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Photograph of Jane Palmer

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Jane Palmer Associate Professor Justice, Law & Criminology

Additional Positions at AU
Faculty Affiliate, Antiracist Research & Policy Center
Director, Undergraduate Certificate in Community-Based Research
Degrees
PhD, Justice, Law & Society, American University (concentration: Justice & Public Policy)
MSW, Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago (concentration: children and families)
BA, Sociology, Smith College

Favorite Spot on Campus
The Amphitheater
Bio

Dr. Jane Palmer is an Associate Professor with a primary focus on community-based participatory research, help-seeking, community-based responses to harm, and ending gender-based violence.

She was recently named a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation , a grant and fellowship program that supports a three-year community-based research project with her colleague, Dr. Jessica Owens-Young. For this project, Dr. Owens-Young and Dr. Palmer are collaborating with DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Healing Equity United.


At American University, she is the founder of the Community-Based Research Scholars program, the director of the , and is affiliated with the Antiracist Research and Policy Center, the Metropolitan Policy Center, the Department of Critical, Race, Gender, & Culture Studies, and the Department of Sociology. She served as an Inclusive Pedagogy Fellow at from 2021-2023.

Her external affiliations include serving as a Non-Resident Fellow in and as a Board Member of the .

Before coming to AU for her Ph.D., Dr. Palmer was the executive director of a domestic violence and youth violence prevention organization in St. Louis. She worked in paid and volunteer positions for more than a decade in grassroots and community-based organizations in Chicago and St. Louis as an organizer, advocate, prevention specialist, youth program manager, and social worker for children and families, with an emphasis on eradicating violence.



Courses taught:
Navigating Childhood, Community-Based Research, Ending Gender-Based Violence, Justice in Tribal Communities, Intro to Justice Research Methods (undergrad & grad), Intro to Transformative Justice, Public Program Evaluation, Qualitative & Survey Research Methods, and Statistics.

See Also
On the road: AU's Humanities Truck
Reconsidering "Objectivity" in the Quest for Social Justice
DC Thinkers and Doers
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Teaching

Summer 2024

  • JLC-688 Intro Counterterrorism Res II

Fall 2024

  • JLC-280 Intro to Justice Research

  • JLC-688 Intro Counterterrorism Res II

Spring 2025

  • JLC-688 Intro Counterterrorism Res II

Partnerships & Affiliations


  • Former Board Member


  • Member, Advisory Council


  • Former Consultant

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Selected Publications

Palmer, J., Lee, J., & Michels, E.* (2024). .ÌýSocial & Legal Studies.

LaFortune, L., Palmer, J., Negrón, V. & Abreu, S.* (2023). . Journal of Participatory Research Methods.

Palmer, J. & Hoxmeier, J. (2022). . Violence & Victims, 37(6), 837-854.

Palmer, J., Rajah, V., & Wilson, S. (2022a). . Race & Justice, 12(3), 451-456.

Palmer, J., Rajah, V., & Wilson, S. (2022b). Race & Justice, 12(3), 531-547.

Rajah, V., Palmer, J., & Dugan, M. (2022). . Race & Justice, 12(3), 548-568.

Palmer, J., Morgan, J.,* Hinojosa, S.,* Olomi, J.,* Ayala, L.,* & Rosay, A. (2022). . Social Justice Research Methods for Doctoral Research. IGI Global.

Palmer, J., Rucker, J., Negron, V., Harrison, A., Debebe, K.* & Lawrence, C.* (2022). . Social Justice Research Methods for Doctoral Research. IGI Global.

Palmer, J., Williams, E., & Mennicke, A. (2021). .ÌýJournal of Family Violence.

Palmer, J. (2021). . American Society of Criminology Division on Women and Crime #SayHerName Special Edition Newsletter.

Palmer, J., Hoxmeier, J., Fissel, E., & Williams, E.* (2021). American Journal of Criminal Justice.

Kerekes, K. & Palmer, J. (2020). Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 3(1).

Langbein, L., Ranallo-Benavidez, B.* & Palmer, J. (2020).ÌýThe anti-social effects of legalizing same-sex marriage: Fact or fiction? Sexuality Research & Social Policy.

McGann, P., Palmer, J., Thomas, G., Ricci, L., & Haake, L. (2020). Health Education & Behavior, 471_suppl), 26S-35S.

Palmer, J., McMahon, S. & Fissel, E. (2020). . Violence Against Women. Advanced Online publication.

