Revising and Contributing Author

Jessica René Peterson, PhD

Dr. Peterson is an Associate Professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at Southern Oregon University and an honorary adjunct lecturer and research associate at the University of New England in NSW, Australia. Her primary research and teaching interests include policing, discretionary decision-making by actors in the criminal justice system, rural crime and justice, and crime and media. She is the co-editor of the Bristol University Press “Research in Rural Crime” book series and co-editor of the International Journal of Rural Criminology.

Contributing Authors

Shanell Sanchez

Dr. Sanchez is a professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at Southern Oregon University. Her primary research and teaching interests include inequitable treatment in the criminal justice system, race and ethnic relations, and teaching pedagogy. She is the co-editor of Exploitation and Criminalization at the Margins: The Hidden Toll on Unvalued Lives and a co-author for the Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System OER textbook.

Catherine Venegas-Garcia

Catherine Venegas-Garcia is a graduate student enrolled at Colorado State University. Catherine is currently pursuing a Master’s in Sociology, with an academic interest in studying the negative effects arising from the marginalization of minority groups. She plans to pursue research regarding racial discrimination from rehired, or “wandering,” police officers in graduate school.

Taryn VanderPyl

Dr. Taryn VanderPyl is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Sciences at Western Oregon. She has been working with and learning directly from people impacted by the criminal justice system for over a decade. Dr. VanderPyl’s research focuses on interventions within and legislation concerning juvenile and adult corrections that affect reentry and recidivism, as well as addressing social hostility toward those with justice system involvement. She is the author of Corrections 360: A Look at Corrections from all Angles (1st and 2nd editions) and co-editor of Exploitation and Criminalization at the Margins: The Hidden Toll on Unvalued Lives. Her earlier experiences as a high school special education teacher and consultant, as well as a foster parent, have contributed to her research and activism regarding disproportionate representations of vulnerable and marginalized populations in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Her work on affecting the outcomes of youth and adults in these systems has led to participation in numerous academic, behavioral, and reintegration programs in both juvenile and adult correctional facilities, with a priority on emphasizing the voices of those seldom heard. Dr. VanderPyl has presented on behalf of her research participants and fellow change agents at multiple national and regional criminal justice conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals across various related fields of study. See more of her work at wou.edu/wp/vanderpylt/.

Kelly Szott, PhD

Kelly Szott, Ph.D., is a medical sociologist who studies drug use in society using a harm reduction lens. She is currently an Associate Professor of Sociology at Southern Oregon University, where she teaches courses on poverty, drug use, gender, and social problems. Her research uses qualitative methods and prioritizes the perspectives of people who use drugs.