Nancy Thoennes, Ph.D. has conducted research involving juvenile and family courts in approximately 30 states. Her research has considered models of legal representation for children in child abuse and neglect cases; a national evaluation of the Court Improvement Projects (with Pal-Tech, Inc.); integrated approaches to managing multi-case families in the criminal justice system; and an evaluation of Family Group Decision-Making in Child Protection Cases in Colorado. Dr. Thoennes has also conducted research on dependency mediation in over 13 jurisdictions.
In the broader field of family violence, Dr. Thoennes helped to conduct the study Violence and Threats of Violence in America. Funded by the National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this study involved telephone interviews with a national probability sample of 8,000 adult women and 8,000 adult men to gather data on the extent, nature and consequences of various forms of violence and threats of violence over the lifespan.