Professor Emeritus Robert M. Emerson has worked for the Department of Sociology at UCLA for 45 years as a leader who was instrumental in building ethnomethodology as a field of inquiry. The collection consists of field notes, subject interview transcripts, academic papers, correspondence, grant proposals, reports and audiovisual recordings of his research projects concerning juvenile court and delinquency labeling, "The Pro Se Litigant: Self-Representation in Consequential Civil Cases," and "Resisting Imposed Relationships" which is also referred to as the Domestic Violence Project (DVP).

Robert M. Emerson is UCLA Department of Sociology Professor Emeritus. Emerson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard's History Department in 1962 and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Brandeis University in 1964 and 1968. His dissertation is entitled The Juvenile Court: Labeling and Institutional Careers. Emerson began his career at UCLA in 1969 as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, served as Vice Chair and Director of Graduate Studies from 1989-1992, and as Department Chair from 1995-1999. At the conclusion of his chairmanship, he worked as Faculty Director for UCLA's Center for Experiential Education and Service Learning (CEESL) from 2000-2001. Building on the foundational work of UCLA Sociology Professor Harold Garfinkel, Emerson was instrumental in the Department's development of ethnomethodology as a field of inquiry. Emerson is a committed ethnographer and prolific writer who authored numerous publications with fellow ethnomethodologist, UCLA Sociology Professor Melvin Pollner. Emerson's professional activities include work for the Editorial and Publications Committee of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, committee work for the American Sociological Association and editorial service for the following publications: Californian Sociologist, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Qualitative Sociology, Social Problems,Symbolic Interaction, Urban Life and Ethnography. Emerson describes his research as using qualitative field methods to examine both the indigenous dynamics of troubles, as in domestic violence situations, stalking and neighbor disputes, and formal, institutional responses to these troubles, particularly by the criminal justice and mental health systems.

4.4 Linear Feet (5 document boxes, 2 half size document boxes and 2 record cartons.)

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information. The following materials are restricted for 75 years from the dates listed due to personally identifiable information: Box 2 folder 1 (1966), Box 3-4 (1966), Box 5 folders 4-5, 7, 11(1988), Box 6 folders 3-11(1988) and Box 8 folders 5-51(1989).