Doctoral Program Graduates
Since the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice admitted its first doctoral students in 1994, more than 100 students have earned their doctorate of philosophy (Ph.D.) in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Dr. Ebonie Epinger (December 2022 graduate)
| Student | Dissertation Title | Chair | Current Position | |
| 2025 | ||||
| 105 | Michaela Benson-Goldsmith | Restorative Justice in U.S. School District Policies: Associations with School Discipline Outcomes | Tara Richards | UNO Victimology and Victim Studies Research Lab |
| 2024 | ||||
| 104 | Caralin Branscum | Examining the Relationship Between Victim Self-protective Behaviors and Sexual Assault Case Processing | Tara Richards | University of South Florida |
| 103 | Clara Braun | The Cumulative Strain Paradigm: Exploring the Nexus of Terrorism and Violence Through a Criminological Lens | Gina Ligon | Industry - REJIS |
| 102 | Sheena Gilbert | A Holistic Approach to Gender-Based Violence on College Campuses: A Need for a Tribal-Centered Campus Climate Assessment | Tara Richards | National Institute of Justice |
| 101 | Sarah Steele | Priestly Perspectives: Narratives From Catholic Priests Removed From Ministry For Sexual Misconduct | Amy Anderson | Prairie View A&M University |
| 2023 | ||||
| 100 | Amber Krushas | Examining Theoretical Correlates of Personal Recurrent Victimization in Adulthood | Teresa Kulig | University of Nevada - Las Vegas |
| 99 | Rachel Rief | Being a Policewoman in 2020: Police Culture, Social Identity, and Female Officers’ Perceptions of Their Work | Samantha Clinkinbeard | University of North Texas |
| 2022 | ||||
| 98 | Nicky Dalbir |
Victimization among Jail Inmates: Differences in Type, Timing, Gender, and Effects on Recidivism |
Emily Wright | Morningside College |
| 97 | Ebonie Epinger |
The Effects of Criminogenic Needs and Risk Factors on Recidivism among a Jail Population |
Emily Wright | University of Illinois |
| 96 | Brandon Tregle |
Officer and Arrestee Perspectives of Police Facilitated Restorative Justice |
Justin Nix | University of Texas - San Antonio |
| 2021 |
|
|||
| 95 | Julie D. Garman |
Child Pornography: An Examination of Pornography Use Across the Lifespan |
Lisa Sample | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
| 2020 | ||||
| 94 | Michael K. Logan |
From Simple to Sophisticated: The Organization of Terrorist Groups |
Gina Ligon | Kennesaw State University |
| 93 | Sara Toto | Examining the Prevalence and Predictors of Inmate on Inmate Sexual Violence among Incarcerated Men and Women | Emily Wright | Central Washington University |
| 2019 | ||||
| 92 | Marijana Kotalaja | Economic Hardship, Outgroup Animosity, and Low Trust in Institutions: Exploring Consequences of Crime, Moral Disengagement and Social Unrest in Belgrade, Serbia. | Robert Meier | University of Missouri - Kansas City |
| 91 | Sara Moore | A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding the Juvenile Reentry Mentoring Process | Lisa Sample | Nebraska Wesleyan University |
| 90 | Edith "Penny" Westfall | Exploring the Relationship between Criminal Thinking and Emotional Intelligence in Iowa Female Prisoners. | Lisa Sample | Retired, Industry |
| 89 | Steven Windisch | From Swaddling to Swastikas: A Life-Course Investigation of White Supremacist Extremism. | Samantha Clinkinbeard | Temple University |
| 2018 | ||||
| 88 | Rita Augustyn | An Evaluation of Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Programs at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services | Lisa Sample | Keene State College |
| 87 | Timothy Barnum | Examining the Role of Sensation Seeking and Risk and Reward Appraisal in the Etiology of Athlete Risk-Taking Behavior | Todd Armstrong | Sam Houston State University |
| 86 | Calli M. Cain | Examining the Gendered Effects of Prior Victimization on Delinquency Type among a Sample of Justice-Involved Youth | Amy Anderson | Florida Atlantic University |
