Crimeversation

Kathleen Heide, Ph.D, is a Professor of Criminology at University of South Florida's College of Behavioral and Community Sciences in Tampa, Florida. Heide studies violence in children, has evaluated hundreds of troubled kids and has testified in court many times. Her research shows most children who kill parents were abused or neglected; many never emotionally bonded with a parent or anyone else. Heide's research shows guns are the weapon of choice for most kids who kill. Heide has been interviewed hundreds of times by reporters in North America, South America and Europe. She has appeared as an expert on Larry King Live, CNN, Fox News, Court TV, TruTV, Good Morning America, and many talks shows including Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Maury Povich and Rivera Live. Heide is also the author or co-author of more than 100 publications; author of two widely acclaimed books on juvenile homicide and co-author of recently published book on animal cruelty as pathway to human violence. She has won six awards for teaching excellence and has served as member of more than 10 community and state boards of directors, councils, or task forces, including two consecutive gubernatorial appointments to the Florida Sentencing Commission.

Dr. Heide has been honored on many occasions for her educational achievements, research accomplishments, instructional activities, and service to the community and to the profession.  Here are just a few.  Professor Heide has received five awards for teaching excellence. She was invited by Queen Sofia of Spain to present her research on juvenile homicide at an international conference held on youth violence in Valencia, Spain.  She was also invited to give the opening address at an international conference in homicide sponsored by Griffith University and the Australian government in Brisbane, Australia.  Professor Heide was one of eight scholars from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the United States recently invited by Monash University in Australia to present my research on parricide at the Prato Centre in Italy. She has been formally recognized as a Distinguished Alumna of the School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, State University of New York, one of the top schools of criminology in the United States. 

This week we discuss the infamous Menendez brothers, the 21 and 18 year old brothers who killed their parents in cold blood. 

Following our discussion on the case of Jeanne Clery, this week we hosted Dr. Ráchael Powers to discuss her research on violence against women on college campuses and the red zone. Dr. Ráchael Powers is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida. 

Episode 4 of Crimeversation discusses the tragic assault and murder of 19 year old Lehigh University student, Jeanne Clery. What took place the night of April 5, 1986 and how did her parents respond to this tragedy? 

The final episode in our 5 part series on the heartbreaking case of Etan Patz. We are joined by the 'lone juror,' Adam Sirois from the Pedro Hernandez case discussing the trial and his decision to not convict.

Part 4 of the 5 part series discussing the case of Etan Patz. Our expert this week is Dr. Nancy Franklin is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at Stony Brook University. Dr. Franklin's research focuses on memory representation, (1) how memories for imagined events  are similar to those for actual events and (2) how people evaluate their memories to determine whether remembered events had actually occurred. Dr. Franklin also studies source monitoring (the process by which a person determines the origin of a retrieved memory) and situation models (the memory representation for a described event or situation). 

Part 3 of a 5 part series discussing the case of Etan Patz. Today we (finally) unveil the identity of suspect #3!

Part 2 of the 5 part series discussing the case of Etan Patz. Our expert this week is Dr. Michelle Jeanis to discuss missing person cases. Dr. Michelle Jeanis received her master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a Doctorate in Criminology from the University of South Florida.  Dr. Jeanis’ research focuses on missing persons, youth runaways, and the relationship between news/entertainment media and crime, offenders, and victims. She works with both law enforcement agencies and non-profit organizations in the study of missing persons cases.

Our first Grad Spot interview is with USF Doctoral student, Catherine Law. Catherine began the USF Criminology Ph.D. program in the Fall of 2016 after completing an M.S in Criminal Justice and Penal Change in her home country, Scotland, UK. She was the first recipient of  USF's Fulbright Postgraduate Award, named in honor of USF System President Judy Genshaft. Her research interests include racial and gender disparities within the criminal justice system, incarceration issues, and intimate partner violence.

Part 1 of a 5 part series discussing the heartbreaking case of Etan Patz. Today we discuss the details of Etan's disappearance and suspects 1-2.