Meeting the Grand Challenges Head-On: Joyce Lee and Susan Yoon

The Grand Challenge to build healthy relationships to end violence focuses on developing and implementing programs and policies that can bolster interpersonal relationships, reduce violence and strengthen the health and well-being of families and communities. The policy recommendations for meeting this Grand Challenge include funding research efforts that center violence prevention and intervention; investing in policies and programs that strengthen relationships; focusing on violence prevention; and developing programs that reduce economic stressors associated with violence.

“For too long, violence has been studied through a deficit-based lens, with an overemphasis on reacting to risk rather than preventing harm,” says Dr. Susan Yoon, professor. “By shifting to a strengths-based approach that helps individuals build skills, assets and resources, we can move toward more effective, proactive strategies for preventing violence and promoting the well-being and resilience of children and families.”

Yoon, who is the network co-lead for the challenge, and Dr. Joyce Lee, associate professor, have been actively engaged in meeting the mission of the Grand Challenge through their research. They have collaborated on multiple research projects that seek to increase parenting support, foster positive father-child relationships, and strengthen family relationships to prevent violence and promote child and family well-being. Their work has focused on families who may be at heightened risk for experiencing family violence, including those from low socioeconomic backgrounds and those impacted by the child welfare system.

“Fathers play a critical role in building healthy family relationships and preventing family violence,” says Lee. “Through their active engagement, positive modeling and demonstration of healthy interpersonal relationships, fathers can contribute to the development of safe and positive family environments needed to prevent violence against children and promote their overall well-being.”

A prime example of Yoon and Lee’s efforts is the Daddy REAds with Me (DREAM) project. DREAM is a father-child shared book-reading intervention that supports Black nonresident fathers in the community to obtain evidence-informed book-sharing skills and employ them with their young children. Yoon and Lee have partnered with Action for Children, a community-based agency serving fathers and families in Columbus, to develop and pilot-test DREAM. Preliminary qualitative results suggest that fathers perceived DREAM to be beneficial in strengthening family relationships and preventing child maltreatment. For example, fathers shared that participating in DREAM helped them to develop a strong identity as active parents, embrace their capacity to contribute positively to their children’s

development, spend more quality time and build deeper father-child bonding through shared book reading, and improve positive parenting skills.

Yoon and Lee have co-authored multiple publications that highlight the importance of positive and healthy relationships—including supportive coparenting, parental warmth and positive father involvement—in preventing family violence and fostering family resilience. For example, Lee and Yoon, along with student co-authors, have published many articles in prestigious journals, including Child Welfare, Parenting and Journal of Marriage and Family.

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