Jails and Prisons
A – J
Laura Abrams, UCLA
PROFESSOR AND CHAIR
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
Email: abrams@luskin.ucla.edu
Website: https://luskin.ucla.edu/person/laura-abrams
Professor Abrams’ scholarship focuses on improving the well being of youth and young adults with histories of incarceration. Her ethnographic studies have examined youths’ experiences of criminality, risk, and institutions seeking to reshape their identities through both therapeutic and punitive practices. These themes are presented in her 2013 book (co-authored with Ben Anderson-Nathe) Compassionate Confinement: A Year in the Life of Unit C, (Rutgers University Press). Her most recent book (co-authored with Diane Terry), Everyday Desistance: The Transition to Adulthood Among Formerly Incarcerated Youth (Rutgers University Press, 2017), examines how formerly incarcerated young men and women navigate reentry and the transition to adulthood in the context of urban Los Angeles. Dr. Abrams is also the lead editor of a 2016 multidisciplinary volume on the role of volunteers and non-profits in changing lives and promoting more humane conditions in prisons and jails: The Voluntary Sector in Prisons: Encouraging Personal and Institutional Change (Palgrave, 2016).
Elizabeth Allen
Email: eallensocialphd@gmail.com
Website: http://www.drelizabethallen.org/
I bring more than 25 years of clinical experience with justice-involved women and other marginalized groups. I am tenaciously committed to smart decarceration research, policy, and practice and throughout my career aimed to embrace what academia together with activism can offer change-agents and guide and support radical social change.
My dissertation research was an inquiry into redemptive narratives and the distance process for justIce-involved women with the goal of adding to the knowledge base of desistance, advocating for policies and interventions that support the process of distance and promoting a unifying framework to bridge micro and macro approaches with vulnerable and marginalized populations. Currently, I am a PI on a CBPR project using Photovoice with the urban youth with the lived experience of parental incarceration.
The synthesis of my clinical and research experience prepares me for the dual role of researcher and policy-maker and utilizing evidence to advance policy and practice. My research interests are vast and include the intersection of micro and macro issues amplified within criminal justice systems including racial, gender and economic justice and human rights.
D. Michael Applegarth, UCLA
PHD STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
Email: applegarth@ucla.edu
My primary area of interest within the correctional system involves the reentry process and the various challenges that accompany this process. Some of the specific factors I am interested in examining include how young adults with mental illness and substance use challenges navigate reintegrating into society. I am also interested in how individuals’ social networks, inmate’s programing and treatment during incarceration, and system-level factors may mitigate successful outcomes for individuals during the reentry process. Furthermore, I am interested in how correctional environments and conditions create barriers for individuals to engage in desistance from criminal behavior.
Stacey Barrenger, NYU
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Email: stacey.barrenger@nyu.edu
Website: http://socialwork.nyu.edu/our-faculty/full-time/stacey-barrenger.html
Stacey L. Barrenger, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Silver School of Social Work at New York University. Dr. Barrenger’s work focuses on the intersection of mental illness and other social problems (criminal justice involvement, substance use, homelessness, & poverty). She has examined the production of risk for recidivism among men with mental illnesses leaving prison. She is interested in implementation research that considers the community or structural factors that can impact the effectiveness of empirically supported treatments in high-risk environments. Her current research explores pathways to recovery and desistance from crime for peer specialists with criminal justice histories and the prison health care experiences of those with mental illnesses who were formerly incarcerated.
Janae Bonsu, UIC
DOCTORAL CANDIDATE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
Email: jbonsu2@uic.edu
Bio: I am a doctoral candidate at Jane Addams College of Social Work, activist, and restorative justice practitioner. My work is based in an intersectional and structural analysis. My current work interrogates the intersection of gender-based violence, policing, and survivor empowerment; building and sustaining models of transformative justice; and policies that directly impact incarcerated people and their families.
Kelli Canada, University of Missouri
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
Email: canadake@missouri.edu
Website: http://ssw.missouri.edu/faculty_canada.htm
Kelli received her Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Depauw University, a Master’s of Science in Social Work at Columbia University, and her Ph.D. in Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Kelli worked in Chicago as a clinical social worker in psychiatric rehabilitation and with older adults living in the community. Kelli is a mental health services researcher who investigates mental health service delivery and consumer experiences with treatment within the criminal justice system. Some of her most recent projects explored the experiences of consumers in mental health courts and veterans within the criminal justice system.
Rachel Casey, University of Southern Maine
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE
Email: rachel.casey@maine.edu
Website: https://usm.maine.edu/swo/rachel-casey-phd-msw
Rachel earned her MSW and PhD from the School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University. Rachel conducts research across methodologies to illuminate the unique experiences of incarcerated women, aiming to improve the responsiveness of mental health programs in correctional settings. Rachel is also passionate about teaching and has taught courses in research methods, human behavior in the social environment, and social justice. Regardless of subject matter, Rachel strives to engage students in dynamic learning experiences which help them develop a critical perspective and acquire essential knowledge and skills for competent, reflexive social work practice.
