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Linda Burton, James B. Duke Professor of Sociology and Sociology  

Office Location: 302 Towerview Road, Durham, NC 27708
Duke Box: 90545
Email Address: lburton@soc.duke.edu

Areas of Expertise

    Education:
    MA, Sociology, University of Southern California, 1982

    Representative Publications   (More Publications)

    1. Brady, D. & Burton, L.M. (Eds.). The Oxford handbook of the social science of poverty. Oxford University Press, in press.
    2. W. Welsh & Burton, L.M.. "Home, heart, and being Latina: Housing and intimate relationship power among low-income Mexican mothers." Sociology of Race and Ethnicity (in press).
    3. R. Garrett-Peters & L.M. Burton. "Reframing marriage and marital delay among low-income mothers: An interactionist perspective." Journal of Family Theory and Review (2015): 242-264.
    4. Burton, LM. "Seeking Romance in the Crosshairs of Multiple-Partner Fertility: Ethnographic Insights on Low-Income Urban and Rural Mothers." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Ed. Carlson, MJ; Meyer, DR. 654.1SAGE Publications, (January, 2014): 185-212. [doi]  [abs]
    5. Burton, LM; Stack, CB. "“Breakfast at Elmo’s”: Adolescent boys and disruptive politics in the kinscripts narrative." Open to Disruption: Time and Craft in the Practice of Slow Sociology. Ed. A.Garey, R. Hertz, & M. Nelson. Vanderbilt University Press, January, 2014. 174-191.

    Highlight:
    My program of research is conceptually grounded in life course, developmental, and ecological perspectives and focuses on three themes concerning the lives of America's poorest urban, small town, and rural families: (1) intergenerational family structures, processes, and role transitions; (2) the meaning of context and place in the daily lives of families; and, (3) childhood adultification and the accelerated life course. My methodological approach to exploring these issues is comparative, longitudinal, and multi-method. The comparative dimension of my research comprises in-depth within group analysis of low income African American, White, and, Hispanic/Latino families, as well as systematic examinations of similarities and differences across groups. I employ longitudinal designs in my studies to identify distinct and often nuanced contextual and ethnic/racial features of development that shape the family structures, processes (e.g., intergenerational care-giving) and life course transitions (e.g., grandparenthood, marriage) families experience over time. I am principally an ethnographer, but integrate survey and geographic and spatial analysis in my work. I was one of six principal investigators involved in an multisite, multi-method collaborative study of the impact of welfare reform on families and children (Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study). I directed the ethnographic component of the Three-City Study and was also principal investigator of an ethnographic study of rural poverty and child development (The Family Life Project).

    Current Ph.D. Students  

    • Jou Jou K. Chen  
    • Victor Ray  
    • Lea R Bromell  
    • Tenille Allen  
    • Marya Dantzler  
    • Lane Destro  
    • Please See Comments to the Chair  
    • Please see comments to the Chair  

    Linda Burton