Cameron Burke

Biography

Assistant Professor of Criminology Cameron Burke ’17 is an expert on restorative justice, with a focus on the implementation of restorative justice in the context of campus sexual harm. His research interests also focus on formal and informal reactions to crime and deviance, including prosecutorial and judicial discretion as well as punitive attitudes.

Burke has conducted research for both his master’s thesis and Ph.D. dissertation on the attitudes of campus stakeholders regarding responses to campus sexual harm. His thesis focused on organizational readiness for restorative justice, identifying philosophical and practical considerations for implementing restorative practices to address campus sexual harm. A paper based on this study was published in the Contemporary Justice Review in 2021. His dissertation focused on how campus victim advocates describe effective responses to campus sexual harm. This research identified how campus advocates define concepts such as justice and accountability, highlighting the importance of survivor autonomy and the obligation of colleges and universities to respect this autonomy in the aftermath of campus sexual harm.

In addition to his work on restorative justice, Burke has written articles on other aspects of responses to crime and deviance. He wrote a paper along with coauthor R. R. Dunlea on the prosecution of same-sex IPV cases that was published in 2025 in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. This study examined the effect of the offender-victim gender dyad in prosecutor decision-making at multiple case processing outcomes. He coauthored a paper along with Ryan T. Shields and Kelly M. Socia that was published in 2025 in the journal Sexual Abuse. This paper analyzed public opinions of teenage sexual misconduct cases involving young adult perpetrators, highlighting differences in internet comments based on the gender of the perpetrator. Burke has also assisted in research on campus co-responder teams, peer-mentoring programs for people on probation, prison education, and HIV risk among people who use drugs.

Education

• Ph.D., Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Massachusetts Lowell
• M.A., Criminal Justice, University of Massachusetts Lowell
• B.A., Criminology, Stonehill College