Dr. Tammy Castle is an Associate Professor with a primary teaching focus in Track A (Crime and Criminology). Along with JUST 399-Justice Research Methods and JUST 400-Senior Seminar, she teaches two cross-track electives: JUST 323-Comparative Criminal Justice and JUST 334-Media & Justice. This past summer Dr. Castle offered a section of JUST 323 in Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, & France), where students visited the International Criminal Court, Interpol, the United Nations in Brussels, and the Court of the European Union. Her research interests are in comparative criminal justice and media propaganda. castletl@jmu.edu
Benjamin Meade is an assistant professor of Justice Studies. He received his PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of South Carolina. Benjamin Meade joined the faculty at JMU in 2012, and teaches course in the Crime and Criminology track and for the Criminal Justice Minor. Currently, he is teaching Ethics in Criminal Justice and Criminology. His research interests include institutional corrections, inmate behavior, and religion and religiosity in prison. He is currently working on research examining the effect of exposure to violence on inmate maladjustment. meadebd@jmu.edu
Peggy Plass has a PhD in Sociology from University of New Hampshire, where she worked in the Family Research Lab. She teaches in Track A of the major (the Track A Intro foundation course, along with classes on Victimization of Children, Victimology, and Organized Crime in recent years). She also teaches Research Methods for all 3 tracks. Her research interests are in the areas of criminal victimization of children, property crime victimization, domestic violence, and evaluation of offender rehabilitation programs. plassms@jmu.edu
Rita Poteyeva is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Justice Studies teaching primarily in Track A (Crime & Criminology). She received her PhD in Criminology from the University of Delaware. She regularly teaches the following courses: JUST 212 (Theories of Crime and Criminal Justice); JUST 324 (Death Penalty); JUST 318 (Sex Offenders); and JUST 399 (Research Methods). Dr. Poteyeva’s research interests include contextual variations in sentencing, policing, violence in relationships, and use of criminal justice institutions for political ends.
Heather L. Scheuerman is an assistant professor in the Justice Studies department teaching primarily in Track A: Crime and Criminology. Dr. Scheuerman joined James Madison University in the Fall of 2014. She received her PhD and MA in Sociology from Emory University and her BA in Sociology, Psychology, and Spanish from the State University of New York College at Geneseo. Her research chiefly examines how social psychological processes affect behavior, especially crime or deviance, focusing specifically on the following areas: (in)justice, legitimacy, emotions, and restorative justice. Her dissertation draws from the criminological and social psychological literatures to clarify how combinations of different types of injustice and the legitimacy of conventional or criminal coping behavior affect one’s propensity for engaging in crime or deviance.
