Criminal Justice Studies students have the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research through the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO). Recently, three CJ majors have done just that. Under the supervision of Dr. Natasha Ganem, Lindsay DeFrancesco surveyed UGA students about their attitudes towards police in the area. In her study, "Student perceptions of the police: an analysis of Greek and non-Greek affiliated students", she found that Greek students held more negative attitudes than non-Greek students. Tiffany Toteno also investigated student attitudes towards local law enforcement. Her project, "Variables affecting attitudes toward police" supervised by Dr. Ganem, found that CJ majors' attitudes were significantly different from other majors. She also found that whether a student had previous contact with law enforcement shaped his or her attitude toward police. In addition to CURO, Tiffany participated in an undergraduate research conferenece sponsored by Emory University and Morehouse College where she won third place! Keller Sheppard is currently working with Dr. Sarah Shannon on a project that investigates the connections between social welfare and criminal justice institutions by asking whether rising incarceration rates contributed to states ending general assistance welfare programs between 1950 and 2010. These projects reflect a braoder effort to involve undergraduates in research on campus. Any student wou would like to pursue research opportunities are encouraged to discuss their interests with the professors who teach their courses or to make an appointment with Dr. Haire by emailing her.