Pajarita Charles, University of Wisconsin - Madison
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
Email: paja.charles@wisc.edu
Pajarita Charles is an Assistant Professor at the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work and an affiliate of the Institute for Research on Poverty, the Center for Law, Society, and Justice, and the Justice Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research centers on the development, implementation, and testing of family-focused preventive interventions to promote positive outcomes for children and families affected by the criminal justice system. Dr. Charles’ efforts foster research, practice, and public sector partnerships to build capacity for reform and the reduction of the footprint of the criminal justice system. She is a co-leader of the national Promote Smart Decarceration grand challenge network for the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and frequently collaborates with local and state organizations to provide expertise and guidance on issues pertinent to families impacted by the criminal justice system.
Wesley T. Church, II, LSU
J. FRANKLIN BAYHI ENDOWED PROFESSOR, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: wesleyc@lsu.edu
Websit: https://www.lsu.edu/chse/socialwork/faculty-staff/church.php
My research agenda has been concentrated in two areas. First, I have been examining issues facing children and adolescents and their families. I am interested in the impact of race, socio-economic status, gender, education, crime, and family on the involvement of children and their families as they navigate their way through major systems (i.e. welfare, justice, and healthcare). Second, I have been exploring personal perceptions and attitudes towards offenders, focusing on sexual offenders and mentally ill offenders. I use an interdisciplinary approach in my research and utilize resources derived from criminal justice, psychology, history, minority studies, social work, gerontology, and rural studies.
Dominique Courts, UCONN
GRADUATE STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Email: Dominique.Courts@uconn.edu
Website: https://ssw.uconn.edu/person/c-l-dominique-courts-ma-mft/#
After graduating from NYU with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology with a concentration in Social and Cultural Analysis, Dominique Courts, MA, MFT, earned a clinical master’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy at UCONN. Following her work as a therapist, Dominique is now a Crandall-Cordero fellow at The UCONN School of Social Work and invested in affecting change on an institutional and systems level.
As a doctoral student, she is particularly interested in using a reproductive and healing justice framework to understand the healing process for people, who live with intersecting marginalized identities, especially lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and queer individuals of color. The lack of visibility and research around LGBTQ people of color led her to be passionate about conducting mixed-methods and participatory action research to explore various aspects of their lived experiences. Ultimately, Dominique desires to amplify the voices of marginalized populations in her research and use collaborative and empowering research methods and accessible dissemination techniques.
Throughout the CT community, Dominique also facilitates workshops and groups focused on relationships, LGBTQ identities and other topics related to social justice and healing. She centers the lived experiences and needs of the individuals at the intersections of race, sexuality, gender and ability in her research, teaching, clinical and community work and advocacy.
Marcus Crawford, Fresno State University
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, FRESNO STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: marcuscrawford@csufresno.edu
Child welfare, juvenile justice, criminal justice reform.
Dana Dehart, University of South Carolina
ASSISTANT DEAN FOR RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Email: dana.dehart@sc.edu
Website: http://cosw.sc.edu/faculty/dana-dehart
Dr. DeHart’s specialty area is violence and victimization. She has been Principal Investigator on many grants and contracts addressing issues such as victimization and survivor services, impact of incarceration on families, gendered pathways to adult and juvenile offending, mental health and substance abuse, and predatory sexual behavior. Dr. DeHart has expertise in a range of qualitative and quantitative methods and has conducted hundreds of interviews with adult and juvenile offenders, crime victims, justice professionals, and human-service providers. Dr. DeHart is experienced in needs assessment, program evaluation, scale design, and ethical research design.
Patricia Drown, Allied American University
DEAN OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, ALLIED AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
Email: Drpattydrown@yahoo.com
Varsha DuBose, LCSW, Southern Connecticut State University
DOCTORAL STUDENT AND TEACHING ASSISTANT, SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: Dubosev1@southernct.edu
Bio: Varsha Dubose is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 10 years of practice experience in legal and mental health settings. Varsha is currently a doctoral student and teaching assistant at Southern Connecticut State University. Varsha has practical experience working with justice-involved veterans with significant mental health and substance use disorders. One of the theoretical approaches that Varsha is focusing her research on is critical race theory. Varsha is interested in addressing the intersections of racial oppression and social injustices that are prevalent in the United States judicial system. Varsha’s teaching interest are in areas related to veterans, race/oppression, mental health and substance use disorders within the criminal justice system.
Beulah Emmanuel, Academy of Prisons and Correctional Administration, India
PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL WORK, COURSE CO-ORDINATOR, ACADEMY OF PRISONS & CORRECTIONAL ADMINISRATION, INDIA
Email: beulahyesus@gmail.com
Website: www.apca.tn.nic.in
My area of interest is in teaching and research on the mental health of prison inmates. I train the Prison Officers on the various issues like human rights and issues on Women Prisoners. I do prisoners development programmes. I train the Prison Officers on soft skills too. My passion is research in Prisons. I am a certified trainer of Penal Rfeorms International and I co-ordinate the training with many national and international organisations and I was a Member of the Prison Advisory Board.
