Paula Smith, PhD

Dr. Paula Smith is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of New Brunswick, Saint John in 2006. Her research interests include offender classification and assessment, correctional rehabilitation, the psychological effects of incarceration, program implementation and evaluation, the transfer of knowledge to practitioners and policy-makers, and meta-analysis. She is co-author of Corrections in the Community, and has also authored more than thirty journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Smith has directed numerous federal and state funded research projects, including studies of prisons, community-based correctional programs, juvenile drug courts, probation and parole departments, and mental health services. Furthermore, she has been involved in evaluations of more than 280 correctional programs throughout the United States. In addition to her research experience, Dr. Smith has considerable frontline experience working with a variety of offender populations, including juvenile offenders, sex offenders, and perpetrators of domestic violence. Currently, she provides training and technical assistance to criminal justice agencies throughout the United States and Canada. Paula undertook her doctoral work in at the University of New Brunswick. She was previously a Research Associate with the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies at the University of New Brunswick. She has also been involved in the development and delivery of treatment programs to federal parolees with the Correctional Service of Canada. Her research interests include meta-analysis, the assessment of offender treatment and deterrence programs, the development of actuarial assessments for clinicians and managers in prisons and community corrections, the effects of prison life, treatment responsivity, and the transfer of knowledge to practitioners and policy makers. She has co-authored several articles, book chapters, and conference presentations on the above topics. She teaches Meta Analysis and the Psychology of Criminal Behavior.