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Department
Human and Organizational Development
Office Location
107 Mayborn
Mailing Address
Peabody #90
230 Appleton Place
Nashville, TN 37203-5721
Direct Phone
615-322-3386
Fax Number
615-322-1769
Email Address
douglas.d.perkins@vanderbilt.edu
Personal Web Site
Douglas D. Perkins
Associate Professor of Human and Organizational Development
Ph.D., New York University, 1990
Research Area
Community Psychology: citizen participation/empowerment; community development; social ecology and change; organization/program development/evaluation
Environment & Behavior: interdisciplinary study of community environmental problems (environmental criminology, housing, deterioration, neighborhood revitalization, urban planning & design) and individual, community, and governmental responses
Social Psychology, Law & Public Policy: research dissemination & policy use; disorder, crime & delinquency prevention; reactions to crime; deviance & social control theories
Short Biography
Professor Perkins was the founding director of the Ph.D. Program in Community Research & Action at Peabody College, Vanderbilt, and is director of the interdisciplinary Center for Community Studies. His research seeks to understand and solve problems in the social and physical environment of communities. He is a Fellow of the Society for Community Research and Action. He is currently developing collaborations between SCRA and the Community Development Society, the Environmental Design Research Association, and the Urban Affairs Association. His research focuses on citizen participation, empowerment, and social and environmental change through grassroots community organizing and development and the use of social research in public policy making. The problems his research, teaching, and consultation have addressed include neighborhood revitalization, housing, crime and delinquency, fear of crime, and social and physical disorder in the urban residential environment. He studies and consults with community voluntary associations, non-profit organizations, and government agencies responding to such problems.
Professor Perkins' conceptual orientation stresses ecological systems frameworks and multiple levels of analysis (individuals, families, organizations, communities). His populations of interest include neighborhood residents and leaders, the disenfranchised, low-income, minorities, and at risk youths. The research methods he uses include surveys and in-depth interviews, program evaluation, physical environmental assessment, case studies, and archival data (crime, census, newspapers).
Classes Taught
Professor Perkins' teaching philosophy and methods (class size permitting) emphasize a participatory seminar format, collegial atmosphere, and relevant and experiential learning. His students look at the community settings they live and work in and identify real-life social or environmental issues affecting them and then study and try to solve them systematically.