- Biography
- Research
- Courses
Biography
Since joining UCF, I have been a professor and scholar whose work and teaching have centered on punishment in America. Outside of my official position at UCF, I have spent 20 years volunteering with the homeless, whose lives often intersect with the criminal justice system.
Areas of Expertise
- History of Punishment
- Offender Reentry
- Ex-Offender Employment
- Collateral Sanctions
Education
Ph.D. in Criminology, Florida State University
Research
My scholarly work has focused on various dimensions of punishment, including the history of penal reform, defining punishment, privatization of corrections, sex offender civil commitment, offender reentry, and collateral sanctions, especially as they pertain to employment disqualifications. Most recently, I have become interested in the employment attitudes and resilience of those with a felony or prison record. A secondary research and teaching interest concerns victimology, namely victims' services and judicial decision-making in civil restraining orders for intimate partner violence. My research has appeared in such journals as Criminology & Public Policy, Crime & Delinquency, The British Journal of Criminology, Journal of Crime & Justice, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Law & Policy, and Critical Criminology.
Research Interests
- Historical and contemporary penal policy
- The meaning and implementation of offender reentry as a correctional policy
- Employment disqualifications among those with a felony conviction
- Employment attitudes among those with a felony or prison record
- Resilience among those with a felony or prison record.
Courses
- CJC 3010: Corrections & Penology, Fall, Spring, Summer
- CJC 5020: Foundations of Corrections, Fall, Spring
- CCJ 3667: Victims & the Criminal Justice System, Fall, Spring
- CCJ 4633: Guns, Crime & American Culture, Fall or Spring