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Associate Professor Jeffrey Pfeifer

Associate Professor in Psychology

Biography

Jeff Pfeifer received his Ph.D. and M.Leg.St. (Master of Legal Studies) from the University of Nebraska and has been teaching and conducting research in forensic psychology for the past 15 years. In addition to his research on jury decision-making, policing, and corrections, he has also conducted a number of training workshops and program evaluations for security agencies in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Tanzania, Namibia, Zambia, and Russia. He has testified as an expert witness in a number of capital (death penalty) and non-capital cases and his research has been cited by a number of courts including the Supreme Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Research interests

Police psychology; prison psychology; sports psychology; jury selection; jury decision-making; althletes and offending behaviours; eyewitnesses and crime; Indigenous people and the justice system; history of capital punishment in Australia

PhD candidate and honours supervision

Higher degrees by research

Accredited to supervise Masters & Doctoral students as Principal Supervisor.

PhD topics and outlines

Forensic & Social Psychology: Research Interests: Forensic psychology, especially in relation to police, corrections, and juries. Specific areas include eyewitness research, risk assessment, jury selection, fear of crime, evaluation of therapeutic programs for offenders, and psychological aspects of criminal investigations. 

Honours

Available to supervise honours students.

Honours topics and outlines

Honours Supervision: Project areas in which Honours students may undertake research in 2017: Jury Decision-Making Forensic Applications of Cognitive Skills Correctional Psychology  

Fields of Research

  • Applied And Developmental Psychology - 520100
  • Biological Psychology - 520200
  • Clinical And Health Psychology - 520300
  • Cognitive And Computational Psychology - 520400
  • Social And Personality Psychology - 520500

Awards

  • 2017, International, Research Excellence Award, International Corrections & Prisons Association
  • 2011, National, Best Paper Award, Australian Psychological Society - Forensic Psychology Conference
  • 2002, International, Annual Research Award, International Corrections & Prisons Association
  • 1992, International, Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • 1991, International, Doctoral Fellowship, Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • 1988, International, Best Undergraduate Student Paper Award, Contemporary Social Psychology Society (US)

Publications

Also published as: Pfeifer, Jeffrey; Pfeifer, J.; Pfeifer, J. E.; Pfeifer, Jeff; Pfeifer, Jeffrey E.
This publication listing is provided by Swinburne Research Bank. If you are the owner of this profile, you can update your publications using our online form.

Recent research grants awarded

  • 2021: Pilot of wellbeing training for probation officers *; HM Prison and Probation Service Fund Scheme
  • 2019: Hitting the Hay: Developing a sleep hygiene app for rural horse racing industry employees *; Racing Victoria
  • 2016: Evaluation of e-counselling effectiveness in the Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service *; Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service
  • 2015: Evaluation Services - Smoke Free Prisons Project *; Victorian Department of Justice
  • 2014: Aboriginal prisoners with cognitive impairment - Is this the highest risk group? *; Australian Institute of Criminology Research Grants
  • 2013: Responding to Depression and Self-harm in young offenders: Integrating technology-based progams with correctional environments *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2011: Evaluation of ATM removal *; Victorian Department of Justice

* Chief Investigator