Associate Professor
Dr. M. Kristen Hefner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at The Citadel. She earned a B.A. in psychology from North Carolina State University, an M.A. in sociology/criminology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Delaware. Dr. Hefner’s primary research and teaching interests include victimology, violence against women and children, human trafficking, law & society, and gender/social inequalities. She has conducted research on male prison inmates, victimization (intimate partner violence and child abuse), human trafficking, restorative justice, and racial profiling, among others. Dr. Hefner is the the lead- or co-author on numerous peer-reviewed journal articles appearing in journals such as Justice Quarterly, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Children and Youth Services Review, and Journal of Applied Social Science.
Degrees
Ph.D. Sociology (University of Delaware)
M.A. Sociology with concentration in Criminology (University of North Carolina at Greensboro)
B.A. Psychology minor in Criminology (North Carolina State University)
Areas of Research Interest
Victimology; violence against women/children; human trafficking; law and society; gender/social inequalities; qualitative methods