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Beth Marie Huebner

Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis

About Beth

Huebner's research focuses on the study of corrections, recidivism, racial and gender disparities in criminal justice decision making, and community violence. Overarching themes in Huebner's writings include understanding how contact with the criminal justice system influences long term behaviors and individual outcomes. Huebner has centered her work on conducting rigorous academic research to inform public policy. Huebner serves as a member of the Missouri Task Force for Criminal Justice and has worked with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the St. Louis County Jail as a research partner.

Contributions

Publications

"Understanding Victim Cooperation in Cases of Nonfatal Gun Assaults" (with Natalie Kroovand Hipple, Kristina J. Thompson, and Lauren A. Magee). Criminal Justice and Behavior 46, no. 12 (December 2019): 1793-1811.

Extends the literature on victim cooperation by examining the effect of incident-level variables and neighborhood characteristics on victim cooperation in nonfatal shooting incidents. Finds the willingness to cooperate among Whites is contingent on injury severity while non-White victims do not become markedly more cooperative when confronted with serious injury.

"Dangerous Places: Gang Members and Neighborhood Levels of Gun Assault" (with Kimberly Martin, Richard K. Moule, Jr., David Pyrooz, and Scott H. Decker). Justice Quarterly 33, no. 5 (2016): 836-862.

Uses data from St. Louis to examine the effects of resident gang membership on rates of gun assault. Finds communities with the highest number of gang members also have the highest rates of gun assault.

"Residential Location, Household Composition, and Recidivism: An Analysis by Gender" (with Breanne Pleggenkuhle). Justice Quarterly 32, no. 5 (2015): 818-844.

Finds although the challenges offenders face when returning home from prison have been well documented, much remains to be learned about the gendered patterns of reentry. Finds, consistent with past research, men are more likely to fail overall, but women are more likely to be recommitted to prison for a technical violation.

"The Effect and Implications of Sex Offender Residence Restrictions" (with Kimberly R. Kras, Jason Rydberg, Timothy S. Bynum, Eric Grommon, and Breanne Pleggenkuhle). Criminology & Public Policy 13, no. 1 (February 2014): 139-168.

Evaluates the efficacy of sex offender residence restrictions in Michigan and Missouri using a quasi‐experimental design with propensity score matching. Finds, in the outcome analysis, little evidence that residence restrictions changed the prevalence of recidivism substantially for sex offenders in the postrelease period.

"Missouri Model: A Critical State of Knowledge" in Committee on Assessing Juvenile Justice Reform, edited by Richard J. Bonnie, Robert L. Johnson, Betty M. Chemers, and Julie Schuck (National Resource Council, 2012).

Provides a critical assessment of the Missouri Model of juvenile corrections. Outlines proposals for future research and the need for additional data and analysis.

"Reentry and the Ties that Bind: An Examination of Social Ties, Employment, and Recidivism" (with Mark T. Berg). Justice Quarterly 28, no. 2 (2011): 382-410.

Tests hypotheses about the link between familial ties, post‐release employment, and recidivism. Suggests that good quality social ties may be particularly important for men with histories of frequent unemployment.