BIO

Dr. Kierkus grew up in LaSalle, Ontario, Canada.  He did his undergraduate work at the University of Windsor where he received his B.A. degree in Criminology.   He then completed an M.A. in Sociology at the University of Western Ontario, and a second M.A., as well as a Ph.D., in Criminal Justice at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany.  Dr. Kierkus has been teaching for approximately 12 years.

Dr. Kierkus' scholarship is focused on the role of family, gender and relationships in the causation of delinquency.   He is also interested in applied criminal justice policy issues; particularly as they relate to youth crime and firearms control.   

Dr. Kierkus teaches a variety of courses at GVSU: including introduction to criminal justice (CJ 101), qualitative (CJ 400/600) and quantitative (CJ 300) research methods, graduate level data analysis (CJ 608), criminology (at both the undergraduate and graduate levels – CJ 201, 607), graduate program/policy evaluation (CJ 605), youth culture and crime (CJ 355), juvenile justice processes (CJ 350), crime control and justice policy (CJ 470), and the senior capstone (CJ 495).   He also supervises both graduate and undergraduate projects and theses.

Dr. Kierkus is involved in various faculty governance activities at GVSU.   At present, he is a member of the GVSU Undergraduate Research Council (URC), the CCPS Advisory Committee, the CCPS Curriculum Committee, the SCJ Graduate Program Committee, the SCJ Undergraduate Program Committee, and the Interdisciplinary Juvenile Justice Minor Final Plan Group.

RECENT SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS

C. A. Kierkus, B. R. Johnson and J. D. Hewitt, “Cohabiting, Family and Community Stressors, Selection, and Juvenile Delinquency.”  Criminal Justice Review, Vol. 35: 393-411 (4), 2010.

C. A. Kierkus and B. R. Johnson, “Measuring Crime.” Chapter for Crime & Society: An Introduction (First Edition). Lightning Press, Santa Clara: CA, Forthcoming, 2010.

B. R. Johnson and C. A. Kierkus, “Causes of Crime.” Chapter for Crime & Society: An Introduction (First Edition). Lightning Press, Santa Clara: CA, Forthcoming, 2010.

B. R. Johnson, C. A. Yalda and C. A. Kierkus, “Property Crimes at O’Hare International Airport Post 9/11: The Impact of Increased Security.” Journal of Applied Security Research, 1-22, Vol. 5, 2010.

C. A.  Kierkus, Sex, Dating, and Delinquency: Do Precocious Relationship Lead to Crime? LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC, El Paso: TX, 2009.

C. A. Kierkus and J. D. Hewitt, “The Contextual Nature of the Family Structure / Delinquency Relationship.” Journal of Criminal Justice, 123-132, Vol. 37 (2), 2009.

RECENT AND FORTHCOMING CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

S. K. Bowman and C. A. Kierkus, “Never in Trouble?  Using Moffitt’s Typology to Explain Abstention Among Older Adolescents.” Accepted for presentation at the American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, 2010.

C. A. Kierkus and C. M. Hilinski, “A Content Analysis of “Sexting” Incidents Depicted in the Popular Media.” Accepted for presentation at the American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, 2010.

P. Gerkin and C. Kierkus, “What Makes a Good Criminal Justice Professor?   An Analysis of 5 Years of Student Evaluation Forms.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting, 2010.

B. R. Johnson, C. A. Kierkus and C. A. Yalda, “Who Skips?  An Analysis of Failure to Appears.” Midwest Criminal Justice Society Annual Meeting, 2009.

C. Kierkus, M. Furtaw, K. Stahl, C. Yalda, W. Crawley and F. Hughes, “The Use of Developmentally Appropriate Services in Juvenile Drug Treatment Court.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting, 2009.

C. Yalda, F. Hughes, K. Stahl, M. Furtaw, C. Kierkus and W. Crawley, “’Cop’ or ‘Counselor’: Reconciling Role Conflict of Criminal Justice Professionals on Drug Treatment Court Teams.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting, 2009.

RECENT POPULAR MEDIA PUBLICATIONS

C. Kierkus. “Kierkus: Carrying firearms openly is right of Michigan citizens.”  Guest Column in the Times Herald.  June 22, 2010.

C. Kierkus.  “Guns on Campus Effective Anti-Crime Policy.” Guest Editorial in the Monroe Evening News.  January 24, 2010.

C. Kierkus. “Guns on Campus a Smart Policy.” Letter to the Traverse City Record-Eagle.  January 8, 2010.

C. Kierkus and C. Hilinski, “Sexting Editorial was Disappointing.” Letter to the Grand Rapids Press.   September 19, 2009.

C. Kierkus, “Lowering .08 is a Bad Idea.”  Letter to the Windsor Star.   June 25, 2009.

C. Kierkus, “’Pistol Free Zones’ Make Little Sense; Many Valid Reasons to Carry Firearms in National Parks.” Special to the Grand Rapids Press.  May 1, 2009.

RECENTLY COMPLETED GRADUATE / UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT SUPERVISIONS

MCJ Project Chair: Ms. Kelly Stone, “The Development of a Model for Profiling Demographic and Crime Rate Information for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Holland”, 2010.

Senior Honors Project Supervision:  Mr. Brian Bleeker, “Follow the Light: Predicting Factors of Traffic Signal Violation”, 2009.

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