Distinguished Scholar Award – Dr. Cara Rabe-Hemp

The Distinguished Scholar Award is intended to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of women and crime by an established scholar. This year’s Distinguished Scholar Award goes to Dr. Cara Rabe-Hemp, a nationally renowned expert on women and policing. Dr. Rabe-Hemp earned her Ph.D. in criminal justice from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She is currently a professor and Associate Dean for the College of Applied Science and Technology at Illinois State University. As noted by Dr. Rabe-Hemp’s nominator, “Her contributions in research have been acknowledged by Illinois State University throughout her time here. In 2014, she was chosen as the Illinois State University Department of Criminal Justice Sciences inductee into the College of Applied Science and Technology (CAST) Academy of Achievement. In 2016, Dr. Rabe-Hemp was awarded the CAST Outstanding Researcher Award in the tenured faculty category.” These recognitions are well-deserved. Dr. Rabe-Hemp has “over 50 publications, including books, peer-reviewed journal articles, refereed book chapters, refereed encyclopedia entries, and technical reports.” Notable works include her sole-authored book, Thriving in an All Boys Club: Female Police Officers and their Fight for Equity, and her-authored book Corruption, Discretion and Accountability. These “books will no doubt continue to influence young scholars and the area of policing for generations.” As her nominator Dr. Shelley Clevenger noted, “Dr. Rabe-Hemp is a great example of what a strong, intelligent and determined female scholar can become if they work hard. She has been my role model, and I know that I am not alone as she has been admired by many for her accomplishments.” The DWC Internal Awards committee agrees with this sentiment, and we are proud to honor Dr. Rabe-Hemp with the 2021 Distinguished Scholar Award. Congratulations, Dr. Rabe-Hemp!

New Scholar Award-Co Awardee Dr. April Terry

The New Scholar Award recognizes scholars who show outstanding merit at the beginning of their careers through either a singular work or a series of contributions to women and crime. Dr. Terry is one of two recipients of this award. She received her undergraduate degrees in psychology and criminal justice and her master’s degree in clinical psychology. She worked as a master’s-level psychologist throughout her state’s juvenile justice system before completing her doctoral degree in sociology with a concentration in criminology and gender studies. She completed her PhD in 2018 and has since published several manuscripts on her dissertation work along with additional solo and co-authored projects. In the past eight years, Dr. Terry single-authored and co-authored more than twenty peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on various issues on gender, crime, juvenile justice, and the livelihoods of justice-involved girls and women in rural areas. She has also contributed to three technical reports, has eight manuscripts or book chapters under review, and has several projects that have recently commenced with much more just beginning. She is a co-editor of an upcoming book focused on gender-based violence in rural America under contract with the Bristol University Press (Forthcoming, 2022). In a 2020 published article, “The architecture of rural life: The dangers of dense collective efficacy for at-risk girls,” published in Rural Sociology, Dr. Terry depicted a captivating and crucial story of incarcerated girls and women in rural areas. More recently (2021), Dr. Terry co-authored an article entitled, “The gendered path for girls in rural communities: The impact of COVID-19 on youth presenting at juvenile detention facilities,” which was published in the journal of Crime and Delinquency. Dr. Terry also presents her research at local, national, and international conferences and has delivered more than fifty presentations, with half of those presentations involving undergraduate and graduate students. Her research production is phenomenal considering her institution is a regional-teaching university, which consists of only 20 percent scholarship in the total workload. While scholarship is an expectation, she manages this level of rigor while teaching an average of 21-credit-hours per semester, with additional courses taught over the intersession and throughout the summer term.

