Monic Behnken

I completed a joint J.D./Ph.D. program in Psychology and the Law in 2008. I hold a J.D. from Golden Gate University and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Pacific Graduate School of Psychology. I am currently licensed as an attorney in California and Iowa. I serve as a tenured associate professor in the department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Iowa State University. My research focuses on mentally disordered offenders, alternative adjudication methods - particularly mental health courts, and racial/ethnic disparities within complex systems. My work has been peer reviewed and published in several academic journals and presented to national audiences at academic conferences. I have been selected to serve as a national topic chair twice at my discipline's annual meetings on topics focused on juvenile justice and problem solving courts. I have also worked with a variety of state agencies on complex issues of systematic disparities and designing, implementing, and assessing alternative adjudication methods. I have also received competitive national grants to further my research. Additionally, I was elected by my community to serve on our school board. During that term I worked with other board members and district officials to evaluate the School Resource Officer Program in our community. I also serve as an Associate Dean focused on student success issues for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences where part of my job is being informed about DEI-related issues in education.