Faculty Research, Presentations, and Publications
Dr. Bev Cigler was the keynote speaker for International Fellows Day at the Pennsylvania Legislature on July 28, 2005, hosted by the Speaker of the House for the 40 international fellows from 40 nations in the class of 2006, U.S. Army War College. Dr. Cigler also gave the first noontime lecture for the U.S. Army War College's Department of Distance Education, First Resident Course, Class of 2006, on June 20. Both speeches focused on intergovernmental issues associated with integrating emergency management into the Department of Homeland Security, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Dr. Cigler was an Invited Participant for the Fourth Annual USAWC Reserve Component Workshop, “Reinforcing the First Line of Defense: The Role of the National Guard in Critical Infrastructure Protection,” sponsored by the U.S. Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense, and the National Guard Bureau, Aug. 15-17. She was also an invited participant for the 51st Annual National Security Seminar, held at the U.S. Army War College, June 5-10, 2005. In September, Dr. Cigler was appointed to the board of directors of the Keystone Research Center, a progressive think tank located in Harrisburg.
Dr. Shaun L. Gabbidon recently co-authored Race and Crime (2005), published by Sage Publications. He signed a contract with Routledge to write a book tentatively titled: Theoretical Perspectives on Race and Crime: A Global View. An article co-authored with Dr. Steven Peterson, “Living While Black: A State Level Analysis of the Influence of Select Social Stressors on the Quality of Life Among Black Americans,” was recently accepted for publication by the Journal of Black Studies and should appear in an issue this fall. This past summer, Dr. Gabbidon was interviewed by the public information office at the University of Florida for a story on shoplifting. He was also recently appointed editor of Routledge’s Criminology and Justice Studies book series. In addition, he was profiled in the book, Understanding Crime: A Multidisciplinary
Approach (edited by Susan Guarino-Ghezzi & A. Javier Trevino), where, because of his contributions to bringing African American criminological thinking to the fore of the discipline, his picture was featured in the chapter on sociological perspectives. Finally, he has just received word that an article, “An Empirical Assessment of Employee Theft Lawsuits Involving Allegations of Misconduct,” has been accepted for publication in a leading journal in criminal justice, Journal of Criminal Justice (co-authors: Ph.D. student Patricia Patrick and Dr. Steven Peterson).
Dr. Donald Hummer had an article accepted for publication: “‘Thinking Globally, Acting Locally’: Applying International Trends to Reentry Partnerships in the United States,” International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice. (co-authored with James M. Byrne); He presented a paper at the University of Pennsylvania and will submit it to a peer-reviewed journal: “Examining the Impact of Institutional Culture (and Culture Change) on Prison Violence and Disorder: A Review of the Evidence on both Causes and Solutions” 14th World Congress of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (with James M. Byrne & Faye Taxman).
Dr. Michael Kenney was recently selected as an academic fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. As part of his fellowship, Dr. Kenney accompanied a group of American scholars to Israel, where they learned first-hand about terrorism and counter-terrorism in the Middle East. The group visited several classified military facilities in Israel, including a security prison housing incarcerated Arab extremists. He recently co-authored a chapter with Dr. Barbara Sims, “Decriminalization, Legalization, or Continued Prohibition: The Arguments,” to appear in Demystifying Crime and Criminal Justice, edited by Robert M. Bohm and Jeffery T. Walker. During the fall, Dr. Kenney presented research papers at the American Political Science Association’s annual convention and the Regional Symposium on Homeland Security sponsored by Penn State Harrisburg. In addition, Dr. Kenney was recently awarded a $75,000 National Institute of Justice contract to conduct research on organizational learning among terrorist groups. Kenney, an expert on organizational learning and terrorism, proposes to interview incarcerated extremists in Israel and a second country about how they gather, interpret, and apply information and experience to their activities. Focusing research on individual militants will allow Dr. Kenney to explore features in terrorism learning that have been under-reported in existing studies and to assist policy makers in designing and implementing effective counter-terrorism strategies by considering the information processing and adaptability of terrorist networks. Finally, Dr. Kenney’s book, From Pablo to Osama: Trafficking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation, has been accepted for publication by The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Dr. Cynthia Mara recently participated in two annual meetings in Washington, D.C. At the American Political Science Association (APSA) annual conference, she served as panel organizer and convener of the Aging Politics and Policy Group (APPG) annual meeting. At the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (APLS) annual conference, Dr. Mara presented a paper entitled “Politics and Policy of Prison Health Care for Aging Inmates.”
