Profiles

Damon M. Petrich, PhD

About

Dr. Damon M. Petrich is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Loyola University Chicago. He received his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati, and his Bachelor of Arts (Honors) and Master of Arts degrees in Criminology from Simon Fraser University. His research focuses on two interrelated areas. The first is the development of antisocial behavior across the life-course, specifically focusing on desistance from crime and the mechanisms by which exposure to community violence impacts self-regulation and behavior. Dr. Petrich’s second area of research surrounds the effectiveness of sanctions and programs in the criminal justice system. Throughout these projects, Dr. Petrich uses a wide range of methodological approaches, including qualitative techniques, meta-analysis, machine learning, and marginal structural modeling.

Degrees

Research Interests

• Desistance
• Correctional sanctions and rehabilitation
• Exposure to community violence
• Self-regulation
• Motivation
• Program evaluation
• Causal inference with observational data

Courses Taught

• CJC 201 – Theories of Criminal Behavior
• CJC 205 – Research Methods

Awards

2018 – Present   $80,000  Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

2020  $800  Student Research Award, Association of Doctoral Programs in Criminology and Criminal Justice

2016  $7,500  Graduate Fellowship, School of Criminology Simon Fraser University

2014 – 2016  $1,500  Travel and Minor Research Awards, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University

2015  $500  Professional Development Grant, Graduate Students Society, Simon Fraser University

Selected Publications

Burton, A. L., Jonson, C. L., Miller, W. T., Petrich, D. M., & Burton, V. S. Jr. (In press). Understanding who is hired to work in US prisons and why it matters: A call for research. Corrections (Online First). https://doi.org/10.1080/23774657.2022.2101161. 

Petrich, D. M., Cullen, F. T., Lee, H., & Burton, A. L. (2022). Prisoner reentry programs. In E. L. Jeglic & C. Calkins (Eds.), Handbook of issues in criminal justice reform in the United States (pp. 335-363). New York: Springer.

Strange, C. C., Manchak, S. M., Hyatt, J. M., Petrich, D. M., Desai, A., & Haberman, C. P. (2022). Opioid-specific medication-assisted therapy and its impact on criminal justice and overdose outcomes. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 18(1).

Petrich, D. M., Pratt, T. C., Jonson, C. L., & Cullen, F. T. (2021). Custodial sanctions and reoffending: A meta-analytic review. Crime and Justice, 50, 353-424.

Petrich, D. M., Pratt, T. C., Jonson, C. L., & Cullen, F. T. (2021). Custodial sanctions and reoffending: A meta-analytic review. Crime and Justice, 50 (Online First). https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/715100

Petrich, D. M. (2020). A self-determination theory perspective on human agency, desistance from crime, and correctional rehabilitation. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 6(3), 353-379.

Petrich, D. M., Liu, H., & Nedelec, J. L. (2020). The longitudinal associations between motivation, self-regulatory capacities, and future-oriented cognition and behavior among serious young offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 44(5), 424-436.

Petrich, D. M., & Sullivan, C. J. (2020). Does future orientation moderate the relationship between impulse control and offending? Insights from a sample of serious young offenders. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 18(2), 156-178.

Goodstein, J., & Petrich, D. M. (2019). Hiring and retaining formerly incarcerated persons: An employer-based perspective. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 58(3), 155-177.

Petrich, D. M. (2017). Theorizing desistance-promotion in circle processes: The role of community in identity transformation. Restorative Justice: An International Journal, 4(3), 388-409.