Current PhD Students
Darlynton Adegor is a doctoral student and research assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. He holds a master’s degree in public service from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and law degrees from Lagos State University and the Nigerian Law School. He has worked as a lawyer for the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Administration General and Public Trustee Department of the Enugu Ministry of Justice, the Legal Aid Community Development, and other law firms and organizations. His research interests are related to immigrants’ victimization, victims’ access to services, domestic violence and child rights, and police legitimacy. He can be reached at adadegor@ualr.edu. View Darlynton’s Vita.
Fariba Allahyoorti is a doctoral student and research assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. She got her master’s degree in Penal Law and Criminology from the University of Tarbiat Modares in 2016. She was working in Iran as a criminologist and university teacher. Her research interests include victimology, mediation, domestic violence, access to justice, criminal behavior, and juvenile crime prevention. Fariba can be reached at fallahyoorti@ualr.edu. View Fariba’s Vita.
Dana Fachner Tyler is a doctoral student and research assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. She holds a Master of Divinity from Claremont School of Theology and a Bachelor of Theological Studies from The King’s University. She has worked as an interfaith hospital chaplain for the last six years. Her research interests include abuse in religious groups, healthcare outcomes and ethics, and group identity. She can be reached at dfachnertyl@ualr.edu. View Dana’s Vita.
Laura Garrett is a doctoral student and graduate assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison Wisconsin in 1993 and Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from Webster University, George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology, in St. Louis, Missouri in 1997. Laura has over 27 years in public service as a Supervisor in Social Work and a federal law enforcement officer. Laura is a retired Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and specialized in counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and white-collar crime investigations. While serving as an Agent for the FBI, Laura was appointed as the Arkansas State Coordinator for InfraGard Arkansas Members Alliance ((AMA), a non-profit partnership program for security professionals in the protection of infrastructure and critical national assets. Laura also served as the Arkansas State Representative for the National FBI Agents Association from 2015 – 2022. Laura can be reached at lgarrett1@ualr.edu.
Katelin Matusevich is a doctoral student and research assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. She received her Bachelor of Science in Political science from the University of Radford in 2019 after retiring from the United States Airforce. Following her bachelor’s, she received her master’s from Liberty in 2021. Her research interests include global perspectives on the criminal justice system. Also, indigenous people and the attitudes and opinions that affect the reservation systems. Katelin can be reached at kweldin@ualr.edu.
Steven McCain received his undergraduate degree and master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Steven is currently a student instructor of undergraduate criminal justice courses while also working on his dissertation. His research interests include the relationship between civil peace and political economics, historical and comparative criminology, Constitutional law, and quantitative analysis. Steven can be reached at samccrain@ualr.edu. View Steven’s Vita.
Tionna S. Miller is a doctoral student and teaching assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. She received both her Bachelors of Arts in Criminal Justice and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Washington. Much of her research interest and specialty has been within Corrections, mainly focusing on alternatives to incarceration, restorative justice, mass incarceration and re-entry. Before returning to school to pursue her doctorate degree, she spent a few years doing individual and group clinical therapy sessions, with those who were formerly incarcerated. Tionna can be reached at tsmiller1@ualr.edu. View Tionna’s Vita.
Cassidy Mitchell is a doctoral student and research assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. She received her Bachelors of Science (2017) in Psychology and Religion from Illinois College and Masters of Arts (2019) in Criminal Justice from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Her research interests include domestic violence offending, sexual offending, and domestic violence and sexual crime victimization. Cassidy can be reached at cmitchell1@ualr.edu. View Cassidy’s Vita.
Christa Page is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She received her B.A. in Criminal Justice with a Minor in Legal Studies from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2020. Her research interests include drugs use and addiction, intimate partner violence, and mental illness and crime. Christa can be reached at cvpage@ualr.edu. View Christa’s Vita.
Haley Trantham is a doctoral student and graduate assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Central Arkansas (2018) and received her Master of Arts in Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is currently working at the Arkansas Department of Corrections for her doctoral residency. Her research interests include crime and media, sexual victimization, and policy research. Haley can be reached at hbtrantham@ualr.edu. View Haley’s vita.
Brian Weaks is a doctoral student and, as of Fall 2023, an Instructor in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1996 and Masters of Arts degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 2000. Brian retired from the criminal justice field after 25 years of service. In his most recent position of 18 years, he served as a Special Agent with the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), specializing in undercover operations and as a firearms interstate nexus expert. During Brian’s time with ATF, he also taught multiple undergraduate classes in criminal justice at Southwest Community College in Memphis, Tennessee for 4 years. Brian can be reached at bweaks@ualr.edu. View Brian’s vita.
Kiley West is a doctoral student and graduate assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, Psychology and Sociology from Arkansas Tech University in 2021. Her research interests are in looking at families and peers and their connection to crime as well how personality plays a role in crime. She is also interested in victimization. Kiley can be reached at klwest2@ualr.edu. View Kiley’s Vita.
MA Graduate Assistants
Ka’Shayla Banks is a graduate student and research assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. She received her Bachelors of Arts in Criminal Justice and Minor in Legal Studies in 2022. Also, she received her Associate’s Degree in Law Enforcement. Her research interests include Family Violence, Early Signs of Violence in Criminals, and Plea Bargaining. Ka’Shayla can be reached at ktbanks@ualr.edu. View Ka’Shayla’s Vita.
Joy Ferdinand is a Masters Student and Graduate Assistant in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. Her passion for Criminal Justice Studies started when she undertook a BSc course in criminology and security studies. This course ushered her into the world of research, especially with regards to Nigeria’s Criminal Justice System. She also undertook a Diploma in Law in 2016. Having developed an interest in prison overcrowding and rehabilitation of inmates, which was spurred by her several visits to correction facilities and series of studies conducted on the rights of and poor conditions experienced by inmates, her research interest grew from a belief that a well-administered justice system can be a vehicle for prison decongestion. She also has an interest in military and police abuse of power, the nexus between drug abuse and crime, and the impact of rehabilitation on drug addiction. Having been engaged in several research projects while working as an intern in Maxwell Khobe Cantonment, Headquarters 3 Division, Nigerian Army as well as the Nigeria Correctional Service, Joy is looking forward to exploring the high quality research facilities as well as the comprehensive learning environment of University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Joy can be reached at juferdinand@ualr.edu. View Joy’s Vita.
