Shelley Brown
Professor
- Ph.D.
- Email Shelley Brown
Biography
Shelley Brown is a Professor of Forensic Psychology within the Department of Psychology, Carleton University. She is also an associate graduate faculty member with the Centre of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. She has been an inaugural member of the Forensic Psychology Research Centre (FPRC) since 2008 and served as Director of the FPRC from 2010 to 2012. Shelley also chaired the Psychology Department’s research ethics board from 2012 to 2014 as well as the University wide research ethics board from 2015 to 2017.
Shelley obtained her Ph.D. in 2002 from Queens University in forensic psychology. Shelley’s dissertation examined the dynamic re-assessment of risk and need factors among men on parole. Following a 10-year research career with the Correctional Service of Canada, she joined Carleton University in 2006. Since arriving at Carleton, Shelley’s program of research has shifted focus.
Shelley’s program of research now aims to improve gender responsive services for girls and women in the criminal justice system. She has published over 50 articles, government reports, book chapters and books about criminal behaviour in general, as well as works specific to justice-involved girls and women. Her work has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Public Safety, and Correctional Service of Canada. Shelley also teaches and supervises students at the undergraduate and graduate level. Shelley has also received teaching, research achievement, and student mentoring awards.
Research Interests
Shelley’s current program of research is dedicated to understanding female offending using integrated approaches. These approaches incorporate quantitative and qualitative methods as well as gender neutral and female-specific theories of crime. Currently, I am involved in 3 inter-related streams of research: (1) examining the reliability and validity of existing psychologically-based assessment tools that are commonly used to assess female offender risk and need areas but for which little female-specific research exists, (2) developing new models of female criminal behavior using integrated theoretical and methodological approaches, and (3) developing new assessment tools for youthful females that are grounded in theory and research.
Selected Publications
Brown, S. L., Coady, M. N., & Huppe, E. G. (2024). What works with women in custodial settings. In L. A. Craig, L. Dixon & T.A. Gannon (Eds), The Wiley Handbook of what works in correctional rehabilitation: An evidence-based approach to theory, assessment and treatment (2nd ed, 287-314). Wiley.
Brown, S. L., & Miller, M. J. A. (2023). Correctional assessment, mental health, and treatment: Towards successful reintegration. In J. Barker & D. Scharie Tavcer (Eds.), Women and the Criminal Justice System: A Canadian Perspective (3rd Ed). Emond Publishing.
Brown, S. L., Coady E. M., & Bhutta, M. H. (2025). Introducing the Probation Service Assessment Planner-25 (PSAP-25) for women on probation in Punjab, Pakistan: Development and pilot results. Advancing Corrections Journal: Journal of the International Corrections and Prisons Association What Is Working with Women: Correctional Practice in the Post Bangkok Rules Era? 18, 95-115.
Coady, E. M., Brown, S. L., & Bhutta, M. H. (2025). Globalizing assessment frameworks: Centring gender and culture in assessment for women on probation in Pakistan. European Journal of Probation, 17(1), 52-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/20662203251329685
Belyea, L., Brown, S. L., & Van Dieten, M. (2024). Using latent class analysis to identify need typologies and recidivism likelihood among women who perpetrate violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241246008