By Andrew Tyrrell, Managing Editor
UMass Dartmouth Professor of Sociology Robin A. Robinson has been awarded a Fulbright Research Scholarship to research sexual violence in Hungary. The project, titled “Beyond Obstacles, Toward Justice for Victims of Sexual Violence in Hungary,” will examine the underreporting of sexual violence in Hungary.
The Fulbright Scholarship will fund two years of research for Robinson in Hungary, where she will be hosted at the National Institute of Criminology of Hungary, Scientific Research Institute of the Supreme Prosecution.
Founded in 1960, the Institute “research[es] crime, developing the theory and practice of criminology and criminalistics and the disciplines of penal law and facilitating the exploitation of the research findings,” according to their website.
The National Institute of Criminology of Hungary works with the Chief Prosecutor’s Office to provide information to help in the prosecution of criminals. The Chief Prosecutor is similar to the US Attorney General.
Robinson has divided her project into two distinct parts, which she will work on over the course of two separate years.
In the first year Robinson will design and guide a study “of rape myth acceptance among legal professionals and others in Hungary, including judges, prosecutors, police, victim services providers, and first responders,” according to a UMass Dartmouth press release.
The second year of Robinson’s study will focus on the development of training protocols for those aforementioned groups to improve “legal discretion and response from victim services, and further, to impact public perceptions and prevention,” with the aid of Institute colleagues.
Professor Robinson earned her PhD from Brandeis University with a focus on social policy, and Doctorate of Psychology from the George Washington University, where her research combined psychoanalytic, critical, and feminist theories with criminology in the study trauma, criminality, and social control of women and girls.
Robinson is also the coordinator for the Community Engaged Research Initiative at UMass Dartmouth. Per the University’s information page on the CER: “As CER Coordinator, Dr. Robinson will survey faculty and staff to create a searchable database of past, current and anticipated community engaged research.”
It continues saying “She will develop a process for institutional MOUs [memorandums of understanding] between University researchers and community partners to promote stability of community engaged research and take the lead in the activities described below.”
The Fulbright Program, established in 1946 by Senator J. William Fulbright, provides up to 8000 scholarships annually to students, scholars, teachers, and other professionals.
The Fulbright Program aids American students in researching in foreign countries, as well as bringing non-US citizens stateside to conduct research.
Fulbright funding is regularly granted for research in the humanities, social sciences, fine arts, mathematics, and the natural, physical, and applied sciences.
For more information on the Fulbright program, visit their website. For more information on the CRE program visit their website. Professor Robinson can be contacted about the CRE program or her research through email.