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Professor emphasizes justice in Laramie

Since her start here at the University of Wyoming, Dr. Claire White continues to expand her involvement in her research, teaching, and, most recently, extracurriculars. 

As of spring 2021, White has become a faculty advisor of the University of Wyoming Criminal Justice Club. The club, said to have been revived in late 2015, helps students establish a network of peers and local agencies to promote student exploration and employment of the Criminal Justice System.

“She is newer, but she is super involved and is the one who was influential in bringing in the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) officer in [for a guest presentation],” Criminal Justice Club President Mackenzie Armijo said.

However, her impact goes beyond the UW campus. With a background in policing and mental health crisis calls, White and her team have been Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved to start research and development of an alternate crisis response model based on the needs of the Laramie community.

“I came into Laramie in November of 2018,” White said. “I’m in a position where I’m contributing to the local community in an area that I think is needed. That’s really important. And I feel really lucky to be able to be a voice of research.”

While White was on a career path for criminal justice as an undergraduate, partially inspired by the hit television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, it was not until she took a Sociology course that she fell in love with theory.

“So that got me into [pursuing] my Masters, and then into a whole new world of research that I wasn’t familiar with,” White said. 

White already had a previous skill in statistics and Maths, which meant she was even more fit for the field. Still, there was, and still is, a personal motive in her research that revolved around her family.

“I’ve seen how the criminal justice system and that stigma around mental health [can affect people],” White said. “Which [is why] I think it is important to de-stigmatize and develop ways to divert people from the criminal justice system into mental health [treatment programs].”

She also mentions having her work come full circle one day to combine her knowledge and experiences and apply them to the reentry process.

Additionally, White is a member of the Albany County Mental Health Council and the Working Group for Policing in Community which has released public forums discussing police reform. However, teaching holds a special place in White’s heart.

“Teaching policing right now is fun and interesting because students want to know more about it, not just based on the political divides that exist but out of genuine interests,” White said.

In describing her teaching experience, White emphasizes that asking questions is her motivator. In the typical “teaching day,” as she called them, White focuses on current events that reflect existing materials. 

These can include but are not limited to some of the perspective changes on Broken Windows Theory that has marginalized impoverished communities around the country and hot topics like ‘defunding the police.’

“I may talk a lot about research,” said White. “But students are asking why things like this [movements for police reform] are happening, [where] a lot of it comes from those conversations about the broader Institution of Policing. I think that my class really informs about all these questions.”

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