News / Current news
Award
George Cronin, PhD (photo right) was announced this month as the inaugural winner of the Richard Block Dissertation Award for Homicide Research. Dr Cronin graduated with a PhD from the Department of Criminal Justice in 2008 with a dissertation titled "Structural and situational determinants of homicide in Rural Pennsylvania". The Richard Block Award is presented to a graduate with an outstanding dissertation on homicide or lethal violence, and will be awarded every year by the Homicide Research Working Group, a national body dedicated to collaborative, interdisciplinary research on lethal and non-lethal violence. Each recipient receives a monetary award of $500 and a plaque commemorating his/her achievement. Dr Cronin's dissertation (chaired by Professor Jerry Ratcliffe, Criminal Justice) built on his long career as a homicide investigator with the Pennsylvania State Police. The award was presented at the 2009 meeting of the American Society of Criminology in Philadelphia, PA, last week. Dr Cronin is shown with Professor Richard Block, for whom the award is named in recognition of his long career in homicide research.
New White Paper
Dr. Phil Harris, Brian Lockwood and Liz Mengers of the Council of Juvenile Justice Administrators (CJCA) have completed a white paper, Defining and Measuring Recidivism, which contains recommended national standards for measuring recidivism for the juvenile justice system. Development of this paper was funded by the CJCA and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. CJCA is leading the implementation effort.
New Report to the Governor
Governor Edward G. Rendell ordered a review of the handling of potentially violent offenders in the correctional and parole process to identify ways in which improvements can be implemented to prevent violent incidents in the community. This extensive review has involved a combination of methods to produce recommendations for change, some of which have already been adopted. A final report titled Public Safety and the Correctional and Parole Process in Pennsylvania, prepared by
Professor John Goldkamp, Kay Harris, Dr. Rely Vîlcica and Doris Weiland is due shortly.
Distinctions
Professor John Goldkamp testified before the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee relating to findings and recommendations from the Parole Violence investigation in January 2009. He was also invited to brief Philadelphia’s City Controller, Alan Butkowitz, and his staff on pretrial release reform in March 2009.
Awards
Several CJ majors received awardson May 13th at the Baccalaureate Awards Ceremony. Recipients and (mentors) are listed here:
Sarai Rosado (Tara Tripp) received the Neysa and Arlin Adams Prize for Excellence in Pre-Law Studies. Click here for a story in Temple Times about Sarai Rosado.
Ishata Al-Yakoub (Kate Lunger) received the Carolyn Karcher Prize.
Mary Kohler (Peter Jones) received the Irving J. Leder and Beatrice Deglin Leder Award.
The Homicide Research Working Group (HRWG) recently chose George Cronin's dissertation, "Structural Determinants of Homicide in Rural Pennsylvania," as the winner of the Richard Block Award.
New grants
Dr. John Goldkamp, Kay Harris, Dr. Rely Vîlcica and Doris Weiland, " Public Safety and the Correctional and Parole Process in Pennsylvania," Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, $313,000.
Dr. Elizabeth Groff and Dr. Jennifer Wood, "Philadelphia Footbeat Experiment: Examining the Dosage of Police Presence," Temple University College of Liberal Arts Research Award (CLARA), $5000.00.
Dr. Jennifer Wood and Dr. Elizabeth Groff, "Philadelphia Footbeat Experiment: Examining Policing Styles," Temple University College of Liberal Arts Research Award (CLARA), $5000.00.
The footbeat project graduate student field researchers are: Lallen Hart-Johnson, Evan Sorg and Travis Taniguchi.
Dr. Steven Belenko (PI) is directing a new five-year grant for $2.98 million awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health. Click here for more information.
Dr. Belenko is also leading a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse titled "STI/HIV Risk, Services, and Drug Use for Young Arrestees" ($843,000).
