Jennifer K. Wesely

Dr. Jennifer Wesely received her Ph.D. in 2001 from the School of Justice Studies at Arizona State University and joined the faculty in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of North Florida in 2004. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in family violence, criminal law, women and crime and qualitative research methods. In 2019 she taught a Transformational Learning Opportunity (TLO) course called "The Role of Canines in Inmate Rehabilitation." Much of her research has focused on marginalized populations of women including ex-offenders, sex workers and homeless women. In more recent years, she has worked extensively with currently and formerly incarcerated men in Prison Dog Programs (PDPs). In PDPs participants are paired with rescue dogs, who live with them and learn obedience training before graduating. Other ongoing projects involve at-risk youth who are in detention or diversion and participate in humane education. She collaborates frequently with community partners, most recently in the implementation of humane education programming with the Jacksonville Humane Society.