Center on Relational Aggression

Numerous academic centers exist that focus on physical aggression across the country but none focus on relational aggression. To address this serious inequity, the Center on Relational Aggression (CORA) at the University of Minnesota will provide national and international leadership in the quest to better understand relational aggression and to bring the prevention and treatment of relational aggression to the forefront of our collective scholarly agendas.

Our Objectives

Objective #1

Members of CORA will conduct long-term, multidisciplinary, multicultural longitudinal studies of the individual characteristics (e.g., biological, social, cognitive, and emotional factors) and contextual features (e.g., relationships, physical environments, cultures) that contribute to the development and maintenance of relationally aggressive behaviors as well as the consequences of these behaviors across the life-span.

Objective #2:

The second major objective of CORA will be to develop, implement, and evaluate relational aggression prevention and intervention programs that are appropriate for a range of ages, cultures, and contexts (schools, clinical settings, juvenile detention facilities, adult work places, etc).

Other Potential Activities:

The activities of CORA will provide leadership, mentorship, training, and other supportive resources for this next generation of relational aggression scholars around the world by providing seminars and workshops and opportunities to collaborate with colleagues on grant proposals, publications, and research. Faculty and staff at CORA will provide training and mentorship to University of Minnesota postgraduate, graduate, and undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines and cultures. Opportunities for scholars from around the world to visit CORA for training and collaborative projects will also be emphasized through sabbaticals, lecture series, training workshops, collaborative research grants, etc. These generative activities are intended to enhance the quantity and quality of the work produced by the next generation of relational aggression scholars.

Our membership

Nicki Crick — Institute of Child Development, U of MN
Sandra Christenson — Department of Educational Psychology, U of MN
Dante Cicchetti — Institute of Child Development/Department of Psychiatry, U of MN
Freddie Davis-English — Chair of the Board, YouthLink, Inc.
Abigail Gewirtz — Family Social Science/Institute of Child Development, U of MN
Bonnie Klimes-Dougan — Department of Psychiatry, U of MN
Denise Lajimodiere — Educational Leadership, NDSU
Barbara Murphy — Director, Shirley G. Moore Laboratory Preschool, U of MN
Tony Pellegrini — Department of Educational Psychology, U of MN
Anne Pusey — Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, U of MN
Beth Russell — Principal, Anwatin Middle School, Minneapolis, MN
Amy Sheldon — Department of Communication Studies, U of MN
Susan Walker — Department of Curriculum and Instruction, U of MN
Maureen Weiss — Department of Kinesiology, U of MN
Liz Wieling — Family Social Science, U of MN
Kathleen Woods — Staff Therapist, Children’s Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota

Sounds interesting. I am interested in getting involved!

We are committed to including all interested persons, regardless of their personal or professional affiliations, in order to make CORA and its initiatives a success. Please contact Peter Ralston via email (ralst003@umn.edu) or phone (612-625-6874).