Palmer, J., Winter, S., & McMahon, S. (2020). . Evaluation and Program Planning.

Lindo, J., Marcotte, D., Palmer, J., & Swensen, I. (2019). . Economics of Education Review, 73.Ìý

Palmer, J. (2019 Aug 13). . The Conversation.

Palmer, J., Nicksa, S., & McMahon, S. (2018). . Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(17).

Palmer, J. & St. Vil, N. (2018). .ÌýNASPA Journal About Women in Higher Education, 11(1), 33-55.

Palmer, J. (2016). . Crime Prevention & Community Safety: An International Journal, 18, 1-18.

Palmer, J. & Alda, E. (2016). . Review of Higher Education, 40(1), 63-89.

Palmer, J. & Chino, M. (2016). . In C.A. Cuevas & C.M. Rennison (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook on the Psychology of Violence. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Palmer, J. & Perrotti, C. (2016). . Journal of Student Affairs Research & Practice. Published online before print August 15, 2016, doi: 10.1080/19496591.2016.1202119.

Palmer, J., Renner, L., Goodman, L. & Dutton, M.A. (2016). Does type of child risk affect whether mothers seek assistance for intimate partner violence from civil or criminal court? Violence Against Women, 22(4), 474-495.

McMahon, S., Palmer, J., Banyard, V., Murphy, M. & Gidycz, C. (2015). . Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Published online before print July 5, 2015, doi: 10.1177/0886260515591979

Richards, T. & Palmer, J. (2019 June 29). New assault reporting law should improve prevention, Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun.

McMahon, S., Winter, S., Palmer, J., Postmus, J., Peterson, N.A., Zucker, S.R., & Koenick, R.A. (2015). . Health Education Research, 30(4), 554-568.

McMahon, S., Peterson, N.A., Winter, S., Palmer, J., Postmus, J. & Koenick, R. (2015). . American Journal of Community Psychology, 56(1), 46-56.

Walton, M.J. & Palmer, J. (2014). Legal considerations regarding sexual assault victims’ right to an advocate. Sexual Assault Report, 18(1), 1-16.

Savage, J., Palmer, J. & Brooks, A. (2014). ? Journal of Family Violence, 29(7), 739-748

Crossland, C., Palmer, J. & Brooks, A. (2013). NIJ’s program of research on violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women. Violence Against Women, 19(6), 771-790.

Palmer, J. (2013). Conducting a web-based survey about sensitive topics with a random sample of college students. In Brindle, P. (Ed.), SAGE Cases in Methodology. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.

Palmer, J. (2012). Native Americans and sexual violence. In J.L. Postmus (Ed.), Sexual Violence and Abuse: An Encyclopedia of Prevention, Impacts and Recovery. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

Palmer, J. (2012). Sexual assault in Indian Country and the Tribal Law and Order Act. Sexual Assault Report, 16(2).

Professional Presentations

See C.V.

Congressional Testimony

Testimony in support of HB 571, Institutions of Higher Education - Sexual Assault - Policy and Survey, Appropriations Committee, Maryland House of Delegates (2015 March 10)

Testimony in support of HB 571, Institutions of Higher Education - Sexual Assault - Policy and Survey, Education, Health &ÌýEnvironmental Affairs Committee, Maryland Senate (2015 April 1)

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Honors, Awards, and Fellowships

FELLOWSHIPS

  • Interdisciplinary Research Leader, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2022 - present)
  • Humanities Truck Fellow, American Univeristy (2022 - 2023)
  • Non-Resident Fellow, Urban Institute, Community-Engaged Methods Group (2019 - present)

EXTERNAL RECOGNITION

  • Sarah Hall Award (for taking the lead in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within the division), American Society of Criminology, Division of Feminist Criminology (2023)
  • Community Partner Award, United Planning Organization, Washington DC (2018)
  • New Scholar Award, American Society of Criminology’s Division on Women and Crime (2016)
  • Gerry T. Hotaling Memorial Student Research Award, International Family Violence and Child Victimization Research Conference (2012)

INTERNAL RECOGNITION

  • Provost Award for Outstanding Faculty Mentor for Undergraduate Research (2019)
  • Faculty Award, She’s the First Student Organization (2018)
  • Sexual Assault Working Group Faculty Recognition Award (for biennial survey) (2017)
  • Outstanding Service to the University Community, Office of the Provost (2016)
  • Teaching with Research Award, Center for Teaching, Research & Learning (2016)
  • Faculty of the Year Award, American University Student Government (2015)