OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- “If the United States enjoyed the same level of family stability today as it did in 1960, the nation would have 750,000 fewer children repeating grades; 1.2 million fewer school suspensions; approximately 500,000 fewer acts of teenage delinquency; about 600,000 fewer kids receiving therapy, and approximately 70,000 fewer suicide attempts each year.”* Those are the research findings of Dr. Paul Amato, professor at Pennsylvania State University. Amato is the next presenter in The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) lecture series. His presentation is titled “A Generation at Risk: The Impact of Divorce on Children,” and will be held Tuesday, Dec. 13, from Noon to 1 p.m. in the Chesapeake Room of the Oklahoma History Center.
Amato’s research interests include marital quality, the causes and consequences of divorce, and subjective well-being over the life course. He has published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters, as well as four books, including co-authoring “A Generation at Risk: Growing Up in an Era of Family Upheaval,” (Harvard University Press, 1997).
The National Council on Family Relations presented Amato with the Reuben Hill Award for the best published article on the family. He received the award three times, in 1993, 1999 and again in 2001. Amato also received the Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award from the American Association of Family and Conciliation Courts in 2002. Additionally he was awarded the Distinction in the Social Sciences Award from Pennsylvania State University in 2003, and the Distinguished Career Award from the Family Section of the American Sociological Association in 2006.
The Lecture Series is sponsored by the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative and OKDHS Family Support Services Division. The Practice and Policy Lecture Series has been developed to provide thought-provoking presentations on Oklahoma's emerging policy issues, trends and best practices. The series is sponsored by the OKDHS Office of Planning, Research and Statistics and the University of Oklahoma Center for Public Management with the goal of providing the best educational opportunities available in a forum that offers participants an opportunity to question, share and learn from each other.
All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information contact the Office of Planning, Research and Statistics at (405) 521-3552 or visit thePractice and Policy Lecture Series website (Link opens in new window).
* “The Evolution of Divorce” by W. Bradford Wilcox, printed in the journal “National Affairs,” Fall 2009.
