Jennie Long, Ph.D.

Dr. Long holds a doctoral degree in justice studies and a master’s degree in criminal justice. She teaches a number of classes for her department, including alternative dispute resolution, capital punishment/the death penalty, the correctional system, introduction to criminology, judicial process, and research methods. Dr. Long has also served as our department’s internship faculty mentor, and she has extensive non-classroom contacts with students through her service as sponsor of two student groups. Dr. Long is the faculty advisor for criminology’s national honor society, Alpha Phi Sigma, as well as Drury’s Relay for Life student organization.  Relay for Life is a nationally recognized organization that works to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, and Dr. Long played a key role in its development on Drury’s campus. Hundreds of students now participate in Drury’s lively Relay for Life event each spring.

Dr. Long’s scholarship has focused on issues related to domestic violence and alternative means of achieving justice. Her published works have examined the effectiveness of a point-of-booking intervention on recidivism rates for domestic violence offenders; images of females and racial/ethnic minorities in film; the impact of peer mediation on students’ perceptual skills, level of empathy, and self-esteem, and the use of mediation in civil cases. Her present research focuses on examining the effects of reflective writing on juvenile offenders’ emotional well being and evaluating community-based policing efforts to address crimes of domestic violence. She also maintains an interest in evaluating alternative courts, such as drug courts.

In addition to her teaching and research, Dr. Long devotes much time to community activities. She has been a member of the Missouri Battered Women’s Clemency Coalition, and has chaired and remains a current member of Springfield Advocates for Youth (SAY). SAY is a non-profit organization that works with juvenile offenders, who are under the supervision of the state’s Division of Youth Services and have been placed in local group homes. Dr. Long also serves as a volunteer on Habitat for Humanity’s family selection committee and participates in the mock job fair at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield.  

On a personal note, Dr. Long is a long-time Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cubs fan, enjoys reading John Grisham novels, and loves vacationing at the beach with her family.  

Drury University faculty member since 1999
Professor since 2018