Dr. Maureen O’Connor is Associate Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Dr. O’Connor also has appointments on the faculty of the doctoral program in Forensic Psychology, Social/Personality Psychology, and Criminal Justice at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She received her J.D and her Ph.D. in Law, Psychology, and Policy from the University of Arizona (with a minor in organizational behavior). Her research interests are in the intersection of psychology, gender, and law. Current projects include work on stalking and sexual harassment, with particular focus on lay and legal definitions of those concepts, and a project examining jurors’ responses to defendants raising an insanity defense. Another scholarly interest is in the use of scientific information and expert testimony in the legal system. Prior to attending graduate school, Dr. O’Connor worked for six years in the research and grants agencies of the U.S. Department of Justice, including serving as the Research Director of President Reagan’s Task Force on Victims of Crime. After receiving her law degree, Dr. O’Connor served as law clerk to the Honorable Partricia M. Wald, then-Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and is a member of the bar in Arizona and Washington D.C. She serves on the Editorial Board of Psychology, Public Policy, and Law and is active in the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and the American Psychology/Law Society. |
