Brenda Sims Blackwell – Professor

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Biography

Dr. Brenda Sims Blackwell joined the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology as chair in July, 2014. She has served on the faculties of Pennsylvania State University and Georgia State University, leaving the latter after 15 years of service. Her research broadly focuses on women and crime, with an emphasis on gender differences in offending and differences in criminal justice responses to male and female offenders. She is interested in examining and elaborating traditional and new theoretical perspectives to determine their relevance to female offending. Her articles appear in publications such as Criminology, Deviant Behavior, and the Journal of Criminal Justice.

Brenda has collaborated on projects examining the commercial sexual exploitation of children, with a specific focus on examining responses to this issue in Georgia and reviewing literature to determine how other jurisdictions respond. These efforts were funded by the National Institute of Justice and through the Governor’s Office for Children and Families.

Brenda is dedicated to working with students. She currently chairs a student-awards committee for the American Society of Criminology and has several publications that explore the impact of academic advisement on career outcomes and job satisfaction among criminal justice students and graduates.

Education

Ph.D., Sociology (1995)
University of Oklahoma

M.A., Sociology (1992)
University of Oklahoma

B.S., Criminal Justice (1990)
Northern Arizona University

Courses Taught

Undergraduate Courses

Corrections, Crime, Delinquency, and Deviance, Criminal Behavior, Criminal Justice Statistics, Criminology, Gender, Crime, and Justice, Internship Seminar, Introduction to Sociology, Law and Society, Law, Criminal Justice, and Social Change, Probation, Parole, and Pardons, Senior Seminar, Women and Criminal Justice

Graduate Courses

Criminal Justice Statistics, Criminological Theory, Directed Teaching Seminar, Gender/Women and Criminal Justice, Sentencing, Teaching in the Social Sciences

Research

Journal Articles

Hoyle, J., Miller, B. L., Stogner, J. M., Posick, C., & Blackwell, B. S. (In Press). Analyzing predictors of drinking and driving among gender cohorts within a college sample. American Journal of Criminal Justice.

Hirtenlehner, H., Blackwell, B. S., Leitgob, H., & Bacher, J. (2013). Explaining the gender gap in juvenile shoplifting: A Power-Control theoretical analysis. Deviant Behavior, 35(1), 41-65.

Blackwell, B. S. & Payne, B. K. (2012). Attitudes about advising among criminal justice graduates: Ties between student satisfaction and perceptions of program quality. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 23(4), 517-535.

Awards & Honors

2012 – Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Excellence in Teaching Award. (Georgia State University).

2009 – Outstanding CTW Ambassador and Assessment Report (Georgia State University).

2004 – Nominated for Who’s Who in Social Sciences Higher Education (WWSSHE). (Academic Keys Who’s Who in Social Sciences Higher Education, a comprehensive, authoritative online source of information on leading, influential experts and scientists in the field of Social Sciences in the institutes of higher education.)

1992 – Gene Carte Student Paper Competition. First Place. American Society of Criminology.

1992 – Southwest Sociological Association Master’s Level Student Paper Competition. First Place. Southwest Sociological Association.

1988 – Eleventh Overall Speaker, National Forensics League Annual National Tournament.

Last updated: 12/15/2023