Criminology student earns Distinguished Graduate Student Award

Jillian Turanovic wants to find out how people cope after becoming victims of crime. She's a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, a part of the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. The ASU Faculty Women's Association chose Turanovic as one of four Arizona State University graduate students to earn its Distinguished Graduate Student Achievement Award for 2015.

Turanovic worked with victims through a police agency in her native Canada while an undergraduate student. That experience gave her a better understanding of the ways in which victimization impacts people's lives. Her doctoral dissertation, “The Age-Graded Consequences of Victimization,” examines the negative effects victimization has on people of different ages. Her research earned Turanovic a National Institute of Justice Graduate Research Fellowship.

"Her scholarship has pushed the field in new directions to think about how the consequences of victimization may vary based on life course stage," criminology professor Kevin Write wrote in his is nomination of Turanovic for the award. "Specifically, she argues that coping styles and support resources may change as individuals age, which may lead to different consequences based on age at victimization."

Wright is a member of Turanovic's dissertation committee and has worked with her on a couple research projects. He notes that Turanovic's research has appeared in some of the top journals and has already been cited more than 100 times. And her impact goes beyond academics as Turanovic has volunteered with community restoration projects, taught a course on domestic violence to female inmates at the Perrville state prison and served on a community panel that focused on bullying in schools.

“I am extremely proud of Jillian for winning this award," says Wright. "She has worked very hard to establish herself as a distinguished graduate student, and I am happy to see that this has been recognized by the ASU Faculty Women’s Association.”

Turanovic credits the mentoring she received from professors in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice as well as the opportunity to publish articles as a master's level student. She knows she wouldn't have received the award if not for the nomination letters send in by Kevin Wright and fellow graduate students Chantal Fahmy, Andrea Borrego and Laura Beckman (below with Turanovic).

"I am so humbled and honored to have won this award," says Turanovic. "There were so many talented and accomplished students that were nominated across the university, and I am so grateful to have been recognized among them."

Turanovic will earn her doctorate in criminology and criminal justice this spring. She has already been hired as an assitant professor by Florida State University. She starts in the fall of 2015.