Joan Durrant
Position: Professor, Department of Family Social Sciences
Adjunct Professor, Arthur V. Mauro Center for Peace and Justice
Office:
University of Manitoba
Department of Family Social Sciences
313C Human Ecology Building
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada
Phone No.: (204) 474-8060
Fax No.: (204) 474-7592
E-mail: durrant@cc.umanitoba.ca
Education:
Ph.D. (1988) Child-Clinical Psychology
University of Windsor
Recent Awards:
2011 YMCA-YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, Education, Training and Mentorship
category
2011 Canadian Red Cross, Manitoba Chapter Power of Humanity Award: Humanitarian of
the Year
2010 Sgt. Ian Logan Memorial Award for Leadership in Child Abuse Prevention, Provincial
Advisory Committee on Child Abuse
2007 Dr. and Mrs. H. H. Saunderson Award for Excellence in Teaching, University
of Manitoba
2006 Ted Freeman Award for Innovation in Education, Ontario Hospital Association.
Awarded to the Joint Statement on Physical Punishment of Children and Youth
2005 University of Manitoba Merit Award for Research
2005 University of Manitoba Outreach Award
2004 University of Manitoba Merit Award for Service
Teaching Areas:
FMLY 1010 Human Development in the Family
FMLY 3804 Violence against Children in the Family
FMLY 4600 Risk and Resilience in Social and Behavioural Development
FMLY 7620 Children and Violence
Research Interests:
My research focuses on preventing physical maltreatment of children. I have a particular interest in uncovering the factors that lead parents to strike their children as punishment. My research has taken me to Sweden, where I have studied the history and implementation of the world's first ban on physical punishment, as well as Swedish parents' approaches to child discipline.
I also am interested in the role of social policy in preventing child maltreatment, particularly law, human rights frameworks and public education. I have examined the meaning and impact of the 2004 Supreme Court judgment on the use of “corrective force” with children, as well as its implications for child maltreatment prevention.
I currently hold a Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to develop an innovative approach to evaluating the Positive Discipline program. The research team consists of experts from academia, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. We will formulate a rights-based cross-cultural approach to evaluating programs aimed at reducing parental violence against children.
I am supervising graduate students with a wide range of interests, including the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, developmental issues in child neglect, expectant parents' decision-making about circumcision, social exclusion among refugee children, the context of child homicide, and policy related to sexual exploitation among Aboriginal children. Several of my students have formed the Child Rights Research Team to study public understanding of child rights principles.
Selected Publications:
Journal Articles
Durrant, J.E., Trocmé, N., Fallon, B., Milne, C., Black, T. (2009). Protection of children in Canada: An evaluation of the Supreme Court’s definition of reasonable force. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 18, 1-24.
Durrant, J.E. (2008). Physical punishment, culture and rights: Current issues for professionals. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 29, 55-66.
Durrant, J.E., Sigvaldason, N., & Bednar, L. (2008). What did the Canadian public learn from the 2004 Supreme Court decision on physical punishment? International Journal of Children’s Rights, 16, 229-247.
Gonzalez, M., Durrant, J.E., Trocmé, N., & Brown, J. (2008). What predicts injury from physical punishment? A test of the typologies of violence hypothesis. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32, 752-765.
Durrant, J. E. (2006). From mopping up the damage to preventing the flood: The role of social policy in the prevention of violence against children. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 27, 1-17.
Moraes, S., Durrant, J.E., Brownridge, D., & Reid, G. (2006). Professionals' decision-making in cases of physical punishment reported to child welfare authorities: Does family poverty matter? Child and Family Social Work, 11, 157-169.
Ateah, C., & Durrant, J.E. (2005). Maternal use of physical punishment in response to child misbehavior: Implications for child abuse prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29, 177-193.
Durrant, J.E., & Janson, S. (2005). Legal reform, corporal punishment and child abuse: The case of Sweden. International Review of Victimology, 12, 139-158.
Durrant, J.E. (2003). Legal reform and attitudes toward physical punishment in Sweden. International Journal of Children's Rights, 11, 147-174.
Durrant, J.E., Rose-Krasnor, L., & Broberg, A.G. (2003). Maternal beliefs about physical punishment in Sweden and Canada. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 34, 586 604.
Trocmé, N., & Durrant, J.E. (2003). Physical punishment and the response of the Canadian child welfare system: Implications for legislative reform. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 25, 39-56.
Durrant, J.E. (2000). Trends in youth crime and well-being in Sweden since the abolition of corporal punishment. Youth & Society, 31, 437-455.
Durrant, J.E. (1999). Evaluating the success of Sweden's corporal punishment ban. Child Abuse and Neglect, 23, 435-448.
Durrant, J.E., & Olsen, G.M. (1997). Parenting and public policy: Contextualizing the Swedish corporal punishment ban. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 19, 443-461.
Durrant, J.E. (1994). The abolition of corporal punishment in Canada: Parents' versus children's rights. International Journal of Children's Rights, 2, 129-136.
Books
Durrant, J.E., & Smith, A.B. (2011). Global pathways to abolishing physical punishment: Realizing children’s rights. New York: Routledge. Click here for more information.
Durrant, J.E. (2010). Positive discipline in everyday teaching. Bangkok: Save the Children. Click here for more information.
Durrant, J.E. (2007). Positive Discipline: What it is and how to do it. Bangkok: Save the Children. Click here to read the text. Hard copies can be ordered from www.frp.ca.
Book Chapters
Durrant, J.E. (2011). The empirical rationale for prohibiting physical punishment of children. In J. E. Durrant and Anne B. Smith (eds.), Global pathways to abolishing physical punishment: Realizing children’s rights. New York: Routledge.