Matt Epperson, University of Chicago
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ADMINISTRATION
Email: mepperson@uchicago.edu
Website: https://ssa.uchicago.edu/ssascholars/m-epperson and www.smartdecarceration.org
Matt Epperson, PhD, MSW is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, where he also serves as Director of the Smart Decarceration Project ( www.smartdecarceration.org ). His research centers on developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to reduce disparities in the criminal justice system. His primary areas of focus include addressing risk factors for criminal justice involvement among persons with mental illnesses, as well as advancing evidence-based approaches to effective and sustainable decarceration. Dr. Epperson’s scholarship and teaching aim to build the capacity of the social work profession to address these challenges and opportunities for criminal justice transformation. He is Co-Leader of the Promote Smart Decarceration network, through the Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative. Dr. Epperson received his Ph.D. with distinction from the Columbia University School of Social Work, a M.S.W. from Grand Valley State University, and a B.S. in Sociology/Criminal Justice from Central Michigan University. He has over 15 years of clinical and administrative social work experience in behavioral health and criminal justice settings.
Liz Espinoza, College of Saint Rose
VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COLLEGE OF SAINT ROSE
Email: espinozl@strose.edu
Liz Espinoza has forensic social work experience at state government level in NY.
Gina Fedock, University of Chicago
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ADMINISTRATION
Email: gfedock@uchicago.edu
Website: https://ssa.uchicago.edu/ssascholars/g-fedock
Gina Fedock is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Service Administration. Her work focuses on improving women’s mental health and spans the boundaries of public health, criminal justice, law, and social work. Her research includes implementing, testing, and evaluating interventions that are designed to improve the quality of women’s health in the community and within correctional settings. In addition, her work expands a trauma-informed framework of understanding and addressing women’s health needs. She integrates women’s experiences of gender-based violence, such as sexual violence and intimate partner violence, into her research. Through a human rights framework, her work incorporates advocacy for addressing social injustices in order to improve women’s health and wellbeing.
Currently, she is working on several studies, including examining women’s experiences of staff sexual misconduct in prisons and on parole and investigating racial and gender disparities in suicide attempts by prisoners. Through a faculty grant from the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights, she is investigating how human rights standards influence women’s imprisonment.
Her research is in journals such as: Trauma, Violence, & Abuse; Cognitive and Behavioral Practice; Research on Social Work Practice; Journal of Interpersonal Violence; and the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
John M. Gallagher, University of Arkansas, School of Social Work
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: jmgallag@uark.edu
Bio: My work focuses on behavioral and social interventions delivered within the criminal justice system. Current projects include (1) intervention and program fidelity in a mentor program for justice-involved veterans; (2) evaluation of Veterans Treatment Courts in Arkansas and Arizona, and (3) testing of a letter-writing group intervention for inmates with minor children. Topical and theoretical areas of interest include veterans, problem-solving courts, incarcerated parents, procedural justice, legal legitimacy, social identity, community bonds, peer-mentorship, and program evaluation.
Carina Gallo, San Francisco State University
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDIES, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: cgallo@sfsu.edu
Bio: My scholarship addresses historical and international trends in crime and welfare policies, with particular attention to how policies and laws intending to support underrepresented and marginalized groups have developed over the last century. I am especially interested in the “criminalization” of poverty and the penalization of vulnerable populations. One of my recent research projects examines how categories in crime policy, such as the “crime victim,” have crossed over to welfare law and policy. The study shows how new categories can change the way policy makers and practitioners conceptualize social problems, in particular, poverty and inequality. I’m currently working on a book exploring the roots of the Swedish victim movement. This book is vital to informing the literature how different societies have approached issues related to crime and victims.
I am also a trained social worker. Before entering academia, I worked with many different actors involved in the criminal justice system. For instance, between 2001 and 2006 I was the director of a nongovernmental victim support center, which provides services to over 500 crime victims per year.
Amanda Geller, NYU
CLINICAL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, DIRECTOR OF MA PROGRAM IN APPLIED QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Email: amanda.geller@nya.edu
Website: https://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/faculty/amanda-beth-geller.html
The focus of my research is twofold: examining the causes and effects of incarceration for men and their families, and examining racial disparities in the administration of justice.
Matthew Gilmour, Florida State University
DOCTORAL STUDENT, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: mgilmour@fsu.edu
Website: https://csw.fsu.edu/person/matthew-gilmour
My current research interests are focused on correctional and criminal justice system policies and reform, particularly inmate medical and mental health care, inmate rights, privatization of correctional/criminal justice services, reentry and rehabilitation. I am also interested in the utilization of research in advocacy work as it relates to social justice in general, particularly racial disparities and other issues involving the oppression of marginalized populations.
Ashley Givens, University of Missouri
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
Email: givensa@missouri.edu
My research primarily focuses on early adults involved in the criminal justice system. Specifically, I explore traumatic experiences experienced by this group, as well as mental health needs of this population.