| 85 | Joselyne Chenane | The Effect of Police Contact and Neighborhood Context on Delinquency and Violence | Emily Wright | University of Massachusetts - Lowell |
| 84 | Danielle C. Slakoff | The Representation of Female Victims in Front-Page News Stories: The Effect of Race/Ethnicity | Pauline Brennan | Sacramento State University |
| 83 | Starr Solomon | Examining the Role of Treatment Quality, Decision-Making Quality, and Driver Race during Traffic Stops | Samantha Clinkinbeard | Kent State University |
| 2017 | ||||
| 82 | H. Daniel Butler | Improving Model Specification in Quantitative Studies of Inmate Deviance | Benjamin Steiner | Iowa State University |
| 81 | Jared Ellison | An Opportunity Model of Victimization Risk for Jail Inmates and Correctional Officers | Benjamin Steiner | Old Dominion University |
| 2016 |
|
|
||
| 80 | Karyn Sporer | Families and Their Aggressive Children with Mental Illness | Pete Simi | University of Maine |
| 2015 | ||||
| 79 | Danielle Bailey | Diffusion of Shame: Experiences of Sex Offender Family Support Networks. | Lisa Sample | University of Texas at Tyler |
| 78 | Robert Lytle | American Criminal Justice Policy Change: An Example Using Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws. | Lisa Sample | University of Arkansas - Little Rock |
| 77 | Dana Radatz | Domestic Violence, Batterer Intervention, and Effective Correctional Programming | Emily Wright | Niagara University |
| 76 | Trisha Rhodes | Police Culture at a Crossroads: An Analysis of Police in Schools | Sam Clinkinbeard | University of Nebraska at Omaha |
| 2014 | ||||
| 75 | Bryan Bubolz | Once a gang member always a gang member? A life history study of gang desistance. |
Pete Simi |
Northern Michigan University |
| 2013 |
|
|
|
|
|
74 |
Connie Koski |
Neighborhood informal social control, race, and gentrification: An ethnographic axploration. |
Pete Simi |
Oglala Lakota College |
|
73 |
Sandra Petersen |
Perception of violence on the Pine Ridge American Indian Reservation and the role of perceived poverty and isolation in those perceptions. |
Lisa Sample |
|
|
72 |
Abby (Vandenberg) Carbaugh |
The development of a statistical model to predict parole outcome in Nebraska. |
Lisa Sample |
Industry - Douglas County Juvenile Justice, Nebraska |
|
71 |
Timbre Wulf-Ludden |
Pseudo-Families and institutional misconduct in a women's prison: A test of General Strain Theory. |
Robert Meier |
Central State University |
| 2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
70 |
Mary Evans |
Differences in delinquency among children with and without learning disabilities: A meta-analysis. |
Amy Anderson |
University of Northern Colorado |
|
69 |
Benjamin Gibbs |
Equitable deterrence: The effects of consistently applied graduated sanctions in drug court. |
William Wakefield |
Ball State University |
|
68 |
Michael Harrington |
Examining the construct of prison adjustment. |
Robin Ogle |
Northern Michigan University |
|
67 |
Yanhua Liu |
Felony sentencing in Washington state, 2000-2004: A multilevel study of individual and contextual effects. |
Lorine Hughes |
|
|
66 |
Tusty ten Bensel |
The collective nature of sexual violence: A comparative case study analysis of Bosnia and Sierra Leone. |
Lisa Sample |
University of Arkansas - Little Rock |
| 2011 |
|
|
|
|
|
65 |
William T. Morris |
Breaking the criminogenic code: A frame analysis of Neo-Nazi and violent Jihadi propaganda. |
Pete Simi |
Norwich University |
|
64 |
Ann Stacey Reeser |
The tipping point to terrorism: Involvement in right-wing terrorist groups in the United States. |
Pete Simi |
|
| 2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
63 |
Scott Chenault |
An ethnographic examination of correctional officer culture in a Midwestern state. |
Pete Simi |
University of Central Missouri |
|
62 |
Dae-Young Kim |
