ASU criminal justice scholars recognized by Western Society of Criminology

A leading criminology association recognized the work of two Arizona State University criminology professors and the research of an ASU doctoral student. 

Professor Michael White was given the Fellows Award by the Western Society of Criminology at its annual conference in Long Beach, California. His late colleague, Marie Griffin, was posthumously given the Meda Chesney-Lind Award for significant contributions to scholarship or activism on the intersection of women and crime. ASU School of Criminology and Criminal Justice doctoral student David Tyler received an award for the best student paper at the conference.

White, whose research focuses on policing, says the Fellows Award is a tremendous honor. He was given the award by a previous winner and fellow ASU professor, Hank Fradella, associate director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

“The award is a recognition of the many collaborations I have had in my career, which have elevated me as a scholar and researcher,” White said. “ I am particularly thankful for my working relationships with ASU colleagues, Hank Fradella, Chuck Katz, and Danielle Wallace, as well as a host of current and former ASU graduate students, including Janne Gaub, Natalie Todak, Lisa Dario, John Shjarback, and many others.”

Criminology professor Michael White receives the Fellows Award at the annual conference of the Western Society of Criminology in Long Beach. Photo courtesy of Natalie Todak

Fradella accepted the Meda Chesney-Lind Award for Griffin at the conference. Griffin helped create the award when she was a board member of the Western Society of Criminology in 2011.

“She persuasively argued that an award should be created recognizing significant contributions to scholarship or activism on the intersection of women and crime,” Fradella said. ”Due to her efforts, the award was eventually created and named for Meda Chesney-Lind, largely considered to be one of most influential feminist criminologists in history.”

Griffin passed away in August 2016 from breast cancer. She was 49. During her two decades in academia, Griffin was the principal or co-principal investigator on more than a dozen funded research projects involving local, state, and national sources. She authored more than 50 referred articles, book chapters and technical reports. Much of her work examined corrections with a focus on gender issues and drug treatment. Griffin became one of the nation’s leading authorities on female correctional officers and the stresses they faced. She developed and taught both undergraduate and graduate courses on women and crime.

Tyler won the best student paper award for “Assessing the impact of national inequality on perceived obligation to obey the law.” The cross-national study found that a government’s approach to civil and political rights influenced a person’s obligation to follow the law. Tyler found that the belief was wholly separate from an individual’s own experience with those who work in the criminal justice system.

“I am honored to receive the Miki Vohryzek-Bolden Student Paper Award from the Western Society of Criminology,” Tyler said. “I could not have done it without my fantastic mentors, Dr. Ed Maguire and Dr. Danielle Wallace, and look forward to moving the paper towards publication.”

White becomes the fourth professor in the ASU School of Criminology and Criminal Justice to be named a fellow by the Western Society of Criminology. He joins school director Cassia Spohn, Fradella, and Charles Katz, director of the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety.

White is one of the leading policing scholars in the United States. He is the author or coauthor of several books examining police conduct and has published dozens of peer-reviewed journal and law review articles.  White is a senior subject matter expert for the Bureau of Justice Assistance Smart Policing Initiative and helped lead the creation of training and technical assistance for the U.S. Department of Justice Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program.