By Shayal Gurung ’24, staff writer
Passion can lead people to greater heights, and Dr. Kathryn Whiteley’s passion for criminology is an example for criminologists at LVC.
Whiteley specializes in researching women who have committed violent crimes, such as murder and sexual offenses. Her research spans two decades, spending time in countries such as Australia, Ireland and the United States.
In addition to researching justice systems, she teaches several classes at LVC. She educates young criminologists who want to work within the justice system.
“My goal is always to share the stories of these women that are deemed abhorrent, the worst of the worst, and to humanize, as opposed to sensationalize,” she said. “Because in many instances, women—through their stories—share that they too were once victims, and now offenders; it’s important to acknowledge that.”
Students in Whiteley’s class will have the opportunity to visit state prisons, county jails and country prisons throughout the semester. She believes it can be beneficial for students to experience and engage with incarcerated individuals if they want to work within the justice system.
“What I’m trying to do is challenge the students to go beyond what I assume these students are reading or seeing on social media, and to challenge them and to also take them out of their comfort zone,” she said. “The realization that this is real, this is life, as opposed to I’ve got this, or I understand this because I’ve read about it or so, it really is giving them real-world life experience. That’s what I aim to do.”
Whiteley’s way of combining real-world experiences and education can be helpful to a lot of students. It can help future criminologists learn compassion.
Her documentary “Until We Have Faces,” looks at female offenders in Pennsylvania. It can be viewed through her bio page on LVC’s website.