Jocelyn Elise Crowley
Professor of Public Policy, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Chapter Member: New Jersey-Philadelphia SSN
Areas of Expertise:
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About Jocelyn
Crowley is a political scientist whose research focuses on American social policy; in particular; she explores changing family structures over time and governmental responses to these changes. She has written extensively on the topics of child support enforcement and child custody. Her most recent research has focused on mothers’ advocacy organizations in the United States and their efforts on behalf of promoting workplace flexibility reforms.
Contributions
How American Mothers Can Launch a Social Movement for Workplace Flexibility
Key Findings Brief,
In the News
Research discussed by , in "Divorcing After 50: How Gray Divorce Affects Your Health," U.S. News and World Report, September 21, 2018.
Quoted by Erica Lamberg in "Rutgers Professor Writes Book about Mid-Life Divorce Trends," myCentralJersey, February 15, 2018.
Opinion: "How Do We Build a Mothers' Movement around Workplace Flexibility?," Jocelyn Elise Crowley, The Huffington Post, June 5, 2013.
Research discussed by , in "How to Make the U.S. a Better Place for Caregivers," The Atlantic, May 14, 2013.
Research discussed by , in "Congress' Doomed, Misguided Attempt to Help Working Families," The Atlantic, May 9, 2013.
Research discussed by , in "Is Maternity Leave in America Changing for the Better?," Forbes.com, May 9, 2013.
Publications
"Mothers Unite! Organizing for Workplace Flexibility and the Transformation of Family Life" (Cornell University Press, 2013).
Studies five large mothers' organizations in the United States. Discusses the potential for mothers in these groups to form a new social movement that advocates on behalf of workplace flexibility.
"Strictly for Evangelical Parenting Support? The Case of Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS)" Review of Religious Research 54, no. 4 (2012): 421-444.
Examines how the Christian mothers' group, Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS), presents itself to the public to attract members. Discusses members' views on the challenges of raising Christian children in a secular world.
"The Effect of Child Support Enforcement on Abortion in the United States" (with ). Social Science Quarterly 93, no. 1 (2012): 152-172.
Uses state-level data across three decades to understand the impact of child support enforcement on abortion rates. Demonstrates that income transfer policies such as child support can alter fertility outcomes, as in this case by reducing abortion rates.
"Fathers’ Rights Groups, Domestic Violence, and Political Countermobilization" Social Forces 88, no. 2 (2009): 723-755.
Explores the issue of domestic violence from the perspective of fathers' rights activists in the United States. Shows how these activists believe that members of the battered women's movement have overstated the problem of family violence.
"Defiant Dads: Fathers’ Rights Activists in America" (Cornell University Press, 2008).
Describes the evolution of the fathers' rights movement in the United States. Delves into the merits of their arguments concerning the reform of both child support and child custody policies.
"The Politics of Child Support in America" (Cambridge University Press, 2003).
Tracks the evolution of leaders who have transformed child support policy from the nineteenth century to the present. Uses the tools of political science and economics to map out how innovation in public policy occurs over time.