Dr. Clairissa D. Breen joins Cazenovia College Faculty

CAZENOVIA, NY (11/01/2012)(readMedia)-- "I have the greatest respect for professionals in the field of criminal justice and counter-terrorism," says Dr. Clairissa D. Breen, who recently joined the faculty of Cazenovia College as an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security. She says, "As an instructor, I am a resource for my students both in the classroom and when they become professionals in the field. They are interested in one of the most dangerous fields there is and I admire them for it. I have the responsibility of preparing their minds for these jobs."

Her overarching interest is in the analytics of crime. She hopes to create a tool that can analyze and assess law enforcement personnel needs as crime in a neighborhood is reduced or eliminated. She also has tremendous concern for the well-being of law enforcement personnel. In addition to teaching, she serves as a consultant, mentor, and sounding board for individuals in the field of criminal justice at all levels: local, state, and federal. As an ordained law enforcement chaplain, Breen has served in a volunteer capacity for retired officers needing a connection to the field, particularly in times of crisis. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Theology degree at Tripp Bible Institute.

Breen is currently working on expanding the recognition and scope of catastrophic criminology, the study of collective or mass violence. She will present a paper on criminal responses to manmade and natural disasters to the American Society of Criminology meeting in Chicago this November, and is also working on quantifying the disruption of criminal activity and individual criminals. She has papers in press on economic espionage and war crimes, among other topics, and also expresses great interest in understanding terrorism, hate groups, political and historical crime. These, along with criminological theory, criminal tattoos, geography of crime, displacement and disruption, policy analysis and program evaluation, are among her research interests.

Breen says, "The students I teach today will be the ones who take on those challenges, including terrorism in the United States. Officers on the street are our first defense against domestic terrorism and my teaching will affect future generations of men and women who will be on the front lines."

Breen enjoys the atmosphere on campus and notes that she has found Cazenovia to be a welcoming environment. "The students are active participants in their education," she says, "which makes the classroom experience very rewarding for the professor."

Breen was previously an assistant professor at Gannon University; a guest instructor for corrections officers at Erie Community Corrections Center; an instructor, research assistant and teaching assistant at Temple University; and a research assistant at Buffalo State College.

A graduate of The Harley School in Rochester, N.Y., she earned her doctoral degree in criminal justice from Temple University, and is a certified Anti-terrorism Specialist (CAS). She earned Master of Science degrees in public relations management and in criminal justice from Buffalo State College, and a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from St. John Fisher College.

She is fluent in English, German and French and conversational in several other languages. She is a member of the American Society of Criminology, American Association of University Women; Pi Sigma Alpha (Psi Delta); Golden Key International Honor Society; and was Biltmore Who's Who Professional of the Year for 2011/2012.

Cazenovia College, founded in 1824, is an independent, co-educational, baccalaureate college near Syracuse, N.Y., offering a comprehensive liberal arts education in an exceptional community environment, with academic and co-curricular programs devoted to developing leaders in their professional fields. Cazenovia, named one of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report, is also a national College of Distinction. For more information, visit www.cazenovia.edu.

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