Smith, A.B., & Durrant, J.E. (2011). Introduction to the global movement to ban physical punishment of children. In J. E. Durrant and Anne B. Smith (eds.), Global pathways to abolishing physical punishment: Realizing children’s rights. New York: Routledge.
Smith, A.B., & Durrant, J.E. (2011). Witnessing history and charting the future: Pathways to prohibition. In J. E. Durrant and Anne B. Smith (eds.), Global pathways to abolishing physical punishment: Realizing children’s rights. New York: Routledge.
Durrant, J.E. (2007). Corporal punishment: A violation of the rights of the child. In R. B.Howe & K. Covell (eds.), Children’s Rights in Canada: A Question of Commitment (p. 99-125). Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press. http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/press/Catalog/howe.shtml
McGillivray, A., & Durrant, J.E. (2006). Child corporal punishment: Violence, rights and law. In Alaggia, R., & Vine, C. (Eds.), Cruel but not Unusual: Violence in Canadian Families (p. 177-200). Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press. http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/press/Catalog/alaggia.shtml
Durrant, J.E. (2005). Corporal Punishment: Prevalence, predictors and implications for child behaviour and development. In S. Hart (Ed.), Eliminating corporal punishment: The way forward to constructive child discipline (p. 49-90). New York: UNESCO. http://publishing.unesco.org/details.aspx?Code_Livre=4332
Ateah , C.A. , Durrant, J.E., & Mirwaldt, J. (2004). Physical punishment and physical abuse of children: Strategies for prevention. In C. A. Ateah & J. Mirwaldt. (Eds.), Within our Reach: Policies, Programs and Practices to Prevent Abuse across the Lifespan. Halifax, NS: Fernwood Publishing and RESOLVE (Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse). http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca
Durrant, J.E., Broberg, A.G., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (1999). Predicting use of physical punishment during mother-child conflicts in Sweden and Canada. In P. Hastings and C. Piotrowski (Eds.), New directions for child development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Durrant, J.E. (1996). Public attitudes toward corporal punishment in Canada. In D. Frehsee, W. Horn, & K.-D. Bussman (Eds.), Violence against children in the family (pp. 107-118). Berlin: de Gruyter.
Durrant, J.E. (1996). The Swedish ban on corporal punishment: Its history and effects. In D. Frehsee, W. Horn, & K.-D. Bussman (Eds.), Violence against children in the family (pp. 19-25). Berlin: de Gruyter.
Durrant, J.E. (1995). Culture, cognition and child abuse. In K. Covell (Ed.), Readings in child and adolescent development: A Canadian perspective (pp. 28-48). Toronto: Nelson Canada.
Dissemination:
Ensom, R., & Durrant, J.E. (2011). Joint Statement on Physical Punishment of Children and Youth: Update. Canada's Children, 18, 28-29.
Ensom, R., & Durrant, J.E. (2010). Physical punishment of children in sport and recreation: The times they are a-changin’. Coaches PLAN, 17, 43-44. http://www.cheo.on.ca/uploads/Physical%20Punishment%20of%20Children%20in%20Sport%20and%20Recreation%20II_Eng.pdf
Durrant, J.E. (2007). Positive Discipline: What It Is and How to Do It. Bangkok: Save the Children Sweden, Southeast Asia Pacific Region. http://seap.savethechildren.se/South_East_Asia
Durrant, J.E., Ensom, R., & Coalition on Physical Punishment of Children and Youth (2006). Physical punishment and children’s health. IMPrint: Newsletter of Infant Mental Health Promotion, 45 (Spring), 1-5.
Durrant, J.E., Trocmé, N., Fallon, B., Milne, C., Black, T., & Knoke, D. (2006). Punitive Violence against Children in Canada. Public Health Agency of Canada Information Sheet #41E. Ottawa, ON: Public Health Agency of Canada. www.cecw-cepb.ca/DocsEng/PunitiveViolence41E.pdf
Durrant, J., & Ensom, R. (2004). Physical Punishment of Children. Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare Information Sheet #7E. Toronto, ON: Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. http://www.cecw-cepb.ca/files/file/en/PhysPun7E.pdf
Durrant, J.E., Ensom, R., and Coalition on Physical Punishment of Children and Youth (2004). Joint Statement on Physical Punishment of Children and Youth. Ottawa: Coalition on Physical Punishment of Children and Youth. http://www.cheo.on.ca/english/4220.shtml http://www.cheo.on.ca/francais/4220.shtml
Durrant, J.E. (2000). A Generation without Smacking: The Status of Swedish Children and Youth Since the Passage of the 1979 Corporal Punishment Ban. London, UK: Save the Children. http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/54_2326.htm
Trocmé, N., Durrant, J., Ensom, R., & Marwah, I. (2004). Physical Abuse of Children in the Context of Punishment. Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare Information Sheet #8E. Toronto, ON: Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. http://www.cecw-cepb.ca/DocsEng/PhysAbuse&Punishment8E.pdf
Durrant, J.E., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (1995). Spanking: Should I or Shouldn't I? Public education brochure. Funded by the Family Violence Prevention Division, Health Canada. Winnipeg, MB: Author. Click here for an order form.
Unpublished Papers:
Durrant, J.E. (2006). Researching the Prevalence of Corporal Punishment: A Working Paper. Unpublished Manuscript. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba, Department of Family Social Sciences. Click here to read the paper.
Durrant, J.E. (2005). Law Reform and Corporal Punishment in Sweden: Response to Robert Larzelere, the Christian Institute and Families First. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba, Department of Family Social Sciences. Click here to read the paper.