The impact of globalization and technological innovations on crime and punishment in the United States, 1945-2007. |
Candice Batton |
Buffalo State University |
| 2009 |
|
|
|
|
|
61 |
Esperanze Camargo |
Family violence under a multicultural perspective in Colombia. |
Jon Crank |
San Diego State University |
|
60 |
James H. Geistman Jr. |
Attitudes of criminal justice and other majors toward the crime of stalking. |
Robin Ogle |
Wayne State University |
|
59 |
Ibrahim Ferzan |
The perceptions of Turkish police captains about the use of techniques of neutralization by Turkish offenders. |
Miriam DeLone |
|
|
58 |
Denise L. Olsen |
The sentencing recommendation of the probation officer. What does it really mean?: Findings from one small county in California. |
Lisa Sample |
Simpson College |
|
57 |
Ibrahim Mese |
Does sex make a difference? The study of gender differences in crime in Turkey. |
Miriam DeLone |
|
|
56 |
Jawjeong Wu |
Immigration, race/ethnicity, and differential sentencing: An examination of the effects of citizenship status on sentencing outcomes in federal courts. |
Miriam DeLone |
Buffalo State University |
| 2008 |
|
|
|
|
|
55 |
Blythe Bowman |
Transitional crimes against culture: Looting at archaeological sites and the grey market in antiquities. |
Pete Simi |
Virginia Commonwealth University |
|
54 |
William McCarty |
Trailers and trouble? An examination of crime, calls for service, and community ties in mobile home communities. |
Lisa Sample |
University of Illinois - Chicago |
|
53 |
Michael Seredycz |
Effectiveness of an access to recovery (ATR) Lake City offender reentry programs. |
William Wakefield |
MacEwan University (Canada) |
|
52 |
Katharine M. Tellis |
When the bedroom is the crime scene: Contextualizing intimate partner rape. |
Pete Simi |
California State University, Los Angeles |
| 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
51 |
Steven J. Briggs |
People and places: An examination of searches during traffic stops in Minneapolis. |
Miriam DeLone |
North Dakota State University |
|
50 |
Brett Garland |
Job satisfaction and organizational commitment among non-custody prison staff: A comparative analysis. |
Jihong Zhao |
Missouri State University |
|
49 |
Suzanne M. Godboldt |
Exploring community effects on domestic violence through a social disorganization perspective. |
Amy Anderson |
University of Jamestown |
|
48 |
Trent Ikerd |
Examining the institutionalization of problem-oriented policing: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department as a case study. |
Samuel Walker |
Appalachian State University |
|
47 |
Amy L. Poland |
Got training? The effect of mental health training on the attitudes and behaviors of direct care workers in a residential facility for juvenile offenders. |
Miriam DeLone |
St. Joseph's College, NY |
|
46 |
Eric J. Wodahl |
The efficacy of graduated sanctions in reducing technical violations among probationers and parolees: An evaluation of the Wyoming Department of Corrections Intensive Supervision Program. |
Robin Ogle |
University of Wyoming |
|
45 |
Ruohui Zhao |
Determinants of anomie: A cross-national study. |
Jihon Zhao |
University of Macau |
|
44 |
Jill M. Fort |
Why are more women being incarcerated? An examination of the decision making involved in sentencing. |
Robin Ogle |
Newman University, Associate Vice President |
| 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
43 |
William Crawley |
Substance abuse and dependency disorders in the criminal justice system: An exploratory examination of the validity, efficacy and influences on self-report methodologies utilized via diagnostic screening instrumentation in criminal justice institutionalized populations. |
William Wakefield |
University of West Florida |
|
42 |
Gale Iles (in memoriam) |
America's forgotten paradise: An assessment of sentencing decisions and outcomes in the United States Virgin Islands. |
