Rate My Professor Courtney Porter

Dr. Courtney Porter serves as Assistant Professor and Program Director for the Forensic and Legal Psychology program in Marymount University's School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. in Criminology, Law, and Society from George Mason University, where her dissertation titled “Gatekeepers of the Juvenile Justice System: Intake Officers, Decision-Making, and Racial Disparities” investigated diversion decision-making practices among intake officers in Virginia. Dr. Porter also earned her M.A. in Forensic and Legal Psychology from Marymount University. Prior to her current role, she worked as Research Program Manager for Fairfax County’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

Dr. Porter’s teaching portfolio includes Research Methods, Juvenile Justice, Implementing Policy, Statistics, and Forensic Assessment. Her research specializes in juvenile justice, organizational theory, decision-making processes, racial and ethnic disparities, criminal and juvenile justice systems, victimization, and organizational development. She partners with local agencies to implement and evaluate policies and practices, with recent emphases on assessment tools in criminal justice, interpersonal violence, coercive control, cult behavior, and student professional development. Notable contributions include annual workshops at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Doctoral Summit on practitioner communication and job market navigation. In 2023-24, Dr. Porter was part of a team awarded a $200,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice to research professional development needs of criminal justice graduate students, funding conference presentations through 2026. Her scholarly work includes “Build to Sustain: Collaborative Partnerships between University Researchers and Criminal Justice Practitioners” (2014, Criminal Justice Studies), “Using Quality Improvement Models in Correctional Organizations” (2013, Federal Probation), “Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Doctoral Student Summit: A Model of Professional Development” (2023, Journal of Criminal Justice Education), and “Professional Development Support and Needs of Doctoral Students” (2024, Journal of Criminal Justice Education).