About
Allison Willingham is a victimologist and assistant professor of criminal justice in the UW-Superior’s Legal Studies and Criminal Justice program, housed within the Human Behavior, Justice and Diversity Department. Allison—or Alli, as her students and colleagues call her—arrived at UW-Superior from the University of South Carolina’s doctorate program in Criminal Justice & Criminology, where she engaged in a qualitative dissertation that explored the perceptions and experiences of battered women who survived head injuries. During her time at USC, Alli also completed a qualitative study evaluating the perceptions of peer victimization and bullying among parents of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing children.
Alli obtained a bachelor of science in criminal justice from Kentucky Wesleyan College before she received her master’s degree in criminal justice from Eastern Kentucky University. Her master’s thesis, “Forgotten Victims: A Qualitative Study of Familial and Intimate Partner Abuse of Male-to-Female Transgender Individuals in Central Kentucky,” became one of the first American studies to examine intimate partner violence among transwomen. She also co-authored a paper with organized crime expert Dr. Gary Potter, “Deviant Places, Deviant Networks: An Ethnographic Understanding of Underground Criminality in Rural Kentucky,” and worked for the Kentucky Innocence Project as an investigating extern.
In addition to her work as a victimologist and assistant professor, Alli is also an ethnographer and critical criminologist who examines gender, race, class and LGBT issues within the criminal justice apparatus. Additionally, Alli serves as the Legal Studies and Criminal Justice Program coordinator, the faculty adviser for Alpha Phi Sigma, and the faculty representative for the Campus Climate Task Force.
Publications
- Willingham, A. (2019). Correctional Institutions in the U.S. O’Donnell. Learn e-book for Barnes & Noble.
Education
- 2020 – Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) – Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina
- 2012 – Master of Science (M.S.) – Criminal Justice, Eastern Kentucky University
- 2010 – Bachelor of Science (B.S.) – Criminal Justice, Kentucky Wesleyan College