Cassie Spohn |
University of Tennessee-Chattanooga |
|
41 |
Elizabeth A. Maier (Elliott) |
Juvenile justice by geography: Dispositions in mixed and specialized jurisdictions in Nebraska. |
Cassie Spohn |
University of Central Oklahoma |
|
40 |
Samantha O'Hara |
Making a federal case out of it: Prosecutorial discretion and the United States sentencing guidelines in a multi-district study. |
Cassie Spohn |
Des Moines Area Community College |
|
39 |
Ling Ren |
Rethinking the crime drop in the United States during the 1990s: An examination of competing theoretical perspectives. |
Ineke Marshall, |
University of Nebraska at Omaha |
| 2005 |
|
|
|
|
|
38 |
Jeremy Ball |
The effect of offender characteristics on plea bargaining: Testing an integrated theory. |
Cassie Spohn |
Industry |
|
37 |
Erika Davis-Frenzel |
Issues in the measurement of sentencing outcomes: Implications for research on sex disparity in sentencing. |
Cassie Spohn |
Indiana University of Pennsylvania |
|
36 |
Mark Foxall |
Latino homicides: The influence of residential segregation. |
Cassie Spohn |
University of Nebraska at Omaha |
|
35 |
Christopher L. Gibson |
A psychometric investigation of a self-control scale: The reliability and validity of Grasmick et al.'s scale for a sample of incarcerated male offenders. |
Ineke Marshall |
University of Florida |
|
34 |
Richard Hartley |
Type of counsel and its effects on criminal court outcomes in a large Midwestern jurisdiction: Do you get what you pay for? |
Cassie Spohn |
University of Texas at San Antonio |
|
33 |
Kimberly D. Hassell |
A cross-precinct analysis of police patrol practices and the negotiations of order among patrol. |
Jihong Zhao |
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee |
|
32 |
Dawn Irlbeck |
Patterns of questioning during traffic stops: A study of possible racial/ethnic profiling. |
Samuel Walker |
Creighton University |
|
31 |
Sean Maddan |
Sex offenders as outsiders: A reexamination of the labeling perspective utilizing current sex offender registration and notification policies. |
Ineke Marshall |
Texas A&M International |
|
30 |
Rebecca Murray |
An assessment of the effects of liquor-serving establishments on crime focusing on blocks with bars, blocks behind bars and blocks around bars. |
Dennis Roncek |
Creighton University |
|
29 |
Tracy Nobiling |
A tale of two cities: The effect of offender's employment status on sentence severity in Chicago and Kansas City. |
Cassie Spohn |
Chadron State College |
|
28 |
Steve Wilson |
Determining the correlates of police victimization: An analysis of social disorganization and organizational level factors on injurious assaults. |
Jihong Zhao |
University of Arkansas Fort Smith |
| 2004 |
|
|
|
|
|
27 |
Shentell Auffart |
The sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine under the federal sentencing guidelines: The impact and ramifications on equal protection and due process. |
Cassie Spohn |
Attorney |
|
26 |
Michael J. Elbert |
The correlates of supervised release outcomes in a federal jurisdiction: A comparison of offenders who were revoked and successfully terminated under the United States sentencing guidelines from 1998—2002. |
Cassie Spohn |
Chief U.S. Probation Officer, U.S. District Court, SD/IA |
|
25 |
Amanda J. (Mathias) Humphrey |
Juvenile sexual assault victims and their decisions not to cooperate with the prosecution: A look at San Diego. |
Samuel Walker |
Kirkwood Community College, Dean of Social Sciences |
|
24 |
Judy L. Porter |
Perceptions of social incivilities in the surroundings of elderly-only and mixed population high-rise public housing. |
Dennis Roncek |
Rochester Institute of Technology |
| 2003 |
|
|
|
|
|
23 |
Dawn M. Beichner-Thomas |
Prosecutorial charging decisions in sexual assault cases: Examining the impact of a specialized unit. |
Cassie Spohn |
Illinois State University |
|
22 |
Molly Brown |
