Hello, and welcome to the Summer 2012 edition of the Member Profiles section of the DWC newsletter!
In this edition, we introduce you to Dr. Melencia Johnson, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, and Dr. Denise Paquette Boots, Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Texas at Dallas.
We choose people to profile using a random number generator (really!), but if you have suggestions for DWC members or significant contributors to the field of women and crime that you would like to see profiled, please contact Venezia Michalsen at michalsenv@mail.montclair.edu or Alana Van Gundy at yoderal@muohio.edu . We would enjoy hearing from you!
Until next edition,
Venezia and Alana
Melencia Johnson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology
Department of Social Science
Paine College 1235 15th Street
Augusta, GA 30901
Phone: 706.396.7597
Email: mjohnson@paine.edu
How did you become interested in the field of women and/or gender and crime?
My interests stem from a research project I had the opportunity to be a part of my sophomore year in college at Norfolk State University. I was a Ronald McNair Scholar in residence at East Tennessee State University where I performed a guided research project with Dr. Elizabeth McCord. She was doing research on the effectiveness of mandatory Intimate Partner Violence programs for misdemeanor offenders. She was looking at male only groups of offenders. I remember asking her the question, how often do women commit IPV? She replied that she wasn’t aware of the answer. That started my research on women and crime.
How do you define yourself as a scholar/activist/educator?
I am a professor who is dedicated to providing my students with a quality educational experience they will remember. I am a fresh PhD who looks like the students I teach. I am often mistaken for a student as I walk through the halls of campus. I see this as a benefit that helps in my student centered approach to teaching. I make the students responsible for their own learning and they also teach me in the process.
What are your current projects or interests?
As a new faculty member, I have become interested in the availability of family friendly work life policies at my and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). I wrote and received a grant from Paine College for faculty-student research in which I have included one undergraduate researcher. We conducted a content analysis of the family friendly policies publically available via HBCU webpages. We presented our work at the annual meeting of the Association of Black Sociologists this past summer. We are currently writing the article to send out for review. My interests in this came from my work in the University Women’s Professional Advancement office at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
Who is your favorite person (or animal!) to spend time with, and what are your favorite things to do when you are with them?
I enjoy spending time with my maternal grandmother Elsie. She recently turned 92 but acts as if she’s 70. I am not able to visit home often, but my first stop in Virginia is always my grandmother’s house in Appomattox. She always has a story to tell. Her vivid memories of the past are enough to keep us engaged for hours. I always listen attentively, as I want to remember these stories so that I can pass them down in time.
How do you wind down after a stressful day?
I recently purchased cable (which I hadn’t had in years). So now I come home to a night of channel surfing where I usually land on Sy-Fy, TLC, or Food Network. I don’t know why I can’t get enough of aliens, horders, and food shows. I also love to cook. The more stressful my day, the more I cook.
What obstacles do you feel you have overcome to be where you are today?
I was a first generation college student who knew little of school beyond high school until my freshman year in high school. A Black counselor was hired at my primarily white high school that took an interest in me and showed me the new world of HBCUs. My ignorance was astounding. Before this epiphany, I just knew I was going into the Navy because my parents would not have been able to afford to send me to college. If it had not been for that counselor, and my parents’ support, I would not have made it to where I am today.
What would you like to be remembered for?
I would like to be remembered for my determination to help underserved students reach goals and heights they never imagined. My students can attest that I push them harder than any other professor to do what I know they can do.
What is one of your lifelong goals?
I have a bucket list of sorts and I would like to get through it before my exit from this earth. One of the first items on my bucket list is to visit every continent. I have gone to Africa, so next stop will hopefully be South America.
Is there a website where we can send people for more information about you?
I don’t have a personal website, but you can visit www.paine.edu for my bio. I am currently working on a paper that came from research I performed with a team of researchers at SIUC. We interviewed rural victim advocates in the southern Illinois region about their perceived barriers to effective victim advocacy. This qualitative article will be sent out for review by the beginning of May.