Ivan Godfrey, SUNY Ulster
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SUNY ULSTER
Email: Godfreyi@sunyulster.edu
Website: http://sunyulster.edu
I have participated in a recent research study about the value of post secondary education for incarcerated persons. My teaching interest and expertise is in Alternative to Incarceration & Reentry strategies and iniatives
Aaron Gottlieb, UIC
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, JANE ADDAMS COLLEGE OF SOCIAL WORK, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
Email: agott19@uic.edu
Website: https://socialwork.uic.edu/facultyandstaff/aaron-gottlieb/
Dr. Gottlieb’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of mass incarceration in the United States and how to effectively reduce U.S. reliance on incarceration. His scholarship has been published in leading social work, criminology, and sociology journals.
Stephanie Grace Post, Kent School of Social Work
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, KENT SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: stephanie.prost@louisville.edu
Website: https://louisville.edu/kent/about/faculty-1/bios/dr-stephanie-grace-prost
My primary research interests relate to health care service provision, caregiving, and quality of life for inmates over the age of 55, inmates with chronic and terminal conditions, and volunteer inmate caregivers.
Melissa Grady, Catholic University of America
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA
Email: grady@cua.edu
Website: https://ncsss.catholic.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/grady-melissa/index.html
I study individuals who have committed sexual crimes, both in terms of how to create more effective treatment and to think about risk factors that contribute to offending behaviors.
Debra Hrouda, Northeast Ohio Medical University
DIRECTOR OF PRACTICE IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION, NORTHEAST OHIO MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
Email: dhrouda@neomed.edu
Focus on the implementation of evidence-based, best, and emerging practices for people along the continuum of justice involvement.
Russ Immarigeon
EDITOR
Email: russimmarigeon@fairpoint.net
Editor of national publications on community corrections, alternatives to prison, and offender programming. Editor of 4 books on crime desistance, prisoner reentry, and women and girls in the criminal justice system. Independent researcher on the overuse of incarceration for women and others, and of cash bail in pretrial settings.
Andre Ivanoff, Columbia University
PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL WORK, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Email: ami2@columbia.edu
Website: https://socialwork.columbia.edu/faculty-research/faculty/full-time/andre-ivanoff/
Dr. André Ivanoff has over 25 years of clinical and research experience in mental health, criminal justice and forensic settings. These include Seattle Emergency Housing Service, the Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic of the University of Washington Medical Center, the New York City Police Department and over two dozen adult and juvenile forensic/correctional settings in the United States and internationally. She presents widely at conferences, the most recent include Public Responsibility in Research & Medicine, the Association for Cognitive and Behavior Therapies, and the CMHS National GAINS Center conference.
Jalonta Jackson, Troy University
LECTURER, TROY UNIVERSITY
Email: jjackson147130@troy.edu
Developing the first Social Work and Criminal Justice course at Troy University.
Leah Jacobs, University of Pittsburgh
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
Email: leahjacobs@pitt.edu
Website: https://www.socialwork.pitt.edu/people/leah-jacobs
My research interests include: socio-structural risk factors for criminal justice involvement; the role of neighborhood qualities in contributing to arrests among people with mental health and substance use problems; the provision of mental health and substance abuse treatment in jails; and reentry programs that seek to decrease recidivism among individuals with mental health and substance abuse problems.
K – Z
Jennifer Kellman Fritz, Eastern Michigan University
DIRECTOR AND PROFESSOR, EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Email: jkellman@emich.edu
Website: https://www.emich.edu/chhs/social-work/faculty/j_kellman-fritz.php
Jennifer Kenney, University of Alabama
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Email: jennifer.kenney@ua.edu
Website: https://cj.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/JKenneyCV_Sept15.pdf
I am primarily interested in the issues that affect adult women and their entry into the criminal justice system. The risk factors that I am currently focusing on include: trauma, substance abuse, mental health, employment, and class (SES) issues. I am also working on a project related to media consumption, fear of crime, and the attitudinal and behavioral consequences of that fear. I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. In the classroom, I teach classes in the areas of: social inequality, gender and crime, victimology, and drug use and policy.
Erin Kerrison, UC Berkeley
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
Email: kerrison@berkeley.edu
Website: http://socialwelfare.berkeley.edu/faculty/erin-kerrison
My research and teaching interests extend from a legal epidemiological framework, wherein law and legal institutions operate as social determinants of health. Specifically, through varied agency partnerships, my mixed-method research agenda investigates the impact that compounded structural disadvantage, concentrated poverty and state supervision has on service delivery, substance abuse, violence and other health outcomes for individuals and communities marked by criminal justice intervention.
Jean Kjellstrand, University of Oregon
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Email: jeank@uoregon.edu
Website: https://education.uoregon.edu/people/faculty/jeank
Dr. Jean Kjellstrand, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Human Services at the University of Oregon, focuses on parental incarceration. Specifically, she examines how parental incarceration impacts child development, and how to support children and their parents both during and after incarceration. Her goal is to create effective interventions that are affordable, acceptable, and sustainable within existing delivery systems. Before entering academics, Dr. Kjellstrand was a licensed social worker for over 15 years. During this period, she developed and coordinated several individual, group, and community interventions to support and empower children and families in high-risk circumstances.
