Carlos Cuevas, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University | Faculty Affiliate, Global Resilience Institute

Boston, MA, UNITED STATES

Professor Cuevas received his PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology.

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Biography

Professor Cuevas received his BA from Tufts University and his PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in San Diego, CA. He is currently co-director of the Violence and Justice Research Laboratory. Professor Cuevas’s research interests are in the area of victimization and trauma, sexual violence and sexual offending, family violence, and psychological assessment. Specifically, his work focuses examining victimization among Latinos and how it relates to psychological distress and service utilization, as well as the role cultural factors play on victimization. In addition, he is studying the impact of psychological factors on the revictimization of children and how it helps explain the connection between victimization and delinquency. His most recent National Institute of Justice-funded research will examine the scope and impact of bias crime against Latinos. Other NIJ-funded collaborations include the development of instruments to evaluate bias victimization among youth and teen dating aggression. Professor Cuevas also continues to engage in clinical work, providing assessment and treatment to victims of abuse and trauma as well as sex offenders.

Areas of Expertise (4)

Bias Crime Against Latinos

Victimization and Trauma

Social and Community

Sexual Violence and Sexual Offending

Education (2)

California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University: Ph.D., Clinical Psychology 2004

Tufts University: B.A., Clinical Psychology 1993

Affiliations (4)

American Psychological Association (APA)
APA Division 56 (Trauma Psychology) : Member-at-Large
Technical Peer Reviewer for the National Institute of Justice, Ofﬁce of Research and Evaluation
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) : Crime, Violence, and Victimization Research Division Scientiﬁc Review Panel

Links (3)

Media Appearances (5)

R.I. Latinos, fearing ICE and finding barriers, suffer abuse in silence

Providence Journal online

2018-09-21

Latinos in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by domestic violence, but often don’t seek help, a panel of experts said Friday at a talk organized by Progreso Latino, a Central Falls-based organization serving the Latino community in Rhode Island.

Child Sex Dolls: Why Aren't They Illegal?

NECN online

2018-07-23

A Shirley man is facing indictment after Massachusetts State Police said the online sales site eBay notified them that he had purchased a sex doll shaped and sized like a child. The dolls are not illegal, and the man, 48-year-old Sean McClure, a level three registered sex offender who spent a decade in prison for multiple counts of rape of a child, was not charged with having it.

Experts weigh in on sex offenders and the likelihood of them re-offending

Wicked Local Bridgewater online

2018-06-23

In Bristol County, there are 513 registered sex offenders that live or work in the county, according to data from the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board. There are 279 in Plymouth County. In Brockton alone the are 130 and in Bridgewater there are nine.

If a teenager has one abusive relationship, it’s likely they’ll experience another

The Washington Post online

2017-03-17

Gabby was a 13-year-old Catholic girl who dreamed of a “white wedding” when she met her first love. He was everything she had dreamed of: handsome, popular, a perfect gentleman. But that puppy love turned into a nightmare several months after they began dating, when her boyfriend raped her in a bathtub.

Girls commit dating violence as often as boys, studies show

NBC News online

2013-07-31

Girls are the perpetrators of some form of dating violence nearly as often as boys, surprising new studies show.

Articles (8)

The impact of polyvictimization on delinquency among Latino adolescents: A General Strain Theory perspective.

Journal of Interpersonal Violence

Cudmore, R. M.*, Cuevas, C. A., & Sabina, C.

2017 Although criminological research has provided support for general strain theory (GST), there is still little known about the relationship between victimization and delinquency among Latino adolescents. This study seeks to fill the gap in the literature by examining the association between a broader measure of victimization (i.e., polyvictimization) and delinquent behavior using data from the Dating Violence Among Latino Adolescents (DAVILA) Study, a national sample of Latino youth.

Longitudinal dating violence victimization among Latino teens: Rates, risk factors, and cultural influences.

Journal of Adolescence

Sabina, C., Cuevas, C. A., & Cotignola-Pickens, H. M.

2016 This study uses data from two waves of the Dating Violence Among Latino Adolescents (DAVILA) study and focuses on the 1) rates of dating violence victimization by gender, 2) risk of experiencing dating violence victimization over time, 3) association of dating violence victimization with other forms of victimization, and 4) association of immigrant status, acculturation, and familial support with dating violence victimization over time.

Summary Report: Dating Violence Among Latino Adolescents - II (DAVILA - II) Study

US Department of Justice Washington DC

Carlos A. Cuevas Ph.D. ; Chiara Sabina Ph.D. ; Marc Swatt Ph.D. ; Rebecca Cudmore M.A.

2015 The Dating Violence Among Latino Adolescents (DAVILA) – II study collected a second wave of data from the participants in the original DAVILA study (NCJ 242775), resulting in a longitudinal sample of 574 Latino youth. The main goals of the study were to: 1) examine dating violence among Latino adolescents over time, 2) evaluate the longitudinal patterns of co-occurring victimization (polyvictimization) for Latino victims of dating violence, 3) examine the predictors of victimization patterns to understand the influences on dating violence over time, 4) examine formal and informal help-seeking among Latino adolescents who experienced dating violence, and 5) determine the subsequent psychosocial impact of dating violence. Data was collected via phone interviews from the national sample of 1,427 Latino adolescents and their caregiver from the original DAVILA study. Participants were asked about dating violence and other forms of victimization, formal and informal help-seeking, psychological distress, delinquency, acculturation, familism, social support, and demographic information. Results show that dating violence rates remained consistent across both waves. However, gender differences apparent in wave 1 were not present in wave 2, suggesting that gender differences in dating violence may be fluid along the developmental spectrum for Latino youth. As with other forms of victimization, dating violence at wave 1 was a risk factor for wave 2 dating violence. The results also show that social support, hostility, school connectedness, and the number of children in the household were predictive of dating violence; hostility being associated with decreased risk. Interestingly, cultural factors that have been seen to have an effect in other samples and with adults (i.e., acculturation, enculturation, immigrant status) did not influence revictimization risk. Exploratory analysis with help-seeking suggested that formal help may also be preventive of dating violence. Overall, the results point to a number of potential family- and school-based interventions and preventive efforts.