Similarities and differences in sentencing decisions of men and women judges in Cook County Circuit. |
Cassie Spohn |
|
|
21 |
Marc L. Swatt |
Short-term forecasting of crime for small geographic areas. |
Dennis Roncek |
Industry |
| 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
20 |
Carol A. Archbold |
Innovations in police accountability: An exploration study of risk management and police legal advising. |
Samuel Walker |
North Dakota State University |
|
19 |
Leigh (Herbst) Culver |
The impact of new immigration patterns on the provision of police services in Midwestern communities. |
Samuel Walker |
Omaha Police Department |
|
18 |
Jennifer (Johnson) Roberts |
The person in context: The impact of early onset criminality on high risk for violence situations. |
Julie Horney |
Indiana University of Pennsylvania |
|
17 |
T. Hank Robinson |
Towards bridging the gap between micro and macro levels of analysis in criminology. |
Ineke Marshall |
Metropolitan Community College (Administration) |
|
16 |
Terrance Taylor |
The dynamics of social control during the adolescent life-course. |
Finn Esbensen |
Passed away, 2023 |
|
15 |
Keith A. Wilmot |
Prosecutorial discretion and real offense sentencing under the federal sentencing guidelines: An analysis of relevant conduct. |
Cassie Spohn |
Industry |
|
14 |
Dana Peterson |
"Don't forget the women": A multi-level analysis of individual and contextual effects on girls' and boys' delinquency. |
Finn Esbensen, |
University at Albany, State University of New York |
| 2001 |
|
|
|
|
|
13 |
Kevin Cannon |
The effect of gang membership on prison rule violations. |
Dennis Roncek |
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville |
|
12 |
Lori A. Guevera |
Legal representation in the juvenile court: The interaction of race and counsel on juvenile court outcomes. |
Cassie Spohn |
Fayetteville State University |
|
11 |
David Holleran III |
An examination of the variation in sentencing young black males across individual judges (Pennsylvania). |
Cassie Spohn |
The College of New Jersey |
| 2000 |
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
Paula M. Kautt |
Separating and estimating the effects of the federal sentencing guidelines and the federal mandatory "minimums": Isolating the sources of racial disparity. |
Cassie Spohn |
Florida Atlantic University |
|
9 |
Jessie L. Krienert |
Testing an integrated model of masculinity and violence. |
Julie Horney |
Illinois State University |
|
8 |
Lorie L. Reubenser |
Special units in policing: A case study of a nuisance task force. |
Samuel Walker |
|
| 1999 |
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
Jeffrey W. Spears |
Diversity in the courtroom: A comparison of the sentencing decisions of black and white judges in Cook County Circuit Court. |
Cassie Spohn |
|
|
6 |
William Wells |
The situational role of firearms in violent encounters. |
Julie Horney |
Sam Houston State University |
| 1998 |
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
Tricia L. Klosky |
Testing integrated theoretical model of offender's perceptions of risk. |
Ineke Marshall |
Saint Mary's University |
|
4 |
Betsy W. Kreisel |
An evaluation of police officers' perceptions of internal and external systems of citizen complaint procedures of police misconduct. |
Samuel Walker |
University of Central Missouri |
|
3 |
Roxann M Ryan |
Prosecution strategies in domestic violence felonies: An exploration study. |
Cassie Spohn |
RETIRED, Commissioner, Iowa Department of Public Safety |
| 1997 |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
Ni He |
Testing an integrated Durkheimian modernization theory versus a dynamic Marxian economic theory: Pooled cross-sectional time-series analysis of international crime data. |
Ineke Marshall |
University of Nebraska at Omaha, Senior Vice Chancellor |
|
1 |
Charles Katz |
Police and gangs: A study of a police gang unit. |
Sam Walker |
Arizona State University |