Karen Kolivoski, Howard University
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Email: karen.kolivoski@howard.edu
Website: https://www.karenkolivoski.com and https://twitter.com/KKolivoski
My research interests focus on crossover youth, specifically on understanding how factors in children and youths’ experiences within the child welfare system impact subsequent juvenile and criminal justice system involvement. I am especially interested in understanding the role of out of home placements within the child welfare system, youths’ relationships and perceptions of their child welfare caseworkers, and sibling and family influences as related to criminal justice outcomes. I also have interest and experience in transfer of youths to the adult system and juvenile life without parole, including the misconduct/experiences of youth in prisons. In regards to teaching, I teach in the criminal justice field of practice specialization in the MSW program at Howard University.
Liat Kriegel, Washington State University
RESEARCH ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INNOVATIONS
Email: liat.kriegel@gmail.com
Website: https://www.bhinnovations.org/
I am broadly interested in the intersection of the behavioral health and criminal justice systems. My research explores the roles of public space and public space interactions in the community reentry of individuals with mental illness leaving prison. I am interested in understanding both conceptions and use of public space as well as the different types of connections people make in those spaces, with an eye toward understanding social and spatial indicators of recidivism, community integration, social isolation, and ontological security. I am also involved in research focused on opioid use prevention, treatment and recovery in rural communities.
George Leibowitz, Stony Brook University
PROFESSOR, STONY BROOK, UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WELFARE
Email: George.Leibowitz@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Website: https://socialwelfare.stonybrookmedicine.edu/faculty-staff/leibowitz
For the past 20 years, I have been working as an interdisciplinary researcher, forensic evaluator, national consultant and trainer in the related fields of adolescent delinquency, addictions, sexually harmful behavior among youth, and adult sexually offending behavior. I am interested in research on sex offender registry reform, restorative justice, and compassionate release laws. I am also a member of the National Association of Forensic Social Work recently co-authored the following textbook: Maschi, T. & Leibowitz, G.S. (Eds.) (2018). Forensic social work: Psychosocial and legal issues across diverse populations and settings (2nd Ed.). New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Kelli J. Marks, Madonna University
BSW PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, MADONNA UNIVERSITY
Email: kmarks@madonna.edu
Dr. Kelli Marks is the BSW Program Director in Social Work. Kelli joined the full time faculty of Madonna University in 2016 and has a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Michigan (2000) with an emphasis in interpersonal practice and children and youth and received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Oakland University in 2015. Her research focused on the importance of student engagement of academic outcomes, concentrating on minority male achievement.
Kelli worked previously in juvenile justice before entering adult corrections and was employed as a corrections officer with female inmates for several years; she also has 15 years of experience working with adult felons in Oakland County.
Tina Maschi, Fordham University
PROFESSOR, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SERVICE IN NEW YORK CITY
Email: tmaschi@fordham.edu
Website: https://www.fordham.edu/info/24281/gss_full-time_faculty_profiles/7181/tina_maschi
Tina Maschi, PhD, LCSW, ACSW, is a full professor at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Service in New York City. Her research is at the intersection of human rights, aging, health/mental, and criminal justice. She has over 100 peer reviewed publications and book chapters. Dr Maschi is the former associate editor of Traumatology published by the American Psychiatric Association and author and/or editor of four books, including Forensic Social Work: Psychosocial and Legal Issues Across Diverse Populations and Settings and A Human Rights Approach to Social Work Research and Evaluation: A Rights Research Manifesto and the and the soon to be released, “Aging Behind Prison Walls: Stories of Trauma and Resilience” published by Columbia University Press. She is also a licensed clinical social worker with extensive practice experience (including the use of creative arts techniques) in correctional, school, and community mental health settings. She currently teaches research and practice courses in for the Bachelor’s, Master’s, and doctoral program, including qualitative methods, at Fordham’s Lincoln Center and Westchester campuses.
Jason Matejkowski, University of Kansas
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Email: jmate@ku.edu
Website: http://socwel.ku.edu/people/faculty/matejkowski-jason
Research interests include policies and services involving adults with mental illness who are involved with the criminal justice system or who are homeless.
Carl Mazza, Lehman College CUNY
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND DEPARTMENT CHAIR, SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT LEHMAN COLLEGE (CUNY)
Email: carl.maaza@lehman.cuny.edu
Website: https://www.lehman.edu/academics/health-human-services-nursing/social-work/faculty-mazza.php
Dr. Mazza has written on incarcerated fathers, children of incarcerated parents, prison education, practicing social work in prison, and various issues regarding reentry. He has recently completed a book on fatherhood in the U.S. and has a chapter on incarcerated fathers. He is the former track chair of the Criminal & Juvenile Justice Track for the Council on Social Work Education. He is currently researching and writing a book on social work with exonerated people.