In addition to publications, Dr. Terry also applied for and received ten internal and external grants assisting her research on rural crime and victimization. Her scholarly contributions have been recognized with numerous awards and more than ten invitations from prestigious journals to be a manuscript reviewer. She remains involved in her scholarship endeavors while maintaining a heavy teaching load and extensive service involvement at her university, community, and profession. As one recent example, Dr. Terry has partnered with a colleague in a teacher education department, alongside their community partner—the state’s only women’s correctional facility—to complete research through student-driven interventions. Teacher education practicum students have provided the facility with on-site and remote read aloud tutoring sessions to help aid mothers and grandmothers in building their confidence to read to their (grand)children, aiding in their abilities to connect to the youth while incarcerated. The (grand)mothers were then assisted with recording themselves reading a recordable children’s book which is then mailed to each home. Criminal justice students provide their assistance in completing pre/post-test surveys and Dr. Terry has plans to add a qualitative approach to the future of this ongoing project. Dr. Terry has also collaborated with her university’s art department to create an activity/coloring book inspired by the structure and appearance of this facility to help provide the (grand)children with insight into the place where their mother or grandmother resides. Through funding, the facility will receive 100s of copies of this activity book along with thousands of their requested colored pencils—a preference identified by the children themselves!

New Scholar Co-Award – Dr. Tara Sutton

The New Scholar Award recognizes scholars who show outstanding merit at the beginning of their careers through either a singular work or a series of contributions to women and crime. Dr. Sutton is one of two recipients of this award. Dr. Sutton earned her doctorate in sociology from the University of Georgia in 2018, where she also earned a certificate in quantitative methods. She began her current position as an assistant professor of sociology at Mississippi State University in 2018. Dr. Sutton’s research interests include child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and family violence. Professor Nicole Rader nominated Dr. Sutton for the New Scholar Award. She said Dr. Sutton has contributed to feminist criminology by “taking seriously the feminist criminology notion to move beyond understanding White middle-class women’s experiences within crime and victimization.” Indeed, much of Dr. Sutton’s work “attempts to understand the experiences of women of color, sexual minorities, and those who have been economically marginalized. Since 2012, Dr. Sutton has published 22 articles with another two accepted. Of these 24 articles, she has completed 12 since joining Mississippi State. Additionally, she has submitted two R01 grant proposals and co-edited a special issue on domestic violence for Feminist Criminology. Despite being an early-career scholar, Dr. Sutton has already made an imprint in the areas of domestic violence and feminist criminology more broadly. Given these research contributions, the DWC is proud to honor Dr. Sutton with the New Scholar Award. Congratulations!

CoraMae Richey Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Year” Award – Dr. Eryn O’Neal

The CoraMae Richey Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Year” Award recognizes a scholar/activist who has participated in publicly promoting the ideals of gender equality and women’s rights throughout society. As emphasized by her nominators (two of them prior Inconvenient Women of the Year themselves!), “Over the course of her career […] Dr. O’Neal has proven to be a truly Inconvenient Woman by disrupting power structures, the patriarchy, and white privilege in multiple arenas”.

Dr. Eryn O’Neal earned her PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2015 from Arizona State University. She has served as an Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) and continues her work as a feminist criminologist and scholar-activist with The National Coalition of Independent Scholars and as qualitative methodologist at Neumann University. Dr. O’Neal has been active in supporting and facilitating student activism with service focused overwhelming on anti-racism, #BlackLivesMatter, and social justice. Efforts that were recognized by the SHSU student body with an award for Excellence in Teaching, Advocacy, and Allyship. Dr. O’Neal’s nominators also highlight her vocal support for scholars of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the DWC, her leadership in the #SayHerName newsletter in January 2021 and the conversations and changes that followed: “Her bravery in speaking on a public forum about sensitive issues is one that we believe makes her very “inconvenient””. In addition, Dr. O’Neal has participated in and organized many workshops, events, forums, and panels, including being invited to speak “on improving educational experiences for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ university students at the United Nations 65th Commission on the Status of Women” earlier this year.

Dr. O’Neal’s scholarship aligns with her activism: she is a champion for qualitative research, with much of her research focusing on sexual assault and intimate partner violence emphasizing victim-centered approaches and intersectionality. In the final words of her nominators, “We cannot imagine a stronger candidate for Inconvenient Woman of the Year–she embodies everything this award is meant to recognize. She is beyond inconvenient, she is truly DISRUPTIVE”.

