "Isolation and Support Dynamics among Women in a Pimp-Based Commercial Sex Ring". Journal of Human Trafficking. 9 (3): 328–347. doi:10.1080/23322705.2021.1918966. ISSN 2332-2705.
  18. ^ Berenbaum, H. (2003-05-01). "A Taxonomy of Emotional Disturbances". Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 10 (2): 206–226. doi:10.1093/clipsy/bpg011.
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