Susan McCarter, UNC Charlotte
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHARLOTTE
Email: smccarter@uncc.edu
Website: https://pages.uncc.edu/smccar17/
Dr. McCarter’s career began as a juvenile probation officer, inner-city mental health counselor, and policy analyst and advocate in Virginia. For over 20 years she has served as a Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Scholar (now Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED)) and a forensic practitioner. Nationally, Dr. McCarter serves as an expert juvenile justice forensic witness, on the board of the National Organization of Forensic Social Work, and chairs the Society of Social Work and Research’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Interest Group. Regionally, she co-chairs the NC RED Subcommittee and the Charlotte Racial Justice Consortium (funded by the AAC&U and dedicated to truth, racial healing and transformation), and serves on the leadership team for Race Matters for Juvenile Justice as well as their Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) Team. Dr. McCarter currently facilitates the UNC Charlotte Racial Equity Skill Building Caucus and leads multiple funded research studies examining the School-to-Prison Pipeline (STPP), Juvenile Diversion, and Racial Equity.
Branden McLeod, UIC
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, JANE ADDAMS SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
Email: bmcleod7@uic.edu
Website: https://socialwork.uic.edu/profiles/branden-a-mcleod/
My research examines the intersection between fatherhood and the criminal justice system. I endeavor unpack how the criminal justice system potentially attenuates the role of fathers and the factors that mitigate, sustain, and strengthen paternal involvement and family well-being. I teach social welfare, social policy analysis and advocacy, and research methods.
Louisiana Medina, USC
LCSW, USC
Email: louisiana.medina@gmail.com
Annelise Mennicke, UNC Charlotte
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE
Email: amennick@uncc.edu
Website: https://pages.uncc.edu/connections/people/annelise-mennicke/
I am interested in victimization histories of incarcerated men and women, how that informs domestic violence programming in prisons, and the relationship to successfully reentry.
Nakia Miller, UCONN
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR AND ADVISOR, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Email: nakia.miller@uconn.edu
As the ongoing epidemic of Mass Incarceration increases, it is imperative to research, understand and knowledgeable of the interventions that already implemented which have been both successful and unsuccessful to be able to develop interventions that will be effective. As social workers, it is our duty to be well informed of the challenges that individuals affected by criminal justice system face as well as possible interventions to help them regain quality of life taken from them because of criminalization.
Oluwayomi Paseda, MSW, LMSW, University of Georgia
DOCTORAL STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Email: oluwayomi@uga.edu
My research interests include reentry programs, interventions, and services for women transitioning from incarceration to the community.
Ashley Pennell, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
LMSW, ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE
Email: awalke68@vols.utk.edu
Ashley Pennell is a Licensed Master Social Worker in Knoxville, TN. She is an adjunct instructor at the University of Tennessee teaching bachelors and masters level forensic social work courses. Her work experience is primarily in social work in public defense settings, jail based therapy, victim advocacy, and re-entry services. She is particularly interested in the intersection of trauma, poverty, and incarceration.
Sheryl Pimlott Kubiak, Wayne State University
DEAN AT WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND JUSTICE
Email: spk@wayne.edu
Website: https://socialwork.wayne.edu/profile/ao1692
Sheryl Kubiak is the founding Director of Wane State University’s Center for Behavioral Health and Justice (CBHJ). Her research interests are at the intersections of criminal legal system and behavioral health (mental health and substance use disorders); encompassing both individual as well as systems issues. The CBHJ employs 35 full time individuals involved in a number of various projects at over 20 jails and prisons across Michigan. Dr. Kubiak’s personal research has examined the implications of cumulative stress, PTSD and depression among women in various phases of the criminal justice system; assessed the implications of welfare reform and the child welfare system on those with convictions; analyzed the effects of PTSD on relapse and recidivism among incarcerated men and women; tested the validity and practicality of a brief mental health screening measure for use in a large metropolitan jail; assessed the effects of criminal justice funding of community-based substance abuse treatment nationally; tested interventions in prison settings and lead a statewide evaluation of mental health courts.
Mark Plassmeyer, University of Arkansas
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
Email: mpplassm@uark.edu
My research broadly focuses on the criminal justice system with an emphasis on drug policy and policies that impact people with criminal histories.
I teach social welfare policy and political advocacy courses that focus on local, national, and global economic and social issues while making sure to emphasize the role of drug policy and criminal justice policy in exacerbating these issues. I also helped develop a drug policy class that will be part of our new substance use minor. Lastly, I advocate for increased involvement in the political process for social workers and the socially and economically marginalized communities they serve, particularly people who use drugs and/or have criminal histories.
Lauren Ricciardelli, Troy University
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, TROY UNIVERSITY
Email: lricciardelli@troy.edu
My overarching, mixed-methods research focus is the intersection of social policy and social work professional ethics across the following topics: criminal justice policy and the death penalty; disability; and, immigration policy/ crimmigration. My secondary research trajectory focuses on social work ethics and digital technology, drawing out implications for both the criminal justice system and the social work profession.
