Areas of Expertise

• Corrections
• Suicide in correctional facilities
• Jail design
• Reentry
• Correctional treatment
• Mental illness
• Criminal justice education

Key Findings

• The type of visits people make to jails is associated with the degree to which they find the visit stressful and the amount of time and money they need to visit. MORE
• Lobby video visits were considered the least convenient. Families said it was frustrating to travel to the jail and not see their inmate in person, and they cited problems with video systems. MORE
• Jails that allowed inmates to regulate lighting, control their entrance and exit of cells, and have materials that reduce echoes had fewer suicides. MORE
• A greater number of executions in a given year were associated with a lower suicide rate on death row. MORE

Biography

Christine Tartaro, Professor of Criminal Justice at Stockton University, is an expert in corrections, suicide in correctional facilities, jail design, reentry, correctional treatment of individuals with mental illness, and criminal justice education.

Tartaro served as an independent expert witness in multiple cases where suicide and self-harm in custody occurred. Prior to joining Stockton University, she worked at the New Jersey Department of Corrections, where she evaluated the state residential community release program. She has served as a research consultant to state and local correctional departments and private treatment agencies.

She has been published in several journals, including The Prison Journal, the Corrections: Policy, Practice, and Research, and The Journal of Criminal Justice Education.

Tartaro received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University and her B.A. in History from The College of New Jersey.