My scholarship centers on the critical study of social inequality, with particular focus on the relationship between sexuality, power, and culture. I am drawn to collaborative and social action research and to methodologies that employ creative and visual techniques.

I. Sexual Health & Sexual Justice:

In recent years my interest in the organizational, cultural, and global contexts of social inequality, sexuality, and power has expanded to sexual and reproductive health and rights. In "Bad Girls Rule," published in Journal of Sex Research, my co-author and I offer a critique of the American Psychological Association task force’s assumptions of girlhood, sexuality, and emotional/physical health. Due to its contribution to the national debate on girlhood, sexuality, and health, a special commentary was designated where gender and sexuality scholars commented on the article. Below is a list of the articles discussing "Bad Girls Rule" in the Journal of Sex Research:

VOLUME 46, NUMBER 4, July–August 2009

EDITORIAL
249       An Article and Commentaries on the Sexualization of Girls
            J. Dennis Fortenberry
ARTICLES
250       ‘‘Bad Girls Rule’’: An Interdisciplinary Feminist Commentary on the Report of the APA Task Force
            on the Sexualization of Girls
            Kari Lerum and Shari L. Dworkin
264       The Missing Discourse of Development: Commentary on Lerum and Dworkin
            Nicole M. Else-Quest and Janet Shibley Hyde
268       The Risks and Rights of Sexualization: An Appreciative Commentary on Lerum and Dworkin’s
            ‘‘Bad Girls Rule’’
            Ine Vanwesenbeeck
271       Toward an Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Youth, Sexualization, and Health
            Kari Lerum and Shari L. Dworkin

I am also currently working on several projects related to sexual health, including the following:

Book
Progressive Sexuality Education: Beyond Abstinence and Comprehensive Sex Education toward Sexual Health for All

Articles:

“Sex Workers and AIDS activists? Critical Considerations for 100% Condom Use Program” (with S. Dworkin)

"Meta-analysis of studies of exotic dancing" (with L. Baker and S. Wahab)

“Assessing the effectiveness of state, national, and international Anti-Trafficking Legislation.” (with M. Nguyen).

II. Prisons & Participatory Action Research:

For the past few years I have worked with the Pat Graney Company, an award-winning contemporary dance company which also conducts an arts-based intervention called “Keeping the Faith” (KTF) for women prisoners. I first joined the KTF prison team as a videographer/participant in the fall of 2004. I am now a member of the Advisory board of directors for their Prison Transition program. Currently I am developing a participatory action research (PAR) project where I will train a group of women in the transition program in qualitative research methods, and then together we will develop a research project that identifies and works toward changing the various institutional, cultural, and personal barriers to post-incarceration social integration and overall well-being. I plan for this research to be disseminated across a variety of forums, including a peer reviewed journal article and other formats that allow it to be disseminated to more diverse audiences (e.g. community panels, exhibits, videos, websites, newsletters, etc.).

III. Previous Publications:

For a list of my previous publications, please see my CV