Denise Paquette Boots, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Criminology
University of Texas at Dallas
800 W. Campbell Rd. GR 31
Richardson, TX 75080
Email: deniseboots@utdallas.edu
How did you become interested in the field of women and/or gender and crime?
I first became interested in marginalized populations in graduate school. As a life-course and violence researcher I am intrigued by the various events that occur over one’s life that lead to both prosocial and antisocial pathways. Some of my recent research has focused on how issues such as mental health problems, family, and socialization might influence female pathways to violence when compared to male offenders. The salience of victimization over the life-course of women is also a topic that drew me toward gendered studies of crime.
How do you define yourself as a scholar/activist/educator?
I am passionate about my research, teaching, and service to my university and local community. My scholarship has largely focused on issues that have implications for public policy. When I moved to Dallas, I actively sought out relationships with local policy makers and practitioners in agencies across the Metroplex, many of whom work in fields related to women and children (e.g., shelters for battered women, prostitution court probation officers, domestic violence judges, etc.). By developing close relationships with these professionals, I am able to consult with them and relay information on the latest scholarship on topics related to intersections such as gender, age, race, and crime. In addition, these relationships allow me to bring some incredible role models into my classroom, where these experts share their knowledge with my students. By challenging and dismissing the myths surrounding rape, domestic violence, child abuse, and other gender-related topics, I have an opportunity to make a difference as an educator.
What are your current projects or interests?
I am currently developing a project related to the gender differences among serial killers, both international and domestic. Another project seeks to explore the impact of violent crime on people who both voluntarily seek out occupations that deal with death (e.g., prosecutors, pathologists, emergency room doctors) and those people who are vicariously a victim of violence (e.g., offenders’ family members, victims, etc.). It will be interesting to see how gender, race, time, and place all impact how these people deal with their exposure to violence, and how it changes attitudes, behaviors, and worldviews as well.
Who is your favorite person (or animal!) to spend time with, and what are your favorite things to do when you are with them?
That is a tough question to answer since I am very close to my family and friends. However, by far my four year-old daughter Genevieve and 100-pound golden retriever (named Roman) are two of my favorite people/dogs in the world. My daughter is a blooming ballerina with a taste for adventure, so we like to visit the zoo, aquarium, parks, movies, cook together, and have art days at our house. Roman is a faithful companion and I love our family time together.
How do you wind down after a stressful day?
My daughter can make me laugh no matter what kind of day I have had with her witty, unexpected comments and expressions. I enjoy a great workout when I have had an exhausting day. My favorite TV indulgence (and obsession) is the show Dexter, which is the best series ever in my humble opinion. An ideal night is watching Dexter in front of the fire, sipping a nice glass of wine, with Roman serving as a furry pillow on our couch.
What obstacles do you feel you have overcome to be where you are today?
I am the first person in my family to graduate college, so there was no precedent for me as I moved through my educational track. Life events led me to my career as a criminologist, but I never intended to get my doctorate and become an educator. I had an 80-hour week throughout most of graduate school between jobs and classes, so it was a long eight years working toward my Ph.D. It can also be very challenging to juggle motherhood with a career in the academy, and these difficulties have led me to seek out mentorship and support from other working moms (many of whom are criminologists in DWC!).
What would you like to be remembered for?
First and foremost, I hope I am remembered as a mother who raised an independent, strong, grounded young woman. My daughter is the most important thing I will ever do. I would hope that I would be remembered as someone who genuinely appreciated her family, partner, friends, students, colleagues, and this life that I have been privileged to live. When looking back on my career, I hope that my work will cumulatively contribute to a body of research that made a positive difference for at-risk women and children in particular.
What is one of your lifelong goals?
I love to travel but have not had an opportunity to get outside the U.S. yet. I would like to visit Italy, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Alaska, Costa Rica, Brazil, and take the train to tour Europe (to name a few jaunts on my list). I also fully intend to go skydiving as soon as my neck heals from cervical surgery I had done earlier this year!
Is there a website where we can send people for more information about you?
My faculty page is: www.utdallas.edu/~dpb062000/