Elaine Gunn

Elaine Gunnison, PhD

Profile Type:

Professor, Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Forensics
Director, Master of Arts in Criminal Justice

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  2. Elaine Gunnison, PhD

Program Director of Master of Arts in Criminal Justice and Professor in the Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Forensics Department.

Biography

Elaine Gunnison is Professor and Graduate Director in the Department of Criminal Justice, Criminology & Forensics. She received her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati with a specialization in life course criminology, female offending, and corrections. Her research interests include understanding female offending patterns such as desistance and persistence, the applicability of criminological theory to females, understanding community corrections officers, and reentry following incarceration. She has also recently been examining criminal justice researchers’ experiences with IRBs as well as Graduate Directors’ and graduate students’ experiences in criminal justice and criminology programs. She teaches a range of courses in the undergraduate and graduate programs including criminology and methods. Since 2008, she has served as the Graduate Director of the MACJ Program.

Prior to joining the faculty at 蘑菇视频 (SU) in 2004, she worked at another academic institution where she spearheaded research at a prison for women. Since joining the faculty at SU, she has conducted primary research in a variety of corrections’ spaces (e.g., prisons, day reporting centers) and secondary research examining life course criminology and in corrections on the topic of work release centers. She has sole-authored or was lead author on four books, and she has published dozens of peer-reviewed articles in outlets such as Crime and Delinquency, Criminal Justice Studies: A Critical Journal of Crime, Law, and Society, Federal Probation, The Journal of Criminal Justice, The Journal of Community Corrections, The Journal of International and Comparative Criminal Justice, The Journal of Crime and Justice, Women and Criminal Justice, Corrections:  Policy, Practice, and Research, The Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology, The Journal of Prison Education and Reentry, The Journal of Interpersonal Violence, The Western Criminology Review, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society, The Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, Academic Exchange Quarterly, and the Qualitative Report. Recently, she just completed serving a term as Vice-President and President of the where she is continuing to serve as an Executive Board Member. She is a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, the American Society of Criminology, and the Western Society of Criminology.

Education

  • Ph.D. 2001, University of Cincinnati; Criminal Justice
  • M.S. 1997, University of Cincinnati; Criminal Justice
  • BA. 1996, Wright State University; Psychology major, Sociology minor

Courses Taught

  • Introduction to Criminal Justice
  • Criminology
  • Criminal Justice Statistics
  • Criminal Justice Research Methods
  • Gender, Race, & Crime
  • Senior Synthesis
  • Advanced Criminological Theories (graduate)
  • Feminist Criminology (graduate)
  • Criminal Justice Capstone Seminar (graduate)
  • Advanced Research Methods (graduate)
  • Qualitative Research Methods (graduate)

Publications

  • Gunnison, E. (2025). “Understanding Graduate Director Roles in Criminal Justice & Criminology Programs.” . 
  • Gunnison, E. & Helfgott, J. B. (2024). “Criminology and Criminal Justice Researchers’ Experiences and Challenges with Institutional Review Boards.” , 13.
  • Helfgott, J. B., & Gunnison, E. (2023). “Trauma, Psychopathic Traits, and Resilience in Female Post-Prison Reentry Outcomes.” , 24(1): 52-70.
  • Giuffre, A., & Gunnison, E. (2022). “Sorority Women’s Perceptions of Survivors’ Services and Justice on an Urban Campus.”  , 7(1): 1-19.
  • Gunnison, E., & Helfgott, J. B. (2021). “Process, Power, and Impact of the Institutional Review Board in Criminology and Criminal Justice Research.” , 16(3): 1-17.
  • Helfgott, J. B., & Gunnison, E. (2020). “Gender-Responsive Reentry Services for Women Leaving Prison: The IF Project’s Seattle Women’s Reentry Initiative.” , 6: 1-30.
  • Helfgott, J. B., Gunnison, E., Sumner, J., Collins, P., & Rice, S. K. (2020). “If Someone Would Have Showed Me”: Identifying Pivotal Points in Pathways to Crime and Incarceration Through Prisoner Self- Narratives” , 64(6-7): 609–634.
  • Tamura, K., & Gunnison, E. (2019). “Hearing on the Deaf Penalty: The Intersection of Deafness and Criminal Justice.” , 7(3): 215-239.
  • Gunnison, E., & Helfgott, J. B. (2017).  “Critical Keys to Successful  Offender Reentry: Getting a Handle on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Problems.”  , 22(8): 2152-2172.
  • Gunnison, E., & Helfgott, J. B. (2016).  “A Day in the Life of a Day Reporting Center: A Profile of Needs & Challenges of Clients Entering and Exiting.” , 25(4): 5-14.
  • Gunnison, E. (2015). “Investigating Life Course Offender Subgroup Heterogeneity:  An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis Approach.” , 25(4): 223-240.
  • Gunnison, E. (2014).  “Desistance from Criminal Offending: Exploring Gender Similarities and Differences.”  , 15(3): 75-95.
  • Gunnison, E. (2012). “An Examination of Female and Male Work Release Offenders: Risk Factors, Needs, and Recidivism.” , 21(4): 9-16.
  • Gunnison, E., & Helfgott, J. B. (2018). .  Routledge.
  • Gunnison, E. (2017). .  Durham, NC:  Carolina Academic Press.
  • Gunnison, E., Bernat, F., & Goodstein, L. (2016). . Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Gunnison, E., & Helfgott, J. B. (2013).

Books

  • Gunnison, E., & Helfgott, J. B. (2018). . Routledge.
  • Gunnison, E. (2017). . Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
  • Gunnison, E., Bernat, F., & Goodstein, L. (2016). . Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Gunnison, E., & Helfgott, J. B. (2013). .

Additional Research