Personal Summary

Dr. Jessie Slepicka is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Montana. He received his Ph.D. in Criminology from The Pennsylvania State University in 2024. His research agenda and teaching interests broadly address three main areas: (1) social change and differentiation (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity) in criminal behavior, justice contact, and sanctions handed out by criminal justice organizations, using quantitative and mixed method techniques to study historical and contemporary crime patterns/trends; (2) green criminology and environmental sociology, or the spatiotemporal investigation of causes and consequences of harm/crime against the environment from sociological and political-economic frames of reference; and (3) the nuances, intricacies, and ultimate advancements of historical and contemporary social scientific theory. His research has been published in peer-reviewed outlets such as: Journal of Crime and Justice; Deviant Behavior; Journal of Interpersonal Violence; Journal of Criminal Justice; Sociology of Education; Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency; Federal Probation; Criminal Justice and Behavior; and Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society.

Education

Ph.D., Criminology, 2024, The Pennsylvania State University

Dissertation Title: Green Criminology and the Spatiotemporal Distribution of Environmental Hazards, 1990-2019: The Effect of Differential Exposure on Rates of Violent and Property Crime Domestically and Intentional Homicide Cross-Nationally. Committee Chair: Darrell Steffensmeier, Ph.D.

M.A., Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2019, University of Northern Colorado

Thesis Title: A Partial, Age-Graded Examination of Agnew’s General Theory of Crime and Delinquency. Committee Chair: Brian Iannacchione, Ph.D.

B.A., Criminal Justice, 2017, University of Northern Colorado (Summa Cum Laude)

Courses Taught

Autumn 2024

SOCI 455 - Classical Sociological Theory

Teaching Experience

Instructor of Record:

Sociology of Deviance (SU 23)

Introduction to Criminal Justice (SU 21)

Doctoral/Graduate Teaching Assistant:

            Criminological Theories (FA 22)

            Honors Criminology (FA 20)

Research Methods in Criminology (SP 23, SP 20, FA 19)

Introduction to Criminal Justice (FA 17)

Research Interests

Criminological and Sociological Theory, Social Change-Differentiation and Crime, Green Criminology and Environmental Sociology, Comparative and Cross-National Social Science, Spatial and Environmental Criminology, Sociology of Crime and Delinquency, Life Course Criminology, and Quantitative Research Methods and Statistics.

Publications

Slepicka, Jessie. 2024. “Clearance Rates, Arrest Rates, and Racial Stratification: A Time-Series Analysis, 1965-2020.” Journal of Crime and Justice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2024.2357139

Slepicka, Jessie. 2024. “Environmental Hazards and Structural Covariates of Homicide Rates: Methodological Considerations When Investigating the ‘Ecology’ of Lethal Violence.” Deviant Behavior 45(6):847-869.

Steffensmeier, Darrell, Jennifer Schwartz, Jessie Slepicka, and Hua Zhong. 2023. “Twenty-First Century Trends in Girls’ Violence and the Gender Gap: Triangulated Findings from Official and Unofficial Longitudinal Sources.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 38(17-18):9818-44.

Slepicka, Jessie. 2022. “Reassessing the Missing Link in Deterrence Research: A Behavioral Economic Approach.” Journal of Criminal Justice 82:102007.

Goodrum, Sarah, Jessie Slepicka, William Woodward, and Beverly Kingston. 2022. “Learning from Error in Violence Prevention: A School Shooting as an Organizational Accident.” Sociology of Education 95(4):257-75.

• Reprinted in: Creswell, John and Cheryl Poth. 2024. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (5^th edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Font, Sarah, Lawrence Berger, Jessie Slepicka, and Maria Cancian. 2021. “Foster Care, Permanency, and Risk of Prison Entry.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 58(6):710-54.

Terranova, Victoria, Kyle Ward, Anthony Azari, and Jessie Slepicka. 2020. “Practitioner Perceptions of the Use and Utility of Pretrial Risk Assessment: Focus Group Analysis.” Federal Probation 84(3):34-40.

Terranova, Victoria, Kyle Ward, Jessie Slepicka, and Anthony Azari. 2020. “Perceptions of Pretrial Risk Assessment: An Examination across Familiarity and Role in the Pretrial Process.” Criminal Justice and Behavior 47(8):927-42.

Slepicka, Jessie. 2018. “Strain, Boredom, and Self-Control: Extending General Strain Theory to Texting While Driving.” Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society 19(3):1-15.

• Winner of the 2019 ACJS Student Affairs' Scholarship Award (Paper Competition)

Professional Experience

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Montana (08/2024-present).

Doctoral Research Assistant, Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University, (08/2019-07/2024).

Doctoral Teaching Assistant, Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University, (08/2019-07/2023).

Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Northern Colorado, (01/2018-12/2018).

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Northern Colorado, (08/2017-12/2017).

Other Professional Experience

Independent Statistical Reviewer, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (01/2020-12/2020), Juvenile Violent Victimization, 1995-2018.

Honors / Awards

2024 15^th Annual Criminology Paper Competition First Place Winner (Published Paper Category), Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University

2023 Criminal Justice Research Center Graduate Student Research Award Grant, The Pennsylvania State University

2019 Graduate Dean’s Citation for Outstanding Thesis, University of Northern Colorado

2019 Graduate Dean’s Citation for Excellence, University of Northern Colorado

2019 Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Criminology & Criminal Justice Scholarship, University of Northern Colorado

2019 Research Excellence Award Finalist, Graduate Poster Presentation, Social Sciences, University of Northern Colorado

2019 ACJS Student Affairs’ Scholarship Award (Paper Competition), Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences 2019 Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD

2018 Research Excellence Award: First Place, Graduate Poster Presentation, Social Sciences, University of Northern Colorado

2017 Walt Francis Award in Criminal Justice, University of Northern Colorado

2017 Outstanding Undergraduate Student Recognition, University of Northern Colorado, College of Humanities & Social Sciences

2017 Excellence in Criminal Justice, Honors Convocation, University of Northern Colorado, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

2016-2017 Dean’s List of Academic Distinction, University of Northern Colorado

2015-2016 Dean’s List of Academic Distinction, University of Northern Colorado

2014-2015 Dean’s List of Academic Distinction, University of Northern Colorado