Principal Investigator
Holly Recchia obtained her PhD in Psychology at Concordia University. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Utah, she is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Education (Early Childhood and Elementary Education/Child Studies). She currently holds the Concordia University Research Chair in Moral Development and Education. Holly loves dancing with her kids, curling up with a good book, and long dinners with friends.
Doctoral Students
Malene Bodington (co-supervised by Harriet Petrakos)
Malene completed a Master of Social Science from Lund University in Sweden in 2003 and, after arriving in Canada, completed an M.A. in Sociology from Concordia in 2010. In her Master’s thesis, under the supervision of Dr. Jean-Philippe Warren and Dr. Sylvia Kairouz, she explored in-group and out-group dynamics, intolerance, and social exclusion in the context of immigration and diversity in Denmark and Canada. Since completing her degree in 2010, she has worked on research projects surrounding access to education at Concordia’s Student Parents Centre and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Malene is a strong proponent of mixed methods research and fascinated by questions surrounding methodological choices in the social sciences. Her research interests include peer relations and peer conflict; inclusion and exclusion; diversity; bullying and anti-bullying programs; resilience; and coping strategies. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, cooking a good meal and sharing it. Her downtime usually involves a good book, crocheting, logic puzzles, or strategy games. She also enjoys getting outside for a long walk, bicycle ride, or run.
Alyssa Scirocco
Alyssa completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from McGill University in 2012 and an M.A in Child Studies from Concordia University in 2014 under the supervision of Dr. Holly Recchia. Her Master’s thesis investigated the particular moral socialization strategies mothers employ in conversations about their young children’s perpetration of harm towards their siblings and friends. Her research interests center on how interactions with parents contribute to children’s moral development but she is also interested in sibling, peer and family relationships across different contexts (e.g., peer provocation, mother-child conversations about harm, multi-party conflict) and their associations to children’s socio-emotional and moral development. Aside from research, she greatly enjoys traveling, cooking, dancing and hiking.
Nasim Tavassoli
Before coming to Concordia, Nasim studied clinical psychology at Tehran University. She is interested in prosociality in early childhood. Her MA thesis focuses on different types of prosociality in sibling interactions (e.g., helping, sharing, comforting). She likes to spend her spare time reading books, cooking, and taking photographs.
Master’s Students
