Dr. Gary Melton
Director, Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life
Professor, Psychology, Clemson University
Research Fellow, Centre for Psychology and Law, University of the Free State
Degrees Held:
BA with high distinction, Psychology, University of Virginia
MA, PhD, Clinical-Community Psychology, Boston University
Research Interest:
Child and family policy; international human rights law; democratic socialization; community-wide prevention of child and family problems and promotion of child safety and well-being
Influences and Responsibilities:
Having traveled in about 50 countries (in most cases for research, lecturing, or consultation), Dr. Melton is internationally recognized as a scholar on child and family policy and programs. One of only two psychologists to receive three Distinguished Contributions Awards from the American Psychological Association, Dr. Melton has also been honored by the American Orthopsychiatric Association, the American Professional Society on Abuse and Neglect, the American Psychological Association Division of Psychologists in Public Service, the American Psychological Foundation, Prevent Child Abuse America, the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice, and the South Carolina Professional Society on Abuse and Neglect. The author of approximately 300 publications, Dr. Melton is co-editor of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. He has served as president of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, two divisions of the American Psychological Association, and Childwatch International, a global network of child research centers.
Dr. Melton’s work has been cited by U.S. courts at all levels, and he led a congressional briefing series for several years. He was the principal architect of the national child protection strategy that was proposed by the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, of which he was vice-chair. He assisted in the development of child research centers in several world regions, and he led the development of a unique interdisciplinary PhD program on International Family and Community Studies that is being delivered in cooperation with universities in the Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, and several Balkan countries, among others.
Publication Highlights:
Melton, G. B., Petrila, J., Poythress, N. G., & Slobogin, C., with Lyons, P. M., Jr., & Otto, R. (2007). Psychological evaluations for the courts: A handbook for mental health professionals and lawyers (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford.
Melton, G. B., & Holaday, B. J. (Eds.). (2008). Strong Communities as safe havens for children [Special issue]. Family and Community Health, 31(2).
Melton, G. B. (2008). Beyond balancing: Toward an integrated approach to children’s rights. Journal of Social Issues, 64, 903-920.
Melton, G. B. (2009). How Strong Communities restored my faith in humanity: Children can live in safety. In K. A. Dodge & D. L. Coleman (Eds.), Community based prevention of child maltreatment (pp. 82-101). New York: Guilford.
Ben-Arieh, A., Cashmore, J., Goodman, G. S., & Melton, G. B. (Eds.). (in prep.). Children in childhood: A research handbook. London, England: Sage.
Presentation Highlights:
Australian lecture tour. In November 2009, Dr. Melton will be giving opening keynote addresses at the meetings of the International Society for Child Indicators (Sydney, New South Wales) and the Australia-Pacific Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect (the regional meeting of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect; Perth, Western Australia). He will also be lecturing at the Monash University in Melbourne, Victoria, and entire conferences are being built around his own and Robin Kimbrough-Melton’s work by Families SA (Adelaide, South Australia), Southern Cross University (Lismore, New South Wales), and Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane).
Other major addresses. Over the years, in addition to being a frequent workshop presenter, Dr. Melton has been a major plenary lecturer at meetings or conferences of the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, the American Orthopsychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychology-Law Society, the (Canadian) National Judicial Institute, the Children’s Memorial Hospital (Chicago), the Free University of Amsterdam, the German Psychological Association, the Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa), the Illinois State Bar Association (children’s constitutional convention), the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, the Israel Ambulatory Pediatrics Association, the (Israel) National Council for the Child, Loyola University (Chicago), the Midwestern Psychological Association, Monash University (Prato, Italy, conference center), the Norwegian Center for Child Research, the South Carolina Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, the South Carolina Psychological Association, the Southwestern Psychological Association, the University of the Free State (South Africa), the University of Glasgow, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Otago (New Zealand), and the University of Virginia. Dr. Melton has also given endowed lectures at or for the American Psychological Foundation, the Law Foundation of South Australia, Psi Chi, the University of Nebraska, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of Virginia.
Download Dr. Melton’s CV (.pdf, 532 KB)
Page maintained by: Walker Massey, emassey@clemson.edu