Murray Arnold Straus (June 18, 1926 – May 13, 2016) was an American professor of

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

. He is best known for creating the conflict tactics scale, the "most widely used instrument in research on

family violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...

Professional life

Straus was born to Samuel and Kathleen Straus in New York City on June 18, 1926. Straus' research focused on families, corporal punishment, and intimate partner violence with an emphasis on cross-national comparisons. He founded the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. Straus served as president of the

Society for the Study of Social Problems The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) is an organization founded in 1951 in counterpoint to the American Sociological Association. History The Society was founded in 1951 by Elizabeth Briant Lee and Alfred McClung Lee. Profess ...

(1989–90) and the

Eastern Sociological Society Eastern Sociological Society is a non-profit organization with a mission of "promoting excellence in sociological scholarship and instruction". It publishes a peer-reviewed journal (Sociological Forum) and holds a yearly academic conference An ac ...

(1991–92). He was also a founding editor of the peer-review academic journals ''

Teaching Sociology ''Teaching Sociology'' is a quarterly academic journal in the field of sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspe ...

'' and ''

Journal of Family Issues ''Journal of Family Issues'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of family studies. The journal's editor-in-chief is Constance L. Shehan (University of Florida). It was established in 1980 and is currently publ ...

Personal life

He was married to Dorothy Dunn Straus and had a son and a daughter from a previous marriage.

Achievements and awards

*Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to Research on Aggression - 2008 *Ernest W. Burgess Award - 1977

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Straus, Murray A. 1926 births 2016 deaths American sociologists Domestic violence academics University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of New Hampshire faculty Academic journal editors Academics from New York (state) People from New York City