Jacoba Rock, Juniata College
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, JUNIATA COLLEGE
Email: rock@juniata.edu
Website: https://www.juniata.edu/academics/departments/sociology/faculty.php
Jacoba Rock is an Assistant Professor of Social Work and Criminal Justice and the B.S.W. Program Director at Juniata College. She received her Master of Social Work degree, with a clinical concentration in work with High-Risk Youth in 2010, and a graduate certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution in 2008, both from the University of Denver. She received her doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies, with a doctoral minor in Criminology, from Pennsylvania State University in 2021. Dr. Rock’s research focuses on the developmental consequences of childhood trauma, including biological, cognitive, and social contributions, for individuals involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems, and related intervention opportunities for incarcerated juveniles and young adults. She leads an assessment and intervention study at a Department of Corrections facility which houses young adult offenders, testing the use of a staff empathy training and implementation of a mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral intervention. Prior research has focused on restorative practices in juvenile correctional facilities, and systemic disparities in response to parole violations. Dr. Rock maintains social work licensure in both Colorado and Pennsylvania, where she continues to assess a small number of clients serving life without parole sentences for crimes convicted as juveniles, and provide court testimony in these cases; this work began in 2012, following the Miller v. Alabama Supreme Court ruling which held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juveniles. Her work has focused on collaborating with attorneys and other criminal justice advocates to encourage the use of social science research which supports resentencing efforts and service access for incarcerated young people. Before 2012, Dr. Rock worked for several years in the child welfare system, as an assessment specialist and caseworker. Between her undergraduate and graduate training, she was also the program coordinator for a restorative justice program based at a police department. She went on to facilitate psychoeducational groups for young adult offenders, primarily those with substance use and anger management related needs. Dr. Rock’s courses include program evaluation, clinical practice courses, cognitive behavioral therapy, group treatment, restorative approaches, child and adolescent trauma, adolescent development, social welfare policy, and juvenile delinquency and youth violence. Dr. Rock serves on the HEAL-PA Trauma Consultation team, Pennsylvania Re-Entry Council, and the Pennsylvania Office of Advocacy and Reform 21st Century Solutions think tank. She also serves Juniata College through participation on the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council, Bias Response Team, General Education Committee, Health Professions Committee, and Baker Institute board.
Allison Salisbury, UIUC
PHD STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Email: aas6@illinois.edu
Allison Salisbury (she/her/hers), MSW, is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, School of Social Work. Her research interests include criminal justice content in the social work curriculum.
Christine M. Sarteschi, Chatham University
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CHATHAM UNIVERSITY
Email: csarteschi@chatham.edu
Website: https://www.chatham.edu/academics/undergraduate/criminology/faculty/christine-sarteschi.html
Dr. Christine M. Sarteschi, LCSW is an Associate Professor of Social Work and Criminology. She researches and teaches courses in behavioral science that cover a wide range of topics including: human behavior, juvenile justice, mental illness and crime, cold case research, problem solving courts, mass murder, and extreme violent crime. Dr. Sarteschi’s most recent works include Mass and Serial Murder in America and a 2020 monograph about extremists entitled: Sovereign Citizens: A Psychological and Criminological Analysis. Her research has appeared in The British Journal of Social Work, Research on Social Work Practice, Aggression and Violent Behavior, the Journal of Criminal Justice, among others.
Megan Schlegel, San Jose State University
LECTURER, SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: megan.schlegel@sjsu.edu
Website: https://www.sjsu.edu/justicestudies/our-department/faculty-and-staff/schlegel-m/index.html
Margaret Severson, University of Kansas
PROFESSOR EMIRITA, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Email: mseverson@ku.edu
Website: http://socwel.ku.edu/people/faculty/severson-margaret
Shannon Sliva, University of Denver
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
Email: shannon.sliva@du.edu
Website: https://socialwork.du.edu/about/gssw-directory/shannon-marie-sliva
Shannon Sliva is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver, where she conducts leading research on restorative and collaborative approaches to justice which challenge current criminal legal models. Her work questions the efficacy of courts and prisons as mechanisms of justice and considers the role of dialogue and shared experiences in transforming people and systems. Sliva tracks state-level restorative justice legislation across the U.S., and is currently partnering with Colorado practitioners, policymakers and advocates to document the impacts of leading-edge restorative justice laws and develop recommendations for policy transfer. Most recently, Sliva’s research team – in partnership with Sterling Correctional Facility in the Colorado Department of Corrections – joined the Urban Institute’s Prison Innovation and Research Network, a six state consortium to test transformative innovations in correctional facilities. Sliva is also the Director of Research for the University of Denver Prison Arts Initiative, where she oversees evaluation of DU PAI’s arts-based workshops and public performances.
