Career
Straus" research focuses on families, corporal punishment, and intimate partner violence with an emphasis on cross-national comparisons. He founded the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. Straus has served as president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (1989-1990) and the Eastern Sociological Society (1991-1992).
He is also a founding editor of the peer-review academic journals Teaching Sociology and Journal of Family Issues.