The Center for Maternal Identity and Socialization Studies (MISS Lab) critically examines how maternal socialization within current maternal ideologies influences mother-child interactions.
About Us
We examine mother-child interactions in the contexts of:
- Ethnic/racial socialization
- Discussions about sexuality and sexual agency
- Gender socialization
Our mission is to provide rigorous and trustworthy qualitative data built in collaboration with our informants. We are committed to the reflexivity of the researcher, methodological soundness, and producing research that directly supports individuals and families.
Work with Us
You can include more info about collaboration here.
Projects
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Family Sex Ed
The purpose of this study is to examine the process through which mothers go through as they make decisions about how to approach sex education with their adolescent children and how these decisions differ, if at all, from the experience their children were hoping to have. Based on empirical data, comprehensive sex education allows youth to learn about all aspects of sexuality (e.g. emotional, physical, and social), providing them with the knowledge to advocate and protect their health and well-being, adding to the importance of parents discussing sex with their children at various developmental stages. However, literature, particularly retrospective accounts from youth suggest that parents are not engaging in comprehensive sex education, despite their children’s wants for informative conversations. This study aims to bridge the gap in the literature by telling real mothers’ stories and their processes when navigating comprehensive sex education talks with their ‘once’ adolescent child, while also seeking to understand the young adult’s perspective in the present and retrospectively.
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Sexual Assault: Messages from Lived Experiences
The purpose of this study is multifold: (1) to better understand what survivors of sexual assault and the volunteers who work with them want society to know about access to care (2) to critically examine systemic issues that influence rape culture; and (3) to offer a platform for survivors and volunteers to share their experiences.
This interdisciplinary study will highlight findings through written and somatic practices, with the goal of educating diverse audiences on and deepening understanding of the prevalence of sexual assault and the underlying socialization that influences rape culture and access to care.
Potential informants, both survivors of sexual assault and volunteers who work with survivors will be invited to share their stories within the context of semi-structured interviews with trained research assistants.
Grounded theory analysis of the data will focus on answering the following research questions: (1) What is the process of receiving and providing care in the context of rape culture?; (2) What systemic issues influence, if at all, the process of receiving and providing care?; and (3) What, if any, social narratives do survivors of sexual assault internalize during the process of receiving care? -
AGOME
Ever wonder how the process of engaging in movement improvisation might influence the process of knowledge creation in chemistry or biology? The purpose of this study is to do just that! We are socialized to believe that science and art are opposites, that one is messy and creative, while the other is mapped out with logic and reason. This project invites artists and scientists to work together, exploring how engaging in each other’s worlds might influence the process of their own academic and creative projects. This logitudinal study is supported by NSF.
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Feminist Preceptions on Interdiscipinary Research Collaborations
This conceptual project critically examines the influences of academic hierarchy and gender on collaborative projects.
Meet the Team
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Dr. Candy L. Beers
Primary Investigator
Dr. Beers is an interdisciplinary scholar specializing in critical methodologies, arts-based methods, and qualitative research. She combines her experience as a dance/movement psychotherapist and her doctoral training in feminist family science to develop research projects centered around the lived experience of research informants/participants. Her research explores the process of shame and social conformity within the context of maternal socialization. More specifically, she is interested in how maternal socialization influences parent-child interactions within the context of:
- Gender socialization
- Ethnic/racial socialization
- Sexual agency and autonomy
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Morgan Muñoz, MS
Graduate Research Assistant
Morgan is a fifth-year PhD Student in Human Development and Family Science. She specializes in social relationships and quantitative methods. Her research centers around adolescent peer networks, defending behavior, and loneliness.
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Bella Jessop
Undergraduate Assistant
- Year: Third
- Major: Human Development and Family Science
- Minor: Human Services
- Post-Grad Plan:
- To attend UGA's Couples and Family Therapy Master's program
- Why are you interested in the Lab:
- I am eager to learn more about the research process!
- What projects are you working on:
- Family sex ed + sexual assault
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Kaden Rozwood
Undergraduate Assistant
- Lab Manager
- Year: Fourth
- Majors: Human Development and Family Sciences + Psychology
- Minors:
- Human Services
- Behavioral Health
- Post-Grad Plan:
- I want to pursue a career in Higher Education Administration and Student Affairs.
- Why are you interested in the Lab:
- The topics of gender socialization and sexual agency/education are overall just very interesting to me, and I love working with Dr. Beers!
- What projects are you working on:
- Family Sex-Education
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Samantha Wynne
Undergraduate Assistant
- Year: Third
- Major: Public Health, Health Services
- Post-Grad Plan:
- To become a NICU or Women's Health Nurse Practitioner
- Why are you interested in the Lab:
- As a future NICU or women’s health nurse practitioner, I am interested in sex education research because I want to understand how stigma, misinformation, and lack of access to comprehensive education can affect reproductive and maternal health. I am especially interested in exploring ways to make conversations about sexual health more open and judgment-free so that people feel comfortable seeking care and making informed decisions. This connects to my broader interest in maternal and child health because I believe prevention and education can play an important role in improving health outcomes before, during, and after pregnancy.
- What projects are you working on:
- Sex Education and Sexual Assault
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Morgan Arrington
Undergraduate Assistant
- Year: Fourth
- Majors: Comparative Literature, Psychology, Women's and Gender Studies, Chinese
- Certificate:
- LGBTQ Studies
- Asian Studies
- Post-Grad Plan:
- Graduate school!
- Why are you interested in the Lab:
- I want to contribute to the mission of ending sexual violence and one way I would like to do that is through research!
- What projects are you working on:
- I am writing my CURO thesis through the lab's sexual assault project!
