Rate My Professor Karol Lucken

Dr. Karol Lucken is an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Central Florida's College of Community Innovation and Education, within the social science field. She earned her Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Criminology from Florida State University. Her professional experience includes serving as a probation officer in the Community Corrections Division of Orange County Corrections in Orlando, Florida, an intern analyst/researcher for the Florida House of Representatives House Corrections Committee, and an instructor at Florida State University's College of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Lucken's research focuses on the history, philosophy, and practice of punishment, penal policy, offender reentry, collateral sanctions and employment barriers for ex-offenders, resilience among those with felony records, and victimology including judicial decision-making in civil protection orders. Her scholarship examines punishment in America, its historical foundations, contemporary forms, and evolving justifications. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals such as Criminology & Public Policy, Crime & Delinquency, The British Journal of Criminology, Journal of Crime & Justice, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Criminal Justice & Behavior. Key books include Rethinking Punishment: Challenging Conventions in Research and Policy (Routledge, 2017), American Penology: A History of Control, 2nd Edition (with T.G. Blomberg, Transaction Publishers, 2010), and American Penology (with T.G. Blomberg, Aldine de Gruyter, 2000). She also edited Crime Victimization: Patterns, Impact & System Response (Cognella Academic Publishing, 2019) and contributed chapters such as "History of parole and probation" in the Handbook of Issues in Criminal Justice Reform (Springer, 2022). Recent articles feature "The resilience factor: Levels and sources of an attribute for men with a felony or prison record" (Criminal Justice & Behavior, 2025, with J. Brancale), "Got resilience? The role of an attribute in the employment of justice involved persons" (Crime & Delinquency, 2024, with J. Brancale), "Getting down to work: The employment attitudes of persons with a felony conviction and their behavioral implications" (Journal of Crime & Justice, 2023), "Still asking 'What Works?': A punishment question for the ages or an aging punishment question?" (Histories, 2021), and "Game changer? The impact of the reentry movement on post-prison supervision" (Criminal Justice Policy Review, 2020).