Areas of Expertise

• Feminist criminology
• Gender-based violence
• Intimate partner abuse
• Sexual assault
• Crime control policy
• Drug control policy

Key Findings

• Help-seeking battered women and the criminal justice system often operate with significant differences in their goals for resolving conflict and perception of victimization. MORE
• Women whose self-perceptions and goals for using the criminal justice system are deeply at odds with the perceptions and goals of the system itself are bound to experience conflict, negativity, and dissatisfaction that undermine their criminal justice help-seeking efforts. MORE
• College women with sexual victimization histories reported lower confidence in and likelihood to use their campus sexual assault resources than nonvictimized women. MORE
• It is especially important for college women with sexual victimization histories to be encouraged to utilize campus sexual assault resources, as they are at increased risk for revictimization. MORE
• Childhood victimization influences battered women’s help-seeking decisions; often in ways that inhibit a woman’s ability to seek help. MORE
• In some cases, childhood victimization engendered a strengthening response in battered women, ultimately aiding in their help-seeking. MORE
• There is great need for researchers to establish a relationship with their participants that empowers them, rather than just protects them. MORE

Biography

Amanda Burgess-Proctor, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Oakland University, is an expert in feminist criminology, gender-based violence including intimate partner abuse and sexual assault, and crime and drug control policy.

Prior to her academic career, Burgess-Proctor worked as a Personal Protection Order Coordinator in Ingham County, MI and as a research consultant at the Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies. She is an active member of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and currently serves as Chair of the American Society of Criminology Division on Women & Crime.

Her research been published in numerous academic journals including Criminal Justice & Behavior, Justice Quarterly, andViolence Against Women. She is co-founder of the Violence & Abuse Resource Consortium at Oakland University, and in that capacity works with several community anti-violence agencies.

Burgess-Proctor received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University and B.S. in Criminal Justice and Psychology from Grand Valley State University.

Follow Amanda on Twitter: @ProfessorABP