DQC Internal Award Winners 2023
Book of the Year Award
Drs. Aimee Wodda & Vanessa Panfil – Sex Positive Criminology: New Directions in Critical Criminology
Dr. Aimee Wodda is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Law and Society at Pacific University. Her research focuses on the intersection between institutionalized forms of harm and gender, sexuality, and the law. She is the co-author of Sex-Positive Criminology.
Dr. Vanessa Panfil is an Associate Professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University. Her research focuses on topics such as queer criminology, gangs, and juvenile justice. She is also the author of The Gang’s All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members.
Teaching Award
Dr. Kathleen Ratajczak
Dr. Kathleen Ratajczak is an Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University in the Victim Studies Department. She received her PhD from the University of Kentucky in Sociology and a master’s degree in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Ratajczak’s research focuses on sexual and gender-based violence. In both her research and teaching, she centers trauma-informed care and highlights the experiences of vulnerable populations. Dr. Ratajczak serves as her department’s undergraduate program coordinator, teaches academic community engaged courses, and mentors many students in the honors and McNair programs on her campus. She teaches several courses, including victimology, family violence, vulnerable victimization, and the neurobiology of trauma.
Community Engagement and Activism Award
Winner – Dr. Matthew Mitchell
Dr. Matthew Mitchell is a Lecturer of Crime, Justice and Legal Studies within the Department of Social Inquiry at La Trobe University. His research is situated in the field of queer criminology, focusing on the relationship between LGBTQ people, legal institutions, and gendered and sexual harm.
Honorable Mention – Dr. Hannah Liebreich
Dr. Hannah Liebreich is an assistant professor of sociology at Coastal Carolina University (CCU). Her teaching, research, and service focus on social justice issues including gender-based violence and LGBTQ+ rights. In terms of Community Engagement and Activism, Hannah is currently working on creating more equitable housing options for LGBTQ+ students at CCU.
Emerging Scholar Award
Winner – Dr. Tara Sutton
Dr. Sutton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Affiliate Faculty in Gender Studies and African American Studies at Mississippi State University. She is a feminist, queer criminologist whose work addresses sexuality, gender, and race as it relates to violence and crime. Specifically, her research explores the social and family influences of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and child abuse with a focus on LGBTQ+ young adults and Black youth.
Honorable Mention – Dr. Matthew Mitchell
Dr. Matthew Mitchell is a Lecturer of Crime, Justice and Legal Studies within the Department of Social Inquiry at La Trobe University. His research is situated in the field of queer criminology, focusing on the relationship between LGBTQ people, legal institutions, and gendered and sexual harm.
DQC Student Paper Award
Winner- Lauren Moton
Paper: Intersections of Exclusion: An Exploration of the Lived Experiences of Trans Women of Color (TWOC) Sex Workers in New York City
Paper Blurb:
Using qualitative methodologies, Lauren’s paper explores the lived experience of trans women of color sex workers in New York City. Her innovative study highlights how gender and racial identities interact to inform engagement with sex work, a stigmatized form of labor. Further explored is how these identities compound experiences of discrimination and exclusion for this population.
Lauren N. Moton is an incoming Senior Researcher at New York University’s Marron Institute for Urban Management. Informed by Black feminist and queer criminology, her scholarship broadly examines victimization, marginalized identity, and criminal legal systems. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, ASC’s Division of Feminist Criminology, and The Graduate Center, CUNY. She has authored several peer-reviewed articles and is most recently published in Journal of Criminal Justice. Lauren will receive her PhD in criminal justice in 2023 from John Jay College, CUNY.
Honorable Mention – Andy Holmes
Paper: Queer Capitulation: Historicizing Homonormativity by Joining Forces with the Police
Paper blurb: Andy’s paper uses historical, archival methodologies to chart the experiences of LGBTQ2+ activists and their engagement with the police in Toronto. Using data gathered from archival documents and newspaper articles between 1981-2005, Andy generates a theoretical concept known as “queer capitulation” which highlights the ethos of homonormative investments in policing and considers how violence can push LGBTQ2+ activists to support the police.
Andy Holmes (he/him pronouns) graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BA (honors) in Sociology with a minor in Critical Studies in Sexuality. He currently is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto. Andy researches relations between law enforcement and queer communities. His research in this area can be found in the Journal of Homosexuality and the Journal of Canadian Studies. He also researches queer identities within the coming out process, which can be found forthcoming in Theory & Society.
DQC Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award
Winners – Jace Valcore, Henry F. Fradella, Xavier Guadalupe-Diaz, Matthew J. Ball, Angela Dwyer, Christina DeJong, Allyn Walker, Aimee Wodda, and Meredith G. F. Worthen
Paper blurb: In this paper, Valcore and colleagues respond to claims that the Equality Act would would place cisgender women at risk of male violence in sex-segregated spaces. Through the use of legal history, empirical research, and conceptual/theoretical arguments, the authors provide a discussion regarding three important areas: 1) a misinterpretation of the Equality Act; 2) a narrow version that embraces a socially and biologically deterministic view of sex and gender; and 3) ignorance and dismissal of established criminological knowledge regarding victimization, offending patterns, and effective measures to enhance safety.
Author bios:
Jace Valcore, Ph.D. is a Senior Data Analyst for the Denver Sheriff Department.
Hank Fradella, Ph.D. is a Professor in the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Arizona State University.
Xavier Guadalupe-Diaz, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology & Criminology at Framingham State University.
Matthew J. Ball, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the School of Justice at Queensland University of Technology.
Angela Dwyer, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Police Studies and Emergency Management in the Office of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Tasmania.
Christina DeJong, Ph.D. is an Emeritus Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University.
Allyn Walker, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Aimee Wodda, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Law and Society at Pacific University Oregon.
Meredith G. F. Worthen, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma.
Honorable Mention – Stacie Merken, Danielle Slakoff, Wendy Aujla, & Lauren Moton
Paper: Navigating Biases and Distrust of Systems: American and Canadian Intimate Partner Violence Services Providers’ Experiences with Trans and Immigrant Women Clients
Paper blurb: In this article, Merken and colleagues use constructivist grounded theory approaches to highlight American and Canadian victim advocates’ perceptions of transgender and immigrant women who seek services for intimate partner violence. They show that several barriers exist including service provider biases, shelter conflicts, and distrust of systems.
Author bios:
Stacie Merken, Ph.D. is Department Chair and Assistant Professor of the Department of Criminal Justice and a Senior Mosaic Faculty Fellow at Indiana University South Bend.
Danielle Slakoff, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice in the College of Human & Health Services at Sacramento State University.
Wendy Aujla, Ph.D. is the Criminology Advisor and Field Placement Coordinator in the Sociology Department at the University of Alberta.
Lauren Moton, M.S. (ABD) is an incoming Senior Researcher at New York University’s Marron Institute of Urban Management.
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DQC Internal Award Winners 2022
Emerging Scholar Award: Dr. Allyn Walker
Honorable Mention: Dr. Lindsey Kahle Semprevivo
Community Engagement and Activism: Dr. April Carrillo
Teaching Award: Dr. Vanessa Panfil
Student Paper Award: Alessandra Early
Honorable Mention: Susana Avalos
