Faculty and Staff News

J. David Hawkins Wins 2009 Flynn Prize for Research

J. David Hawkins, Endowed Professor of Prevention in the School of Social Work and Founding Director of the Social Development Research Group (SDRG), is being awarded the prestigious Flynn Prize for Research on March 8.

Administered by the School of Social Work at the University of Southern California (USC), the prize recognizes research and scholarship that is:

• Rigorous and creative
• Focused on severe and persistent problems of society
• Interdisciplinary in method and substance
• Of demonstrated value to advancing human welfare.

An international panel of judges drawn from the world’s most highly regarded institutions reviewed nominations from throughout the U.S. Nominees included almost all of the most widely recognized scholars in social work, as well as others from the social sciences and public policy.

Hawkins’ body of research is wide and deep, with a major focus on understanding and preventing child and adolescent health and behavior problems. He seeks to identify risk and protective factors for these problems across multiple domains; to understand how these factors interact in the development or prevention of problem behaviors; and to test comprehensive prevention strategies that seek to reduce risk through the enhancement of strengths and protective factors in families, schools, peer groups, and communities.

Hawkins is principal investigator in the Seattle Social Development Project, a longitudinal study of 808 Seattle elementary school students who are now 33 years old. This project began in 1981 to test strategies for promoting successful development. He is also principal investigator of the Community Youth Development Study (CYDS), a randomized field experiment involving 24 communities across seven states seeking to test the effectiveness of the Communities That Care prevention system developed by Hawkins and Richard F. Catalano, Bartley Dobb Professor for Study and Prevention of Violence and current SDRG Director. CYDS is demonstrating that prevention science is producing positive results for youth behavior, health, and development while empowering communities to use advances in prevention science to guide their prevention efforts.

Hawkins is the author of numerous articles and books and the recipient of many other awards, including distinguished lectureships, the Exemplary Substance Abuse Prevention Programs Award for Preparing for the Drug-Free Years from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Prevention Science Award from the Society for Prevention Research.

The Flynn Prize, which will be formally awarded to Dr. Hawkins at a ceremony at USC’s Town and Gown, carries an honorarium and a medallion.