Lisa Pasko, Ph.D.

Lisa Pasko, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Denver, has studied adolescent behavior, the female offender, youth violence, delinquency and the juvenile justice system, and sexualities for over 15 years. Her dissertation examined juvenile delinquency and justice in Hawaii, with particular attention on the differential impacts institutional policies and decision-making have on boys and girls. Prior to her arrival at DU, she worked for the Department of the Attorney General in Hawaii, profiling youthful serious and violent offenders as well as an in-depth look at female delinquency and programming responses to it. Recently finishing a Colorado Division of Criminal Justice funded grant, entitled "In and Out of the System: Understanding and Addressing the Female Juvenile Offender in Colorado," Dr. Pasko's research examines correctional attitudes about girls, sexual behavior, and sexual minority status. Additionally, she has been Chair for the Colorado Coalition for Girls and performed an evaluation of InterCept, a girl offender intervention program in Colorado Springs, CO. With OMNI Institute, she is currently working on an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention grant entitled "Characteristics and Predictors of Juvenile Diversion Program Success for Girls: A Focus on the Latina First-Time Offender." She is co-author of The Female Offender: Girls, Women, and Crime and numerous other articles that explore issues of girls, delinquency, violence and justice. Dr. Pasko's courses include Drugs and Society, Discipline and Punishment, the Female Offender, Masculinities, Sexualities and the Law, and Murder in America.