Dr. Göktug Morçöl published an article, "Phenomenology of complexity theory and cognitive science: Implications for development of an embodied knowledge of public administration and policy" in the March 2005 issue of Administrative Theory and Praxis. He co-organized the First International Workshop on Complexity and Policy Analysis in Cork, Ireland, in June 2005, where he presented a paper titled "Networks and complexity: Prospects and challenges for a theory of metropolitan governance."
Dr. Carol Nechemias presented a paper on “Women in Small Business in Volgograd: From Survival to Entrepreneurship” at the conference Commodity, Consumer, Entrepreneur? Women and the Marketplace, held at the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, June 24-25, 2005. While there she also conducted a session on “Post-Soviet Economic Conditions in Russia and the Experience of Women in the Marketplace” at the Summer Curriculum Development Workshop on Russia. Dr. Nechemias also participated as a discussant on two panels at the International Central and Eastern European Council’s meeting in late July in Berlin, Germany.
Steven A. Peterson. Dr. Peterson has seen the following appear in print since the last Newsletter: “Slaughter-House Cases,” “Allgeyer v. Louisiana,” “Milliken v. Bradley,” “Shelley v. Kraemer,” “Lochner v. New York,” “San Antonio v. Rodriguez,” all in David Schultz (ed.), The Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court ( New York: Facts on File, 2005). Also, “Human Nature and Public Policy.” In Jack Rabin (ed.), Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Policy ( New York: Marcel Dekker, 2005). He presented the following:“Decision-Making, the Brain, and Evolution.” Presented at Association for Politics and the Life Sciences meeting, Washington, D. C., September, 2005; (with Albert Somit) “Democratic Nation-Building: Human Nature versus Ideology.” Presented at Association for Politics and the Life Sciences meeting, Washington, D. C., September, 2005; (with Albert Somit) “Evolutionary Folly: Evolution and Democratic Nation Building.” Presented at American Political Science Association meeting, Washington, D. C., September, 2005. USA Today interviewed him on the issue of Intelligent Design versus Evolutionary Theory. Last, he was re-elected as Chair of the Council of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences.
Dr. Jeremy Plant was an invited speaker at the Conference on Professionalism and Public Management at the University of York, Great Britain, July 7-9, 2005, where he presented “Competing Models of Professionalism in the United States Public Service.” He continues to serve as a Programme Consultant for the master’s in Public Policy and Management at the University of York. Dr. Plant authored an article entitled “Prisoner Abuse: The Stain That Won’t Fade with Time” in the July 2005 PA Times. He has had an article accepted by The Public Manager, “Models for Enhancing Rail Security” scheduled for publication in fall 2005. He has been named by Donald Menzel, president of the American Society for Public Administration, as co-chair of the Code Review and Implementation Committee of ASPA, charged with examining the current ethics code and suggesting possible revisions.
Dr. Pamela Preston had two manuscripts accepted for publication: (with Alan Brown), “ John Court: Comparison of Characteristics, Sexual Behavior, and Sexual Attitudes of Clients of Prostitutes,” Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice; (with Michael Perez), “The Criminalization of Aliens: Regulating Foreigners,” Critical Criminology.
Dr. Jim Ruiz had a paper accepted with the International Journal of Police Science and Management, “Police Perceptions of Their Working Environment: Surveying the Small Department” (co-authored with Barbara Sims, Ginger Weaver, and William Harvey). He has had a paper accepted with the International Journal of Public Administration, "Retiring the Old Centurion: Life after a Career in Policing" (co-authored with Erin Morrow, an undergraduate alumna of the Criminal Justice Program). At the 2005 annual meeting of the Northeastern Association of Criminal Justice Sciences (NEACJS), he presented "Mardi Gras: Eleven consecutive days of crowd control." On September 18, 2005, Dr. Jim Ruiz (a former New Orleans Police Department officer) appeared live on the nationally televised FOX News network. He was asked to comment on aspects of Hurricane Katrina: specifically why some NOPD officers either failed to report for duty or left their posts abandoning the city and their fellow officers as well as why two NOPD officers would have apparently committed suicide.
Dr. Barbara Sims had a paper accepted with the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, a single-authored manuscript titled “Creating a Teaching and Learning Environment in Criminal Justice Courses that Promotes Higher Order Thinking.”
Dr. James Ziegenfuss was elected a Fellow in the International Institute for Advanced Studies in Systems Research and Cybernetics at the 25th meeting held in Baden Baden Germany in August. The Fellow status recognized Dr. Ziegenfuss for his “innovative research and significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge in Health Care Systems and Medicine.” At the meeting, Dr. Ziegenfuss was co-chair of a day and a half symposium on Health and Healing. He presented a paper entitled: "Health Care Quality: The Systems Components of Continuity" to be published in the Proceedings.