Jacqueline B. Helfgott, PhD

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Biography

Jacqueline Helfgott is Professor and Director of the Seattle University Department of Criminal Justice Crime and Justice Research Center. She holds a PhD and MA in Administration of Justice from Pennsylvania State University and BA from the University of Washington in Psychology and Society & Justice. Her research focuses on criminal behavior, corrections/reentry, policing and public safety, restorative/community justice, and crisis intervention in law enforcement. She has served as principal investigator on applied research that spans policing, courts, corrections, and victim services. She is currently principal investigator on the Seattle Police Department’s Micro-Community Policing Plans, longitudinal evaluation of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission’s Guardian-Oriented Law Enforcement Training, and Pilot Evaluation of the South King County Pretrial Services Pilot Program. She is author of No Remorse: Psychopathy and Criminal Justice (Praeger, 2019), Criminal Behavior: Theories, Typologies, and Criminal Justice (Sage Publications, 2008), Editor of Criminal Psychology, Volumes 1-4 (Praeger, 2013), coauthor of Offender Reentry: Beyond Crime and Punishment (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2013) Women Leading Justice: Experiences and Insights (Routledge, 2019), and Copycat Crime: How Media, Technology, and Digital Culture Influence Criminal Behavior (Praeger/Forthcoming). Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Criminal Justice, Police and Criminal Psychology, Aggression and Violent Behavior, Criminal Justice & Behavior, and International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. She serves on the Seattle Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Committee, regularly contributes to public discourse on crime and justice through media interviews and public scholarship.

Professional Website

Teaching and Research Interests

Education

Ph.D.1992, Pennsylvania State University; Administration of Justice/Graduate Minor, Psychology
M.A.1991, Pennsylvania State University; Administration of Justice/Graduate Minor, Psychology
B.A.1988, University of Washington; Society & Justice and Psychology

Courses Taught• Criminal Justice Theory (Graduate) 

• Typologies of Crime & Criminal Behavior (Graduate)
• The Psychopath (Undergraduate/Graduate)
• Forensic Psychology
• Murder Movies & Copycat Crime
• Introduction to Criminal Justice
• Forensic Science
• Criminal Profiling
• Deviance & Social Control
• Criminal Justice Research Methods
• Gender, Race, & Crime
• Victimology
• Law, Society, & Justice
• Punishment & Social Theory
• Adult Corrections
• Juvenile Corrections
• Correctional Counseling
• Probation & Parole
• Correctional Organization and Management
• Police Organization & Behavior
• Criminology

Research Interests

• Criminal Behavior
• Psychopathy
• Corrections
• Offender reentry
• Restorative Justice

Selected Publications (See CV for full list of publications)

Books

Helfgott, J.B. (2019). No Remorse: Psychopathy and Criminal Justice. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.

Helfgott, J.B. (Ed.) (2013). Criminal Psychology, Volumes 1-4. Westport, CT: Praeger/ ABC-CLIO.

Helfgott, J.B. (2008). Criminal Behavior: Theories, Typologies, and Criminal Justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Gunnison, E. & Helfgott, J.B. (2019). Women Leading Justice: Experiences and Insights. New York: Routledge.

Gunnison, E. & Helfgott, J.B. (2013) Offender Reentry: Beyond Crime and Punishment. Boulder, C: Lynne Rienner.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Helfgott, J.B. & Gunnison, E. (2020). Gender-Responsive Reentry Services for Women Leaving Prison: The IF Project’s Seattle Women’s Reentry Initiative. Corrections: Policy, Practice and Research

Helfgott, J.B., Strah, B., Atherley, L, & Neidhart, E. (2020). Evaluation of CIT components of guardian law enforcement training. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology.

Helfgott, J.B., Parkin, W.S., Fisher, C., & Diaz, A. (2020). Misdemeanor arrests and community perceptions of fear of crime in Seattle. Journal of Criminal Justice, 69, 1-19.

Helfgott, J.B., Gunnison, E., Sumner, J., Collins, P., & Rice, S.K. (2019). “If Someone Would Have Showed Me”: Identifying Pivotal Points in Pathways to Crime and Incarceration through Prisoner Self-Narratives. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 1-26.

Helfgott, J.B., Parkin, W.S., & Fisher, C. (2019). Crisis-flagged Misdemeanors in Seattle: Arrests, Referrals, Charges, and Case Dispositions. Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society, 20(2), 59-85.

Helfgott, J.B., Gunnison, E., Murtagh, A.; Navejar, B. (2018). BADASSES: The Rise of Women in Criminal Justice. Women & Criminal Justice, 28(4), 1-27.

Helfgott, J.B., Strah, B.M., Pollock, J., Atherley, L.T., & Vinson, J. (2018). A qualitative approach to understanding guardian models of policing. Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, 6(1), 93-120.

Helfgott, J.B., Gunnison, E., Collins, P., & Rice, S.K. (2018). The power of personal narratives in crime prevention and reentry: Process evaluation of the Seattle Police Department’s IF Project. Corrections Policy, Practice and Research, 3 (2), 1-24.

Helfgott, J.B. (2016). Prison-based cognitive behavioral treatment programs – A Mechanism of panoptic control. Commentary on Jennifer A. Schlosser’s (2015) Narratives and Discursive Discipline in Prison: Rewriting Personal Histories through Cognitive-Behavioral Programs. Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Criminology, 8(2), 148-159.

Helfgott, J.B., Hickman, M.J., & Labossiere, A. (2016) A descriptive evaluation of the Seattle Police Department’s Crisis response team officer/mental health professional partnership pilot program. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 44, 109-122.

Helfgott, J.B. (2015) Criminal behavior and the copycat effect: Review of the literature and theoretical framework for empirical investigation. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 22, 46-64.

Grants

Principal Investigator (with E. Gunnison, Co-PI). Evaluation of the South King County Pretrial Services Pilot/Pretrial Assessment and Linkages Services (PALS). King County Adult and Juvenile Detention. (2020-Present).

Principal Investigator (with M. Hickman, Co-PI). Longitudinal Evaluation of the Effect of Guardian Training for Law enforcement Officers – Longitudinal Continuation. (2014-2020).

Principal Investigator (with W. Parkin/Co-PI). Research Network on Misdemeanor Justice Network. (2017-2020).

Principal Investigator (with E. Gunnison, Co-PI). Seattle Women’s Second Chance Project/Evaluation of Seattle Women's Reentry. Bureau of Justice Assistance (2016-2019).

Principal Investigator. Seattle Police Crisis Intervention Team-SPD Culture Survey (2015). Principal Investigator (w/M. Hickman). Crisis Intervention Team/Mental Health Partnership Pilot Evaluation (2011).

Principal Investigator. Citizens, Victims, and Offenders Restoring Justice (M. Lovell & C. Lawrence, Co-PIs) (1997-2000)