Savannah Doherty is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University. Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, she earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). During her time at UAB, her passion for research took root in her undergraduate studies, where she co-authored a project exploring the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) within the victim-offender overlap. This research culminated in a presentation at the Southern Criminal Justice Association (SCJA) conference and laid the foundation for her current academic trajectory.

Before beginning her doctoral studies, she served as a graduate teaching assistant within the Department of Criminal Justice at UAB and a courtroom intern at the Jefferson County Family Court, gaining valuable experience in both academic and applied criminal justice settings.

Her primary research interests include adverse childhood experiences, youth victimization, juvenile justice, life-course criminology, gender and crime, and the connections between trauma and later offending. She is particularly committed to understanding how early adversity shapes pathways into victimization and offending across the life course.

Her research has been published in Victims & Offenders and Deviant Behavior. Her published work examines the theoretical processes linking childhood adversity to the victim–offender overlap and uses qualitative synthesis to better understand how individuals interpret and make meaning of victimization experiences.

Faculty Advisor: Matthew Hiller