Forensic Psychologist Violence Prevention Research & Practice
Dr. Jillian Peterson is a Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is Executive Director of The Violence Prevenion Project, a nonpartisan research center dedicated to reducing violence in society through accessible research that is geared toward action. She holds a PhD in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of CA, Irvine.
Dr. Peterson was the principal investigator, along with Dr. James Densley, on a three year grant from the National Institute of Justice examining the psychosocial histories of public mass shooters. Her book based on this research, The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic is the winner of the 2022 Minnesota Book Award for nonfiction.
Dr. Peterson is a national speaker, trainer, consultant, and media commentator on issues related to violence prevention, mass shootings and school shootings, mental illness and violence, forensic psychology, and crisis intervention.
Dr. Peterson previously worked as a special investigator for the New York Capital Defenders Office, where she researched life histories of men facing the death penalty in New York City for their sentencing hearings.
