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Danielle Rudes

Professor of Criminal Justice & Criminology, Sam Houston State University

Areas of Expertise

  • Community corrections
  • Probation and parole
  • Prisons
  • Prisoner reentry
  • Problem-solving courts
  • Street-level workers

Key Findings

  • Middle managers used resignation, refocusing and reinforcement to solve conflict. MORE
  • Thirty-six percent of managers demonstrated reliance on a middle manager peer to discuss issues in their office. MORE
  • Forty-one percent of all middle managers discussed refocusing energy in 61 instances. MORE
  • Probation officers are not directly using the results of Risk and Needs Assessment (RNA) tools in case management and supervision decisions despite administering it regularly. MORE

Biography

Danielle Rudes, Professor of Criminal Justice & Criminology at Sam Houston State University, is an expert in community corrections, probation and parole, prisons, prisoner reentry, courts and street-level workers.

Rudes is also the Deputy Director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!). She is currently a Fellow with the Bureau of Justice Assistance with a focus on Enhancing Correctional Spaces and Cultures. Rudes is an expert qualitative researcher with over 20 years of experience working with corrections agencies. She is recognized for her work examining how social control organizations and their staff and clients understand, negotiate, and at times, resist change. Rudes has a broad grant portfolio with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the National Institute of Justice. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (JSAT). 

She has been published in numerous academic journals and is the author of the book, Surviving Solitary: Living and Working in Restricted Housing Units, which is the winner of the 2023 Outstanding Book Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Rudes received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine, M.A. in Communications from the University of New Orleans and B.A. in Mass Communications from State University of New York, Plattsburgh.