Biography
My name is Jennifer M. Ortiz. I am an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice. I earned my doctoral degree in Criminology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. My doctoral research focused on prison and street gangs. Prior to joining the faculty at IUS, I served as the Research Director for the New York State Permanent Commission on Sentencing and as a Research Associate at the Center for Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
I teach a wide range of upper and lower level courses. My courses incorporate innovative active learning techniques aimed at helping students develop critical thinking skills and to question common misconceptions about the criminal justice system.
Academic Background
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Doctorate
- CUNY Graduate Center, New York, United States
- Doctor of Philosophy, Major in Criminology
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Masters
- CUNY Graduate Center, New York, United States
- Master of Philosophy, Major in Criminology
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Masters
- John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, United States
- Master of Arts, Major in Criminal Justice- Policing Concentration
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Bachelors
- John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, United States
- Criminal Justice
Professional Interests
Teaching
Courses Taught
- CJUS 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice
- CJUS 199: Careers in Criminal Justice
- CJUS 200: Theories of Crime & Deviance
- CJUS 295: Criminal Justice Data, Methods, and Resources
- CJUS 250: Issues in Criminal Justice: Prisoner Reentry
- CJUS 300: Topics in Criminal Justice: Prison and Street Gangs
- CJUS 303: Corrections
- CJUS 304: Parole and Probation
- CJUS 335: Race, Gender, and Inequality in the CJ System
- CJUS 458: Wrongful Convictions
- CJUS 470: Senior Seminar
Course Preparations in Development:
- CJUS 406: Unequal Justice
Research
My research explores structural violence within the criminal justice system. My primary research interests are reentry post-incarceration and gangs. My doctoral level research was a qualitative comparative analysis that examined the impact of environment on gang culture. My current research project is a multi-year mixed-methods study of reentry experiences in the Kentuckiana region. This study explores the experiences of formerly incarcerated individuals reentering society and the perspectives of reentry service providers in the region.
Publications
Journal Articles
- Jennifer Ortiz & Kimberly Wrigley. (2022). The Invisible Enclosure: How Community Supervision Inhibits Successful Reentry. Corrections: Policy, Practice, and Research, 7 (3), 230-245.
- Jennifer Ortiz, Alison Cox, Daniel Kavish, and Grant Tietjen. (2022). Let the convicts speak: a critical conversation of the ongoing language debate in convict criminology. Criminal Justice Studies, 35 (4), Online.
- Jennifer Ortiz and Hayley Jackey. (2019). The system is not broken, it is intentional: The prisoner reentry industry as deliberate structural violence.. The Prison Journal, 99 (4), 484-503.
- Jennifer Ortiz. (2018). Gangs and environment: A comparative analysis of prison and street gangs.. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 2 (1), 97-117.
Books
- Tomas Montalvo and Jennifer Ortiz. (2020). Perpetual Punishment: One Man’s Journey Post-Incarceration. In K.M. Middlemass & C.J. Smiley (Eds.) Prisoner Reentry in the 21st Century: Critical Perspectives of Returning Home.: New York, NY: Routledge.
- Jennifer Ortiz. (2021). Doxa is dangerous: How academic doxa inhibits prison gang research.. In R.J. Gude & D. Brotherton (Eds.). International Critical Gang Handbook.: New York, NY: Routledge..
- Jennifer Ortiz and Hayley Jackey. (2021). Educational and skill-based prison programming.. In Brent, J. & Gould, L. (Eds). Routledge Handbook on American Prisons.: Routledge.
- Jennifer Ortiz. (2020). Criminal Justice Policy in New Jersey. In Costello, R. (Ed.), New Jersey’s Criminal Justice System.: Carolina Academic Press.
- Jennifer Ortiz. (2017). Freddie Gray. In G. Robertiello (Ed.), The Use and Abuse of Police Power in America: Historical Milestones and Current Controversies: New York, NY: Routledge..
- Jennifer Ortiz. (2019). Criminal Justice Policy in New York State. In Costello, R. (Ed.), New York State’s Criminal Justice System.: Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press.
