Dr. Kristin Park, associate professor of sociology at Westminster College, will have her paper, "Stigma Management Among the Voluntarily Childless," published in Sociological Perspectives.

"Research consistently has found that the voluntarily childless are perceived the most negatively of members of all family sizes," said Park. "Intentionally childless women and men are seen as less well-adjusted, less nurturing, more materialistic, more selfish, and less happy in their lives and marriages than are parents of any number of children."

Park also presented her research at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Anaheim this summer.

"Data was collected from interviews with 24 childless men and women and a focus group to discover the strategies that individuals use, in both self-interaction and social interactions, to manage stigmatized identity and preserve a good self," continued Park. "Techniques included passing, substituting a less stigmatized identity, condemning those who condemned them, and redefining the situation."

Park, who has been with Westminster College since 1993, earned her undergraduate degree from Colgate University, her master's and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

For more information, contact Park at (724) 946-7251 or e-mail kpark@westminster.edu.