The Criminology Academy

We talk to Professor Megan Denver about her work on labeling, stigma, and person-first language.   Megan Denver is an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice and the Director of the Corrections and Reentry Lab at Northeastern University. Megan’s research interests include criminal record stigma, employment and recidivism, credentialing decisions for people with criminal records, and desistance. To investigate questions related to these interests, she uses a variety of methods and integrates criminological theory with policy. Megan holds a PhD in Criminal Justice from the University of Albany and a masters in Sociology from the University of Delaware.

Welcome to our new series: Early Career...like our grad life series, we will document our movement across this phase of our careers. Hopefully this will help other junior faculty as they set off in their careers as well. We kick it off by discussing the transition from student to TT faculty with podcast all-star Ashley Appleby.    Dr. Ashley Appleby is an assistant professor of criminal justice in the school of social sciences, communication, and humanities at Endicott College. She received her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University, Newark - School of Criminal Justice, and her B.A. in Criminal Justice and Psychology from Quinnipiac University. Ashley’s research broadly considers the intersection between contact with the criminal legal system and experience of education. She is a student alumnus and trained instructor with the International Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program and has previously worked with the NJ-Step and Petey Greene programs. Dr. Appleby is a first-generation college graduate, and she has extensive teaching and pedagogical training in the field.

Terrie E. Moffitt, Ph.D., is the Nannerl O. Keohane University Professor of Psychology at Duke University, and Professor of Social Development at King’s College London. Her expertise is in the areas of longitudinal methods, developmental theory, clinical mental health research, neuropsychology, and genomics in behavioral science. Dr. Moffitt attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for her undergraduate degree in psychology. She continued her training in psychology at the University of Southern California, receiving an M.A. in experimental animal behavior, and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. She also completed postdoctoral training in geriatrics and neuropsychology at the University of California, Los Angeles Neuropsychiatric Institute. Special topics highlighted in this episode include the beginning of Terrie’s career, her contributions to criminology, and her thoughts on the discipline.

Brielle Bryan is an assistant professor of sociology at Rice University who studies the consequences of criminal justice system contact for both individuals who encounter the justice system and their extended family members. Her research examines how varying forms of justice system contact ranging from arrest to incarceration shape subsequent economic, social, and household wellbeing, with particular attention to racial disparities in both contact with the justice system and in the consequences of such contact. Dr. Bryan holds a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University and a Masters of Public Policy from Georgetown University.  In this episode, we are speaking with Professor Brielle Bryan about the usage of social safety net resources (e.g., public assistance programs) among formerly incarcerated individuals.

This week, it's just Jenn and Jose. This will be the last episode of our Grad Life series. We talk about what we consider success to be and our advice to students currently undergoing the grueling ordeal that is grad school. 

Gary LaFree is a Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the Founding Director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland. He is a past president of the American Society of Criminology and the 2024 recipient of the Stockholm Prize.  His research is on the causes and consequences of violent crime and terrorism.  His most recent books are The Handbook of the Criminology of Terrorism (with Josh Freilich), Countering Terrorism (with Martha Crenshaw), and Toward a Criminology of Terrorism. Special topics highlighted in this episode include the beginning of Gary’s career, his contributions to criminology, and his thoughts on the discipline.

This week, as part of our grad life series, we spoke with Chloe Haimson and Stephen Oliphant about their experiences finding, applying, and interviewing for postdoc positions. Chloe Haimson is Director of Research of the Justice Policy Lab @the Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs at Brown University. Previously, she was a postdoctoral fellow in the Prison Education Program at New York University where she taught ethnography at Wallkill Correctional Facility. Her current work investigates the decisions parole agents make during their everyday work routines, how these choices influence the trajectories of individuals on parole after prison, and their consequences for the expansion of punishment in the U.S. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022. Stephen Oliphant is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention. He received his PhD in criminal justice from Michigan State University in 2023. His interdisciplinary background includes training in the fields of public policy, criminal justice, and injury prevention. His research is primarily focused on firearm policy and the evaluation of interventions that address firearm injury and violence more broadly.

Justin Pickett is a professor of criminal justice at the University at Albany, SUNY. He received his PhD in Criminology from Florida State University in 2011 and received the American Society of Criminology's Cavan Young Scholar Award in 2015. His research interests include public opinion, survey research methods, theories of punishment, and police–community relations.    Special topics highlighted in this episode include criminological research and public opinion and policing and diversity

Richard Wright retired from the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2014, having spent 30 very happy years there. He then joined the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University as chair, before retiring again in 2021. Wright has published widely in the area of offending decision making, with particular focus on urban street criminals. Richard speaks to us about his journey into criminology, his work on active offender research, and his thoughts on the field.

In this episode we speak with Dr. Brae Young. Brae is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Texas Christian University. Her research largely focuses on family and support among offending populations as well as broader issues within the juvenile justice system. Her recent work has appeared in Justice Quarterly, Journal of Developmental and Life Course Criminology, and Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice.   We spoke to Brae about her work surrounding adolescents who have been incarcerated. Specifically we discuss the benefits of these teens getting visits and what may or may not prevent their loved ones from visiting them. Our discussion then moves to being a teen parent while incarcerated and the challenges that brings.