Rate My Professor Kirsten Besemer

Dr. Kirsten Besemer is a Senior Lecturer at the Griffith Criminology Institute and in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University, part of the Arts, Education and Law Group. She obtained her PhD from the University of Liverpool in 2012 and a Master of Science in 2005. Her career includes a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship on the Vulnerable Families project at Griffith University, investigating mechanisms of parental incarceration's impact on children. Earlier, she served as a research associate at the University of Stirling. Besemer's research specializations encompass the effects of incarceration on families, poverty, social exclusion, physical health, social networks, and community wellbeing. Her studies address intergenerational consequences of imprisonment, maternal parenting stress, mother-child relationships under prison stress, and social support disruptions caused by family member incarceration.

Besemer has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including 'Family member incarceration and physical health problems: A longitudinal study among older adults' (2021, with S.G.A. van de Weijer and S. Dennison), 'Maternal Mediation in the Context of Fathers' Incarceration and Children's Contact with Incarcerated Fathers' (2020, with J.A. Arditti and others), 'Social exclusion in families affected by paternal imprisonment' (2018, Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, with S.M. Dennison), 'Risk Marker or Risk Mechanism? The Effect of Family, Household, and Parental Imprisonment on Children and Adults' Social Support and Contacts' (2018), 'Family imprisonment, maternal parenting stress and its impact on mother-child relations' (2018), and 'Social networks, social capital and poverty: Panacea or placebo?' (2015, Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, with P. Matthews). As Chief Investigator, she secured an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP220100079, 2022, $254,256) with Professor Susanne Karstedt to explore benefits of reduced imprisonment rates for Australian communities. Besemer is Co-Director of the PhD and MPhil programs in her school, supervises higher degree research students, and teaches courses in criminology and criminal justice, including honours programs.