Cheryl L. Johnson, PhD

Cheryl examines why juveniles carry weapons, especially within schools. Specifically, she looks at how low self-control, anxiety, depression, fear of crime, and personality traits impact weapon carrying behavior and use. Read her publications.

Dr. Johnson teaches undergraduate courses like Criminal Profiling and Quantitative Methods. Students love her assignments that allow for creative experimentation with mediums beyond traditional papers such as art projects, songwriting, and making a podcast. In Criminology, students explore new concepts by creating a meme for each theory, gathered into a collaborative notebook they can reference to again and again. Dr. Johnson cares that her students understand how to apply concepts over traditional grading. She loves providing experiential opportunities for students to present, meet professionals for career exploration, and network with researchers at the annual American Criminal Justice Society conference. She helps students overcome obstacles toward achieving their own vision of success. View teaching.

Her new research interest is third culture. As a Peruvian-American adoptee, she knows how hard it is to figure out where you fit being born into one culture and raised in another. Cheryl is open to speaking engagements about third culture, firearms, and mental health.

She has a PhD in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati. Her dissertation was a gendered analysis of personality, psychological difficulties, and student weapon carrying. She has a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from Radford University where she was a McConnell Scholar. Her thesis focused on the effects of firearm sales on gun deaths. She graduated cum laude from Elon University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with minors in Criminal Justice and Psychology.

Cheryl lives in upstate New York with her husband, cats, and dogs. She loves music. She plays oboe in the Hartwick Wind Ensemble, Oneonta Community Concert Band, and Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble.