The College of Social Work’s Utah Criminal Justice Center (UCJC) is hosting the fourth annual Utah Criminal Justice Conference on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019.

Each year, this conference brings together researchers, practitioners, correctional professionals, administrators, students, academics and policymakers to discuss emerging interdisciplinary research and developments in the areas of criminal and juvenile justice.

“Since its inception, UCJC’s annual Utah Criminal Justice Conference has made remarkable progress toward the goal of connecting researchers and practitioners to the benefit of both parties, our community and criminal justice policy,” said Kort Prince, interim director of UCJC. “To that end, we are excited to announce our largest and what we believe will be our best conference yet.”

This year, UCJC has scheduled several experts to discuss a variety of topics being debated during Utah’s next legislative session, highlighting research that is being done by faculty on campus. Speakers also include community members and scholars from other universities throughout Utah and across the country.

Nearly 30 presentations will address timely topics such as policing, restorative justice and domestic violence. The conference is open to anyone with an interest in these areas.

“You don’t have to work in or study criminal or juvenile justice to get a lot out of it,” said Erin Worwood, associate director of UCJC. “We work to ensure the conference is a real interdisciplinary look at the issues.”

The conference is from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley City.

Keynote speaker: 

Faye Taxman, director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence at George Mason University, will deliver the keynote address. Taxman has a doctorate from Rutgers University’s School of Criminal Justice and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tulsa. Her work covers the breadth of the correctional system from jails and prisons to community corrections and adult and juvenile offenders. Taxman has published over 190 articles and developed the Risk-Needs-Responsivity Simulation Tool to facilitate knowledge translation in the justice and treatment system. She is recognized for her work in the development of the seamless systems of care models that link the criminal justice with other service delivery systems as well as reengineering probation and parole supervision services and organizational change models.

Presentation highlights:

• Criminal Records and Positive Employment Credentials

Megan Denver, Northeastern University, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice 

Ban-the-box, one of the most promising prisoner reentry policy movements, has generated both excitement and concern from advocates and researchers. Denver explores the way presenting criminal records and positive credentials upfront impacts respondents’ perceptions of both black and white applicants with felony convictions.

• Examining Police Use of Force Training and Policy: Research Evidence, Implementation and Evaluation

Gabrielle Isaza and Hannah McManus, University of Cincinnati IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy

This presentation will discuss the evidence-base and real-world implementation of police training and policy pertaining to use of force and officer de-escalation tactics. Specifically, it will examine what is known regarding the effectiveness of de-escalation training by exploring findings from a multi-disciplinary systematic review of de-escalation training evaluations.

• The Opioid Crisis, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Headed: Antecedents, Contemporary Issues and Future Decisions

Gerald Cochran and Aryana Bryan, University of Utah Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Epidemiology

While prescribing practices have shifted in response to the U.S. opioid epidemic, rates of opioid prescriptions are still roughly three times higher than they were in 1991. Cochran and Bryan will provide background information and current clinical, system and policy level information on the crisis.

• Experiences of Immigrant Women who Applied for a VAWA Self-Petition in the U.S.: Qualitative Analysis of Legal Affidavits

Akiko Kamimura, University of Utah Department of Sociology

This study explores the experiences of abused immigrant women and their interaction with the Violence Against Women Act in the U.S. Results showed women often feared being in a worse position if they did leave and as such often delayed leaving an abusive relationship.

Ticket information

University of Utah student, staff and faculty discount price:

Email ucjc@utah.edu for the discount code.