Criminal Justice

News Archives - 2005

Volkan Topalli, Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, was recently awarded $127,348 from the National Science Foundation to conduct a two-year study on active violent street offenders. The project is entitled, "An Interdisciplinary, Multi-Method Approach to the Study of Active Violent Offenders." Professor Topalli has also been hard at work expanding on Matza's theory of neutralization; he recently had an article published in Criminology and he has an article in press at Sociological Inquiry.

Dr. Michael S. Vaughn, Department Chair and Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice was ranked second nationally among "Academic Stars" who graduated from top American Criminal Justice and Criminology Ph.D. programs. The 2005 Journal of Criminal Justice Education article entitled, "Where are they now? Trajectories of publication stars from American criminology and criminal justice programs," was a follow-up study to the authors' 2000 study that identified Dr. Vaughn as one of 22 "Academic Stars" based on publishing in top journals (Cohen, E., Farrington, D., & Sorensen, J. 2000. Journal publications of Ph.D. graduates from American criminology and criminal justice programs. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 11, 35-39). The current JCJE article is also consistent with a 2002 assessment published in the Journal of Criminal Justice that ranked Dr Vaughn second nationally in publications and ranked the Department of Criminal Justice at GSU 14th nationally. The 2005 attached JCJE article does not rank institutions; however, the article shows that Dr. Vaughn's publications continue to be ranked 2nd in the country among "Academic Stars" who publish in top criminal justice and criminology journals.

Dr. Barbara Warner has joined the Department of Criminal Justice faculty at GSU. Dr. Warner, an Associate Professor, has previously held positions at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, the University of Kentucky, and Eastern Kentucky University. Dr. Warner joins the Department of Criminal Justice as a Faculty Associate within GSU's Institute of Public Health, and will be conducting interdisciplinary research as part of the Urban Health Research Partnership that GSU has launched campus wide.

Department of Criminal Justice Graduate Research Assistants Shannon Baker, Lisa Vorrasi, and Jimmy West successfully completed the XXI Post-Graduate Seminar in Victimology, Victim Assistance, and Criminal Justice sponsored by the Inter-University Centre of Post-Graduate Studies, Dubrovnik, Croatia, May 9-25, 2005.  Dr. Terrance J. Taylor, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at GSU, was one of the professors at the post-graduate victimology seminar.

Department of Criminal Justice M.S. student Shannon Gibson successfully defended her thesis Tuesday, May 3, 2005. Her thesis entitled, "Predicting Aftercare Program Failure in a Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Intervention: A Six-Month Follow-Up," was chaired by Dr. Mark D. Reed.

The Department of Criminal Justice has moved to a new office location on the 12th floor of the Urban Life Building at Georgia State University.  We remain at the same floor and building, however all C.J. personnel are now in different offices on the 12th floor of the Urban Life Building.

Dr. Robert R. Friedmann is the 2005 recipient of the Humanitarian Award from the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. In recognizing the GSU Professor of Criminal Justice with their highest honor, the Commission praised Dr. Friedmann for his work on counter-terrorism, for his significant accomplishments to policing and public safety, and for improving the criminal justice system around the globe.

At the CHHS annual Honor's Day ceremony, the Department of Criminal Justice recognized the following for their scholarly excellence and dedication to the field: Jeremy M. Hayes received the Chris Perrin Memorial Award; Debbie Ann Turner received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award; Scartisha S. Kincaid received the Graduate Academic Honor Student Award; Jessica L. Ekhomu received the James L. Maddex, Jr. Scholarship; Michael S. Barutio received the Larry E. Quinn Memorial Award; Lisa M. Vorrasi and Kimberly A. Drayer received the Phil Peters Scholarship; and Phyllis M. Brannon received the Undergraduate Academic Honor Student Award.

Phyllis M. Brannon graduated fall 2004 semester with a B.S. in Criminal Justice at GSU with a perfect 4.00 Grade Point Average. At the graduation commencement ceremony, Ms. Brannon was awarded by President Carl Patton with the University's Kell Award, given each semester for the highest undergraduate GPA.

The Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) recently hosted the first delegation of six top police officials from the People's Republic of China to Georgia. Dr. Robert R. Friedmann, Director of GILEE, plans to make the exchange an annual event between law enforcement executives in Georgia, the United States, and China. Photo

Saturday March 19, 2005 at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences meeting in Chicago, three GSU Department of Criminal Justice graduate students Taylor Thao Dang, Clarissa Freitas Dias, and Sarah J. Heurich presented papers during a session entitled, "Management Failures in Criminal Justice."Taylor Thao Dang's presentation was called Abusive and Pervasive Sexual Harassment in Criminal Justice Agencies. The presentation by Clarissa Freitas Dias was entitled, Bring Back Bureaucracy to Avoid Management Disorganization and Administrative Breakdown in Criminal Justice Agencies. Sarah J. Heurich's presentation was on Ill-Treatment and Torture at Abu Ghraib Prison, Iraq. View Photo