Mary Looman’s career in criminal justice and her work with marginalized citizens spans four decades, beginning in the mid-1970s. She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and a master’s degree in Justice Administration. She has taught at the university level as an adjunct professor for nearly 15 years and has been a sought-after presenter on a variety of topics including a developmental model of criminality, parental competency, and the alpha behaviors of self-efficacy. After nearly 10 years working for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Dr. Looman has recently retired from full-time work to spend more time writing books on criminal justice reform and psychological wellness.
Dr. Looman has published research in numerous areas, including criminal justice reform, leadership, and self-efficacy behaviors. Her dissertation regarding the impact of relationship synergy on goal outcomes earned the Mathilda B. Canter Award for excellence in research from the American Psychological Association. In 2016, a book she co-authored with Dr. John Carl, A Country Called Prison: Mass Incarceration and the Making of a New Nation (Oxford University Press, 2015), earned the CHOICE Award for Outstanding Academic Title from the Association of College and Research Libraries, American Library Association.
Learn more about Professor Looman in her Faculty Spotlight.