معرفی
Professor Susan Dennison is a distinguished academic at Griffith University's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and a member of the Griffith Criminology Institute since 2015. As an international leader in parental incarceration research, she directs the Transforming Corrections to Transform Lives Centre, an innovative collaboration focused on creating transformative systems of practice for imprisoned mothers and their children.
Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts (1995) and Bachelor of Arts with Honours (1997) from Swinburne University of Technology, followed by a PhD from Charles Sturt University (2001). These qualifications established her foundation for researching the complex interplay between childhood adversity and long-term outcomes.
Professor Dennison's research focuses on how childhood adversity, particularly maltreatment and parental incarceration, affects young people's development. She works to transform policies and systems to reduce the intergenerational transmission of offending and disadvantage, with specific expertise in improving correctional design, policy and practice regarding prisoner-family relationships and community re-entry.
Analysis of her recent publication record (2023-2025) reveals a strong focus on maternal incarceration's impacts on children's educational outcomes, mental health issues among incarcerated mothers, and innovative approaches to maintaining family connections during imprisonment. Her work increasingly utilizes linked administrative data to examine life-course patterns of offending and service use.
Professor Dennison has secured substantial research funding through multiple Australian Research Council grants and other funding bodies. Her current projects include 'Improving social and economic outcomes for children of incarcerated mothers' and 'Risk and resilience in children of incarcerated mothers,' reflecting her sustained commitment to addressing intergenerational disadvantage.
She currently supervises four doctoral students and has successfully guided numerous PhD candidates to completion on topics ranging from child maltreatment to prisoner re-entry. Her supervision record demonstrates a commitment to developing the next generation of criminology researchers focused on vulnerable populations and justice system reform.
As Director of the Transforming Corrections to Transform Lives Centre, Professor Dennison leads a multidisciplinary team working to develop evidence-based approaches that address system gaps, improve pathways and programs, and provide comprehensive care for imprisoned mothers and their children throughout the incarceration continuum.