Amy Smoyer, Southern Connecticut State University
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: smoyera1@southernct.edu
Website: www.amysmoyer.com
My program of research examines the structural determinants of health and health disparities. Specifically, I seek to build knowledge about the lived experience of incarceration, parole, and probation in order to better understand the impact of correctional systems on individual and community health. I am particularly interested in women’s experiences with these systems. In terms of outcomes, my work has focused primarily on HIV care and prevention and food-related wellness.
Kim Stauss, University of Arkansas
PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS – SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: kstauss@uark.edu
I have collaborated on the development of letter-writing program to help incarcerated parents reconnect with their children. We have completed research on this program and tried to disseminate this program in both community and departmental correctional facilities.
Barb Toews, University of Washington Tacoma
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON TACOMA
Email: btoews@uw.edu
Website: https://directory.tacoma.uw.edu/employee/btoews
My interests include restorative justice, jails and prisons, and architecture/design. I am a long time restorative justice practitioner and educator, with substantial experience in victim offender dialogue in nonviolent and violent crime. Since 2000, my work has focused on the application of restorative justice in correctional facilities and the meaning and implications of such applications. This work has included educating incarcerated men and women about the philosophy and its common practices and supporting them as they develop and facilitate their own programs. More recently, my interests have grown to include the relationship between restorative justice, architecture/design of correctional facilities and other buildings in which criminal justice occurs, and psycho-social-behavioral-judicial outcomes.
Stephen Tripodi, Florida State University
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DOCTORAL PROGRAM DIRECTOR, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Email: stripodi@fsu.edu
Website: https://csw.fsu.edu/person/stephen-tripodi
Stephen Tripodi’s most recent projects include analyzing the influence of childhood victimization on adult mental health/substance use problems for incarcerated women and ultimately researching its relationship with recidivism. Stephen has recently completed a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of Seeking Safety with women prisoners on PTSD symptoms, depression, and cravings to use alcohol and/or drugs. Seeking Safety is a trauma-focused, cognitive-behavioral substance abuse intervention. Stephen and his interdisciplinary research team are currently writing grant proposals to expand this RCT to include several prisons and jails throughout North Carolina and Idaho.
Katherine Van Wormer, University of Northern Iowa
PROFESSOR EMIRITA OF SOCIAL WORK, UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA
Email: katherine.vanwormer@uni.edu
Website: https://csbs.uni.edu/socialwork/faculty-staff-directory/katherine-vanwormer-phd
Blog Posts:
Dr. van Wormer is the author or co-author of 15 books (not counting new editions), including Death by Domestic Violence: Preventing the Murders and the Murder-Suicides. Some of her recent books are: Confronting Oppression, Restoring Justice: From Policy Analysis to Social Action (2nd ed.) (co-authored by L .Kaplan and C. Juby) (CSWE, 2012); The Maid Narratives (LSU Press, 2012); Restorative Justice Today (SAGE, 2013); Women and the Criminal Justice System (co-authored with C. Bartollas) (Pearson, 2014); Social Welfare Policy for a Sustainable Future (SAGE, 2016), Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Micro Level and HBSE, Macro Level (Oxford University Press, 2017) and Addiction Treatment: A Strengths Perspective (4th ed.) (co-authored with D.R. Davis) (Cengage, 2018). Van Wormer is currently working on a 5th edition of Women and the Criminal Justice System.
Mel Wilson, NASW
SENIOR POLICY CONSULTANT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS
Email: mwilson.NASW@socialworkers.org
My interest and experience with criminal justice and social work includes being active in criminal justice policy and legislative actions via my affiliation with – NASW, the Justice Roundtable , the Justice Reform Taskforce, and the Criminal Justice Behavioral Health Work Group. I have also written several NASW Social Justice Briefs on topics including bail reform, racial profiling, drug policy, and juvenile justice issues.
Hidenori Yamatani, Pittsburgh University
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH PITTSBURGH UNIVERSITY, PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: hzy@pitt.edu
Website: http://crsp.pitt.edu/person/hidenori-yamatani-phd-msw
As the Pitt School of Social Work’s associate dean for research, Yamatani oversees sponsored research, training, and service projects; provides proposal-development assistance for external funding; promotes interdisciplinary research projects; enhances scholarly research and activities; and facilitates faculty mentoring. A full professor, his research specialties include organizational development, strategic planning, program optimization and evaluation, and community research. Yamatani directs Pitt’s Community Enhancement Research Network (CERN), which promotes community development through collaborative applied social work research. CERN includes faculty from the social work school and other Pitt units as well as non-Pitt researchers and community stakeholders.
Diane Young, University of Washington at Tacoma
PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA
Email: youngd4@u.washington.edu
Website: https://directory.tacoma.uw.edu/employee/youngd4
I came to University of Washington-Tacoma to help develop an undergraduate criminal justice major with a focus on social justice. We are now the School of Social Work and Criminal Justice and encompass undergraduate degrees in social welfare, criminal justice, and a graduate degree in social work. Our programs are well-linked with cross-listed courses and faculty who teach across degree programs. My own research focuses on social work practice within criminal justice settings; mental health service delivery within jails/prisons; and families affected by incarceration and reentry.