Criminal Justice Doctoral Student Gains Valuable Insights as Research Assistant
Aspiring to make a meaningful impact in the field of criminal justice, Katelin Matusevich, a doctoral student from Blacksburg, Virginia, is seizing a unique opportunity to hone her skills as a researcher on a comprehensive climate study for the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Matusevich is working as a research assistant alongside Criminal Justice Professors Dr. Mary Parker, Dr. Robert Lytle, and Dr. Molly Smith on a climate study project for the Arkansas Department of Corrections that investigates the perspectives of five populations: inmates, corrections staff, former corrections staff, volunteers, and inmate family members.
“This is a really great experience for graduate students to see criminal justice systems in context while reading research about those systems,” Lytle said. “Katelin has jumped into this project with both feet and has already shown herself to be an important part of the team.
In this pivotal role, Matusevich is not only contributing to vital research but also gaining firsthand experience and insights that will shape her future academic and professional endeavors.
“I’ve been working on this project for a little over a year now,” she said. “The whole purpose of the study is to get a gauge of what it’s like to be one of these populations within the Arkansas Department of Corrections and to get perspectives from different people. It will be interesting to see the results of that study.”
After the project is completed in 2025, the research team will present their results to the Arkansas Department of Corrections and the Arkansas State Legislature. It is hoped that the evidence and data in the climate study will be useful to these bodies as they make future decisions regarding state corrections.
“I have previously worked in a magistrate court in West Virginia and completed the intake process with offenders before they went to jail,” she said. “When this opportunity came up, I was interested because I have previously worked with offenders. This is a special population with a unique perspective that is not always easily accessible. I think this project is really important, and it’s been interesting to see how different agencies and facilities operate.”
In addition to the climate study, Matusevich is also researching youth group violence, whether childhood victimization influences gang participation, and attorney questioning strategies in sexual assault cases. She will be studying indigenous organizations for her dissertation and is planning to graduate from UA Little Rock in 2026.
“Katelin is one of the brightest and best research assistants I have ever worked with,” said Dr. Mary Parker, professor of criminal justice. “She is not afraid to jump into an impossibly big multi-year research project with both feet and stay up with the rest of the team whether we are working in prison with inmates and staff, or she is entering data for hard copy written surveys. She has made our project so much easier for me to manage. I wish I had 10 of her!”
