Professors in Convict Criminology: Stigma, Status, or Something More?

• In Event: Women of Convict Criminology: Session 1

Abstract

Mass incarceration policies in the United States have resulted in millions of people having some personal experience with the criminal justice system. Many formerly incarcerated individuals are finding their way to academia, to college classrooms, and many to the field of Criminal Justice and Criminology, where they now teach about a subject that is very personal to them. Often many of these individuals experience the continued consequences of stigma in academic settings that can impact their success within the profession. However, some convict criminologists have found their academic status in the experiences of their past, utilizing this platform for academic writing and research, as well as in teaching endeavors. This research provides a continued analysis of previously collected data among university students, related to perceptions of professors who have spent time in prisons or jails, and the current study seeks to extend the prior research by examining perceptions of faculty and administrator attitudes toward convict criminologists. This project involves the search for the source of stigma or status among convict criminologists and implications are discussed.

Author

• J Renee Trombley, Claflin University