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Kenneth Leon

Justice, Law and Society

Kenneth Sebastian Leon is a PhD student in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology with a dual emphasis in sociolegal studies and criminology. His primary areas of interest include legal philosophy, drug & alcohol policy, social constructions of deviance, classical sociological theory, crimes of the elite, and research design.<br />
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Ken has published in the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, and has forthcoming articles on a variety of topics, including:  assessing the applicability of criminological theory in understanding non-prescribed stimulant use among middle and high-school students, examining the effects of local legal culture on federal death penalty decisions, and the evolution of substance use and sexual violence references in popular music across four decades.<br />
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Ken maintains an active affiliation with the AU Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, in which he anchors his most recent grant-funded project. During the summer of 2015, Ken conducted an assessment of the community-policing and hot-spots policing models of the Colombian National Police in two major Colombian cities, and has forthcoming articles stemming from this fieldwork.<br />
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Prior to joining the doctoral program, he earned his M.A. in Criminology at George Washington University, where he received a Graduate Award for Excellence in Research and Writing. Previously, he interned with the Florida Parole Commission, assisting with the restoration of civil rights through his work with the Office of Executive Clemency.<br />
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Ken serves as an adviser to student organizations at Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University. As a native of Colombia, he intends to engage in applied research that can ultimately improve criminal justice indicators and living conditions in his home country and beyond.

Degrees

M.A. Criminology, George Washington University<br />
B.S. Criminology, <i>Magna Cum Laude</i>, Florida State University

Contact Info

Send email to Kenneth Leon