Stephany Betances
Doctoral Student, Clinical Psychology
Stephany Betances is a doctoral student at The Graduate Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She aspires to become a visionary researcher, advocate, and expert in juvenile justice reform.
At John Jay, Stephany collaborates on multiple research projects, participates in Dr. Emily Haney-Caron’s Youth Law and Psychology Lab, and works as a Doctoral Psychology Extern in the Bronx TASC Mental Health Court Program. She is also a part-time college assistant to the Director of the BA/MA Forensic Psychology Program.
Stephany’s research focuses on educating stakeholders and community leaders on cultivating developmentally appropriate opportunities and solutions for justice-involved youth and advocating for policy changes to enhance their legal rights. Her work involves a systematic case law review of the validity of youth Miranda waivers, examining the admissibility of youth confessions, and exploring attorneys’ training and supervision experiences in youth defense.
Zoe Colclough
Forensics Psychology Master’s Student
Zoe Colclough is a Forensic Psychology Master’s student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Eight years ago, Zoe was a promising squash player with athletic aspirations; however, after being diagnosed with cancer that inhibited her athletic pursuits, she had to reimagine her goals and discovered a passion for forensic psychology.
At John Jay, Zoe has had the opportunity to volunteer as a Teaching Assistant, collaborate on a research project as part of the Social Justice Laboratory run by Dr. Mark Fondacaro, and begin pursuing both a thesis and a non-clinical externship. In addition to her position at the Social Justice Laboratory, she has also served as a research assistant at the Acquired Brain Injury Research Lab at the University of Toronto. Both roles have enabled her to gain comprehensive research experience across various topics, including the effects of restorative justice practices on recidivism, brain injuries within the criminal legal system, and clinical practice guidelines for justice-involved individuals. She is currently completing her thesis on the diagnostic performance of Artificial Intelligence, with an emphasis on the biasing effects of patient demographics in evaluations of personality disorders and psychopathy. Eventually, Zoe aspires to earn a doctoral degree in clinical psychology so that she can practice psychology and conduct research to support vulnerable populations who intersect with the criminal legal system.
2024 Recipient
Tirza Ben Ari
Doctoral Student, Psychology & Law
Tirza Ben Ari is a doctoral student at The Graduate Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Her passion for improving the justice system and work as a case analyst/trial preparation assistant at the Queens District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) during her post-MA OPT has led her to her Ph.D. program, researching topics such as false confessions and police interrogation techniques, plea bargains, and psychology-related misconceptions within the justice system.
Tirza aims to contribute meaningfully to promoting conviction integrity as a scholar and an advocate for justice reform.
2024 Recipient
Agnieszka Nogalska
Forensics Psychology Master’s Student
Agnieszka Nogalska is a Forensic Psychology Master’s student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Her research aims to examine risk assessment through the lens of intervention and rehabilitation. At John Jay, she completed a non-clinical externship at the Brain Health Lab, worked as a teaching assistant, and volunteered for the Restorative Justice Project. Agnieszka successfully defended her thesis in December of 2023, which examined the psychometric properties of a widely used risk assessment measure for recidivism.
Agnieszka is pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology and a career as a forensic psychologist.
2023 Recipient
Sydney Baker
Doctoral Candidate, Clinical Psychology
Sydney Baker is a fifth-year Clinical Psychology doctoral candidate at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Her research aims to understand how juvenile justice system procedures, such as interrogation and plea bargaining, can be improved to accurately reflect adolescent development. Sydney works in the Youth Law & Psychology Lab at John Jay, where she conducts translational research that has direct implications for public policy reform.
2023 Recipient
Phoebe Kane
Forensics Psychology Master’s Student
Phoebe is a Forensic Psychology Master’s student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and will receive their degree in Spring 2023. Phoebe’s thesis project is an archival exploration of arrays used in previous eyewitness research studies to evaluate lineup bias in laboratory experiments. As a Graduate Research Assistant, Phoebe’s main studies of focus explore plea bargaining and confessions and lineup fairness within eyewitness identification research.