Judith Herman

The psychology of women, child abuse, domestic violence, and post-traumatic disorders are the major research interests of psychiatrist Judith Herman. She is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of Training at the Victims of Violence Program at Cambridge Hospital. Herman is the author of two award-winning books, Father-Daughter Incest (Harvard University Press, 1981; second edition, 2000) and Trauma and Recovery (Basic Books,1991; second edition, 1997). The latter has been translated into ten languages.

As a Radcliffe Institute fellow, Herman proposes to write a book about how survivors of violent crimes come to terms with those who have offended against them. She will focus on the population she has been studying and treating for thirty years: victims of child abuse, rape, and domestic violence. The situations of these victims, who are often intimately related to their abusers, presents a challenge to traditional ways of thinking about crime and punishment.

After graduating from Radcliffe College, Herman went on to earn her MD from Harvard Medical School. Among her honors and distinctions are a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, a Bunting Institute fellowship at Radcliffe, a Manfred S. Guttmacher Award from the American Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, and a Women in Science Award from the American Medical Women’s Association.