Resiliency and the Justice Professional: Preparing for the Job

This essential text introduces criminal justice students to the topics of stress and wellness in personal and professional pursuits and provides them with the tools they will need to identify the signs of stress in their own lives and the lives of others. Students will be equipped to put words into practice through the development and practice of a personal wellness plan that will help them deal with the inevitable stressors they will experience on the job in the justice system.

Written by a criminal justice professor with professional work experience in the field and a community/public health professor with expertise in health and wellness, this text prepares the instructor to discuss stress and its impact on the psychological and physical health of an individual and the process of resiliency-building. Each chapter includes exercises with both academic and real-world applicability that help students draw connections between the lessons and their usefulness for their personal, academic, and professional lives.

Resiliency and the Justice Professional is ideal for all students interested in a career in the justice or justice-adjacent fields, at all degree levels, and can be used with students along the continuum of professional involvement ― from those not yet employed in the field to veteran professionals seeking to expand their knowledge.

Elizabeth Q. Wright, Ph.D., received bachelor’s degrees in psychology and social welfare from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She earned a Master of Arts in 2000 and a PhD in 2004 from Sam Houston State University and has taught at both Fayetteville State University (2004– 2015) and Middle Tennessee State University (2015- present). Her interests include victimology and victim’s studies, police- community relations and the problem- oriented police officer, and stress management, with a particular emphasis on helping students to develop their self- care and wellness practices before they enter the workforce so the impact of “the job” is more manageable and their work, and wellness, are supported. As a component of Dr. Wright’s Trauma- Informed Care class she requires students to identify two dimensions of health they want to focus on for the semester and students work to develop their self- care techniques throughout the semester. Dr. Wright has worked as a corrections liaison with incarcerated boys and girls. Additionally, she worked for a number of years as a rape crisis hotline counselor, support group facilitator, and emergency room companion for two different victim service agencies. Dr. Wright has had the honor of being on the board of directors for two non- profit organizations, holding leadership positions within the boards as well. She has written grants, completed trainings, and engaged in fundraising efforts for both organizations – one a victim advocacy organization and the other a transitional living program for justice- involved women. She has been published in Women & Criminal Justice, Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, Contemporary Justice Review, ACJS Assessment Forum, and Crime Prevention and Community Safety, and has written multiple book chapters exploring different victimological and victims’ rights issues, including a technical report on the victimization experience presented to the Texas State Legislature. She is the co- author of a textbook on Crime Victimization, currently in its 3rd edition, and contributory author to a text on the good and the bad of criminal justice practice.

Bethany A. Wrye, Ph.D., MCHES, is an Associate Professor at Middle Tennessee State University, where she serves as the Interim Chair for the Department of Health and Human Performance. She holds a B.A. in both Biology and Spanish from Lipscomb University, a M.S. in Experimental Psychology (2006), and a Ph.D. in Health and Human Performance (2011), both from Middle Tennessee State University. Prior to MTSU, she held faculty positions at both Belmont University and Tennessee State University. Currently, she serves as the President of the Middle Tennessee Fund for Women and Girls. She served as the Chair of the Tennessee Public Health Association’s Academics Section, on the Health Education School Health Advisory Committee for the state of Tennessee, on the United Way Healthy Behaviors Vision Council, and the Program Vice President for the Murfreesboro chapter of the American Association of University Women. In addition to being committed to supporting students in their own research interests, Dr. Wrye’s scholarly focus is two- pronged. Firstly, she is interested in the use of technology and student engagement to improve pedagogy. Additionally, she is interested in exploring the relationship between moral disengagement and adverse childhood experiences. She has published in peerreviewed journals on both topics and presented research at several national conferences, including the American Public Health Association and the Lilly Conference on College teaching. She led a Professional Learning Community centered on the implementation of MT Engage, MTSU’s Quality Enhancement Plan, which involved the incorporation of ePortfolios at the program level and is currently co- leading a Faculty Learning Community aimed at increasing a sense of community among graduate students enrolled in online courses. Current funded projects include developing online workforce development modules for the Tennessee Department of Health and measuring the stigma of substance misuse among healthcare providers.