The Criminology Academy

This week we spoke with Ilana Friedman (Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky's School of Law) and Amber Krushas (Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas' Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice). They talk about their experiences going through their own PhD programs and give advice to students at the beginning, middle, and end of their programs!    You can find Ilana and Amber on X @ifriedman01 and @amber_krusahs

This week we spoke with Ben Crewe who is a professor of penology and criminal justice at the University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology. We talk about what prisons are like in England, Wales, and Norway. The discussion centers around the idea of Nordic exceptionalism when it comes to imprisonment and whether it's just a myth.    Ben has published in journals such as Criminology, British Journal of Criminology, and Punishment & Society. You can find on X @crewebencrewe.

This week we spoke with Mateus Santos (Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida), Chae Jaynes (Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida) and Danielle Thomas (Doctoral student in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida) about the challenges of finding a job with a criminal record and what can be done to overcome these challenges. We discuss their recent paper published in Criminology titled "How to overcome the cost of a criminal record for getting hired".   You can find Chae, Mateus, and Danielle on X (formerly Twitter) @ChaeJaynes, @MatSantos7, and @justifyjusticee.

This week we spoke with Volkan Topalli who is a professor of criminology at Georgia State University and co-editor of the journal Criminology. We talked to Volkan about his active offender approach to research going back to where it really gained popularity: the University of St. Louis-Missouri.    Volkan has published in journals such as Criminology, Justice Quarterly, and Criminal Justice and Behavior. You can find Volkan on Twitter/X @VolkanTopalli. 

This week we talked to Selena Munoz-Jones who is a doctoral student in the sociology department at the University of Colorado Boulder. We set the table by talking about the housing issue in the United States and then we discuss a piece that Selena wrote about Public Housing Authorities.    You can find Selena on Twitter (or X, we guess?) @SMunozJones

This week we (or really, just Jose) spoke with Charles Lanfear who is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Criminology in the University of Cambridge. We open the discussion with theory. Broken windows, social disorganization, and collective efficacy. Then we move into violence within communities and discuss a paper written by Charles. We close out with a discussion on reproducibility and open science.    Charles has been published in journals such as JAMA Network Open, Criminology, and Annual Review of Criminology. You can follow Charles on Twitter @cclanfear or visit his website https://clanfear.github.io/

This week we spoke with Erin Tinney, a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland's Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. We start with a general discussion on labeling theory, then we move into talking about stigma and adolescent arrests. Finally, Erin talks to us about her recent paper on the stigma associated with adolescent arrest.    You can find Erin on Twitter @Tinney_Erin. She has been published in Criminology. 

This week we speak with Sandra Bucerius is a professor in the sociology department at the University of Alberta. We kick off the discussion by talking about incarceration in Canada and compare it a little to incarceration in the United States. We also discuss subcultures and radicalization. Finally, we bring it all together by discussing a paper co-authored by Sandra discussing radicalization within prisons in Canada.    Sandra has been published in journals such as Journal of Drug Issues, Criminology, and City and Community

This week we talk with Janet Lauritsen who is Curators' Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri -St. Louis. We walk through the journey to her becoming a criminologist and studying victimization. We then discuss a piece she wrote on victimization for the Annual Review of Criminology. Finally, Janet gives us her thoughts on the field of criminology.    Janet has been published in journals such as Criminology, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Social Forces. 

Elephants, Tigers, and Penguins! We love them and care about them. Therefore, this week we took a dive into the world of illegal trafficking that impacts both flora (plants) and fauna (animals) by speaking with William Moreto, a professor criminal justice at the University of Central Florida. We ask him all sorts of questions related broadly to wildlife crime. We've all heard of money laundering, but what about fish laundering? Then we discuss two papers co-authored by Will on the topics of (1) the convergence between wildlife trafficking and organized crime and (2) rangers' perspectives of policing protected areas. Illegal wildlife trafficking (for example, ivory, penguin scales, caviar, and cacti) is either the third or fifth largest black market in the world (depending on the metric being used). As such, wildlife crime is a serious concern that we should all learn more about!    William Moreto has been published in Justice Quarterly, The British Journal of Criminology, Conservation Criminology, and Deviant Behavior, among other journals. You can find him on "the twitter" @MoreToPhD.