Joan Morris has researched and written extensively on the inequalities of social class, race, and gender. She married young and served in the U.S. Air Force, then, as a twenty-five-year-old, she became the first in her family to attend college. Working full-time and attending night school, she finished her BS and MS degrees in ten years. Finally able to attend full-time, she received her Ph.D. at age 40 and taught sociology at the University of Central Florida until retiring. She has recently turned her research skills to a study of brain processes, primarily the possibility of using neuroplasticity to address issues resulting from childhood emotional trauma