Department of Society, Culture, Crime, and Justice Studies

Criminology and Research Methods.

I enjoy teaching, research, and public service, and strive to balance my activities among these three.  Though, being the department chair prevents me from teaching as much as in the past, I do offer courses in Introduction to Criminal Justice, Juvenile Delinquency, Systems of Juvenile Justice, and our Freshman Seminar focused on College & Career success. 

My research mostly involves analysis of the influence of circumstance on adolescent perception and behavior.  Specifically, I have conducted survey research in Medellin Colombia, and been a part of the Mobile Youth Survey in Mobile and Pritchard, Alabama.  Both studies evaluate the impact of a disadvantaged and often violent social environment on adolescent development and behavior.  Through collaborations with Dr. John Bolland, Dr. John Dizgun, and Dr. David Keeling, I have published articles in Deviant Behavior, Focus on Geography, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Youth and Society.  In addition to this theoretical work, I am also interested in evaluations of juvenile justice in KY.  My evaluation of a local restorative justice program was published in Contemporary Journal of Sociology and Anthropology and I collaborated with my colleague Dr. Donielle Lovell in an analysis of Disproportionate Minority Contact in two KY communities in 2015-2018. 

BA, Sociology, Samford University-1996

MS, Criminal Justice, University of Alabama-1999

Ph.D., Sociology, University of Georgia - 2004