Mission
The mission of the Crime Victims' Institute is to:
- Conduct research to examine the impact of crime on victims of all ages in order to promote a better understanding of victimization
- Improve services to victims
- Assist victims of crime by giving them a voice
- Inform victim-related policy making at the state and local levels.
History
The Crime Victims' Institute was created in 1995 by the Texas Legislature as specified in Chapter 412, Subchapters A, B, C, & D of the Government Code and other related citations. In May 2003, Governor Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 1245, which directed moving the Institute from the Office of the Attorney General to Sam Houston State University. Sam Houston State University continues the legislative mission and directives set forth for the Institute. CVI has been conducting research and providing training on victimization-related issues. This work has established a number of relationships with relevant community, criminal justice, and victim service organizations throughout the state and region.
Director
Mary Breaux
Dr. Mary Breaux is a Professor of Practice in the Department of Victim Studies at Sam Houston State University’s College of Criminal Justice and Criminology. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in victimology. Dr. Breaux’s research focuses on child abuse, neglect, and elder maltreatment, and her scholarly work has been published in the Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect. Prior to joining academia, she served with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, where she worked in both Child and Adult Protective Services. Within Child Protective Services, she held positions as a sexual abuse investigator, protective services institute trainer, and human resources specialist. She later spent ten years with Adult Protective Services as a community relations specialist, where she educated the public about adult protective services and cultivated partnerships among community organizations and agencies. Dr. Breaux played an instrumental role in establishing the Department of Victim Studies within the College of Criminal Justice and Criminology. She currently serves as President of the Texas Victim Services Association (TVSA) and is a member of the Texas Elder Abuse and Mistreatment Institute (TEAM) and the UTHealth Consortium on Aging.
Research Coordinator
Miltonette Olivia Craig
Miltonette Olivia Craig is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University. Dr. Craig completed her J.D. at Georgia State University College of Law and Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including Fundamentals of Criminal Law, Ethics of Criminal Justice, and Seminar in American Courts. Her research examines trends and disparities in policing outcomes, such as traffic stops, protest responses, and use of force. Her work also uses an intersectional lens to examine intimate partner violence victimization and community supervision outcomes. Dr. Craig’s research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Crime & Delinquency, Criminal Justice & Behavior, and Victims & Offenders, and she has received awards for her work from the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. She has also contributed to discussions on police accountability and sentencing reform in the Chicago Tribune and Houston Chronicle, as well as on Illinois Public Radio, Texas Standard, and KERA.
Graduate Research Assistant
Cristal N. Hernandez
Cristal Hernandez (she/her) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University. She received an M.A. in Criminal Justice & Criminology in December 2020 and a B.S. in Victim Studies with minors in Sociology and Psychology in August 2018, both from SHSU. Her research broadly focuses on victimology and carceral studies. She is the 2019 recipient of the Division of Victimology Graduate Student Paper of the Year Award from the American Society of Criminology, and her recent work has appeared in Crime & Delinquency, Societies, and Race and Justice.
Affiliated Faculty
The following faculty in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University share areas of research interest with CVI.
- Andia Azimi - Victimization, Child/Adolescent Abuse, Outcomes of Victimization
- Mary Breaux - victimology; family violence; elder mistreatment; child maltreatment; child emotional abuse and neglect; qualitative research methods
- Shelly Clevenger - cybervictimizations, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, qualitative research
- Janet Mullings - sexual assault; intimate partner violence; child abuse and neglect
- Ryan Randa - bullying victimization; school victimization; fear of crime; crime prevention
- Kathleen Ratajczak - victimology, gender-based violence, campus sexual assault, victimization policy, help seeking and healing
