Jennifer C. Gibbs

Jennifer C. Gibbs joined the faculty at Penn State Harrisburg in 2013 as an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Public Affairs. After finishing a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Keuka College and a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Niagara University, Dr. Gibbs earned her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she completed her dissertation focusing on the influence of police and state legitimacy on terrorist attacks targeting police in 82 countries – research that won the Homicide Research Working Group 2012 Richard Block Outstanding Dissertation Award.

Dr. Gibbs’ research interests include policing, terrorism, violence and victimization and the scholarship of teaching and learning, and her research has been published in journals such as Crime, Law and Social Change; Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management; Police Practice and Research: An International Journal; Violence Against Women; and Journal of Active Learning in Higher Education. Notably, her research, “A Structural Analysis of Homicides of Baltimore Police Officers”, presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences won the 2010 William L. Simon/Anderson Publishing Outstanding Student Paper Award. Dr. Gibbs is a member of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.