Violence Against Latinas The Effects of Undocumented Status on Rates of Victimization and Help-Seeking

Journal of Interpersonal Violence

Elizabeth Zadnik, Chiara Sabina, Carlos A Cuevas

2014 This study investigated whether legal status was related to interpersonal victimization and help-seeking by comparing Latina immigrants with permanent legal status with Latina immigrants who are undocumented on rates of reported interpersonal victimization, types of perpetrators, and rates of help-seeking. Data come from the Sexual Assault Among Latinas (SALAS) study, which interviewed 1,377 immigrant Latinas about their lifetime histories of sexual assault, physical assault, stalking, and threats along with help-seeking efforts. Results did not reveal significant differences between legal status and reported victimization rates or types of perpetrators. However, undocumented Latinas (n = 91) were less likely to seek formal help than those with permanent status. Results of this study indicate that undocumented status does not independently put women at risk of victimization, but that responses to violence are related to legal status.

Intimate Partner Violence among Latino Women: Rates and Cultural Correlates

Journal of Family Violence

Chiara Sabina, Carlos A. Cuevas, Elizabeth Zadnik

2014 While various forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) within the Latino community have been explored to some extent, the role of immigrant status and acculturation on IPV remains unclear. The current study investigated the lifetime rate of physical, sexual, stalking, and threat IPV, as well as the profile of abuse tactics used against victimized Latino women. Further, the influence of immigrant status, Anglo orientation, Latino orientation, and the interaction of immigrant status and acculturation variables on IPV were examined. Data came from the Sexual Assault Among Latinas (SALAS) study that gathered data from a national sample of Latino women (N = 2,000) via telephone interviews. Results showed 15.6 % of Latino women experienced IPV in their lifetime and threat IPV was the most common form of IPV. Physical, sexual, stalking and threat IPV were all used as abusive tactics in various configurations. Logistic regression analyses showed immigrants were less likely than U.S. born Latino women to experience any IPV and physical IPV. Anglo orientation was associated with increased odds of any IPV and stalking IPV while Latino orientation was associated with decreased odds of all forms of IPV. Furthermore, the protective effect of Latino orientation for stalking IPV was pronounced among immigrants. Together the results show that 1 in 6 Latino women experience IPV and that sociocultural factors such as immigrant status and acculturation are important considerations for this group, underscoring the influence of migration and cultural adaptation to family functioning.

Dating Violence and Interpersonal Victimization Among a National Sample of Latino Youth

Journal of Adolescent Health

Carlos A Cuevas, Chiara Sabina, Kristin A Bell

2014 The purpose of this analysis was (1) to provide the rates of dating violence victimization among a national sample of Latino adolescents, (2) to determine the degree to which different forms of dating violence victimization co-occurred for this sample, and (3) to determine how much dating violence victimization overlapped with other forms of non–partner-perpetrated victimization.

Best violence research of 2013: Selections from an invited panel of researchers.

Psychology of Violence

Radford, Lorraine,Abbey, Antonia,Sugarman, David,Rennison, Callie,Cuevas, Carlos A.

2014 Five senior researchers were invited by the journal editor Sherry Hamby to join a panel to identify the best violence research articles published in 2013. Each member of the panel describes how they methodically selected 2 articles that they believe represent the best violence research from the vast choice of publications produced in 2013. The 10 different articles chosen showcase different methodologies and cover a range of topics—working with men and boys, policing domestic violence, violence in LGBT relationships and in Hispanic communities, elder abuse, social support, violence in pregnancy, evolutionary psychology. Each reviewer gives an appreciation of the research articles they selected, outlining what they see as the key merits of the research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The Cultural Influences on Help‐seeking Among a National Sample of Victimized Latino Women

American Journal of Community Psychology

Chiara Sabina, Carlos A. Cuevas, Jennifer L. Schally

2011 The current study examined the influence of legal status and cultural variables (i.e., acculturation, gender role ideology and religious coping) on the formal and informal help‐seeking efforts of Latino women who experienced interpersonal victimization. The sample was drawn from the Sexual Assault Among Latinas (SALAS) Study that surveyed 2,000 self‐identified adult Latino women. The random digit dial methodology employed in high‐density Latino neighborhoods resulted in a cooperation rate of 53.7%. Women who experienced lifetime victimization (n = 714) reported help‐seeking efforts in response to their most distressful victimization event that occurred in the US. Approximately one‐third of the women reported formal help‐seeking and about 70% of women reported informal help‐seeking. Help‐seeking responses were generally not predicted by the cultural factors measured, with some exceptions. Anglo orientation and negative religious coping increased the likelihood of formal help‐seeking. Positive religious coping, masculine gender role and Anglo acculturation increased the likelihood of specific forms of informal help‐seeking. Latino orientation decreased the likelihood of talking to a sibling. Overall, these findings reinforce the importance of bilingual culturally competent services as cultural factors shape the ways in which women respond to victimization either formally or within their social networks.

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