The Criminology Academy

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.

This week we spoke with C. Jordan Howell, a professor of criminology at the University of South Florida. We discuss what cybercrime and cybersecurity is. Then we discuss a serious of projects that Jordan has worked on exploring the dark web and ransomware. Don't worry, Jose's 100s of dollars are safe! And no, Jenn didn't hack into Jose's accounts and buy pizza... although, that's not a bad idea.   C. Jordan Howell has been published in Crime & Delinquency, The British Journal of Criminology, and Deviant Behavior. You can find him on Twitter @Dr_Cybercrime and see his research lab on sarasotacyber.com

This week we spoke with Beverly Kingston, a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado Boulder and the director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. We asked Beverly about school violence generally. How it has changed over time and how we typically respond to school shootings. We then discuss a paper Beverly co-authored about school readiness to implement a program. Finally, we talk about the impacts some responses like school resource officers and lockdown drills can have on children.    Beverly has been published in journals such as Youth & Society, American Journal of Public Health, and Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review.

This weeks we speak with Thomas Abt, a research professor at the University of Maryland's Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. We discuss several key issues: (1) what is community violence? (2) how do we go about addressing community violence? and (3) how do we disseminate research in a way that non-academics can understand?   Thomas is the founding director of the Violence Research Center. You can find him on Twitter @Abt_Thomas. Please remember to rate and review!!    

This week we talk with Justin Nix, a professor of criminology at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Justin talks to us about: what are some of the statistics on police use of deadly force? what do we currently know and don't know about use of force? where should policing research on use of force go in the future? and finally, we discuss police legitimacy.    Justin has published in Criminology & Public Policy, Justice Quarterly, and Criminology. You can find Justin on Twitter @JNixy.

This week we speak with Simon Kolbeck, a doctoral candidate at The Ohio State University's Department of Sociology. Simon talks to us about the impacts that incarceration can have on recidivism, what role employment plays, and how race and ethnicity matter. We discuss a paper by Simon in which he studied the role of work history and race in the employment-recidivism relationship.    Simon has been published in places like Criminology and the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation. 

This week we spoke with Claire Lee who is a professor at UMass Lowell's School of Criminology and Justice Studies. Claire talked to us about what cybercrime and cyber security entail. We also discuss a paper she wrote about zoom bombings during COVID-19.   

This week we talked to Brook Kearley, a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore in the School of Social Work. Brook talks to us about experimental designs in criminology. We also discuss a paper in which she evaluated a drug court.