Dr. Peter Hoaken (1971-2022)

Biographical Information

Peter completed his undergraduate studies at Queen’s University, where he majored in Psychology, and developed a particular interest in clinical psychology and behavioural pharmacology. Peter then completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at McGill University, under the supervision of Dr. R. O. Pihl, in 2001. During that time Peter developed a more specific interest in the relationship between alcohol intoxication and aggressive behaviour. Peter subsequently pursued a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Dalhousie University, where he continued to work in the alcohol-aggression field, and joined the faculty at UWO in July 2003 where he pursued research that could be described as applied forensic, mainly in collaboration with the Correctional Service of Canada.

Research

Peter`s predominant research interest was in human aggression and violent crime. Ongoing research generally fell into one or two different areas: First, research was conducted within institutions of the Correctional Service of Canada, specifically looked at the cognitive characteristics of male offenders, and attempted to understand what factors predicted good versus bad correctional outcomes (i.e. successful reintegration versus recidivism). This research was being conducted because although Canada has historically been a leader in the field of correctional rehabilitation, we currently approach programming in large part with a “one size fits all” mentality that does not reflect offender heterogeneity. Second, another line of work was predicated on the continued understanding of the extent to which different drugs – predominantly alcohol -pharmacologically interfered with specific cognitive and social-perceptual processes. In the past, Peter conducted several studies on the alcohol-aggression relationship, with the focus on preventative mechanisms (that is, why some people become aggressive when intoxicated and others do not), and that line of research was continuing.

Peter also investigated sex differences in aggression, particularly whether men and women aggress differently, and in response to different types of provocation. Other on-going projects focused on the consequences of child maltreatment, and a study of women who have been victims of domestic violence. Associated interests included topics relating to forensic psychology, including drug and alcohol intoxication as an estimator variable in eyewitness accuracy, and intoxication as a moderator of memory phenomena.