Graduate Scholar Award: Sarah Murray

The Graduate Scholar Award recognizes the outstanding contributions of graduate students to the field of women and crime, both in their published work and their service to the Division on Women and Crime. This year, Sarah Murray is the recipient of this award. Ms. Murray is a PhD Candidate in the Sociology Department at the University of California, Riverside, with research interests in the areas of crime, gender, and policing. Her research record includes a sole authored publication in Feminist Criminology, titled “Seeing and Doing Gender at Work: A Qualitative Analysis of Canadian Male and Female Police Officers.” Her doctoral dissertation builds on this remarkable work to examine intersectional inequality among women within police agencies. Along with her impressive scholarly work, Ms. Murray is committed to service to the discipline and her university. Over the last several years Ms. Murray has served the DWC in a number of capacities. Currently, she serves on the DWC Executive Counsel as a Graduate Student Representative. She has also served as a Co-chair of the Mentoring and Student Affairs Committee, a Section Editor for the Grad Student Corner of the DWC Newsletter, and as a member of the Internal Awards Committee. Additionally, she organized the ASC 2019 roundtable session “The Dr. Christine Rasche Mentoring Program: Insights from the Inaugural Year.” Along with her dedicated service to the DWC, she is an active member in the ASC, ASA, Canadian Sociological Association, and Sociologists for Women in Society. She has also served the University of California, Riverside in a number of roles (Graduate Academic Integrity Committee Member, Graduate Student Mentorship Program Mentor, and Sociology Graduate Student Association Newsletter Representative).

 Sarah Hall Award – Dr. Valli Rajah

The Sarah Hall Award recognizes outstanding service contributions to the DWC and professional interests regarding feminist criminology and women and crime. Dr. Valli Rajah earned her doctorate in sociology from Columbia University and is currently an associate professor of sociology in the College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York. She has been actively involved in promoting diversity and inclusion among the DWC and is currently the DWC Diversion & Inclusion Committee co-chair. In 2019, Dr. Rajah and her co-chair developed a $10,000 funding request  to fund several D&I initiatives, including the development of “a community-engaged scholar award, funds for a DWC Internet Newsletter/Social Media contributor, and support for the virtual forum on anti-racist/intersectional practice” which took place this past summer. Dr. Rajah was on the forum’s organizing committee and moderated and served on several panels related to the forum’s theme. She is serving as a guest editor along with Drs. Jane Palmer and Sean Wilson on a special issue of Race & Justice devoted to the forum.  As noted by one of her recommenders, “Dr. Rajah meets and exceeds the criteria for the Sarah Hall Award.” Like Sarah Hall, Dr. Rajah “gives unselfishly of her time and energy to criminology” and “is a strong supporter of the DWC.” For these reasons, the DWC is pleased to honor Dr. Valli Rajah with the Sarah Hall Award.

The Saltzman Award for Contributions to Practice – Shamika Kelley

The Saltzman Award for Contributions to Practice recognizes a criminologist whose professional accomplishments have increased the quality of justice and the level of safety for women. For over a decade Shamika Kelley has worked as a forensic DNA consultant, and currently she is a fourth-year doctoral student in Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University. She works with the  Houston Forensic Science Center and the Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners to provides forensic reports, technical DNA case reviews, and expert testimony on behalf of victims of violence. Her research focuses on discretionary decision making and criminal-legal responses to sexual assault, with special attention to Black victims, victim decision making, and the system’s use of forensic evidence. Shamika describes herself as an action-oriented “pracademic” who is both a practitioner and academic. She has won multiple scholarships and awards while maintaining her certifications and licenses. In the words of her nominator, “Shamika is a brilliant, dynamic, spirited practitioner and academic who has made her mark on the discipline and in the lives of crime victims.”