I am a medical sociologist with expertise in mental health and the social institution of the family. I am currently in my seventh year as a faculty member at Westminster College in the Department of Criminal Justice Studies and Sociology. Some of the courses that I teach on a regular basis include:
Introduction to Criminal Justice Studies
Criminology
Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program® (academic content varies by semester)
Medical Sociology
Sociology of Mental Health
Sociology of the Family
Society and the Individual
Sociology of Deviance
Once a year I offer a course through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program®. The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program® is an internationally active education program with a mission to “create opportunities for people inside and outside of prison to have transformative learning experiences that emphasize collaboration and dialogue and that invite them to take leadership in addressing crime, justice, and other issues of social concern” (link to Inside-Out Homepage). Inside-Out courses are unique in that they pair traditional college students with incarcerated students in a learning environment located within a prison setting. Although the academic content varies by semester, the objective of these courses is to facilitate dialogue across difference.
My current research agenda includes investigating the lived experiences of frontline mental health workers working in incarcerated settings. This project is on-going and it provides a wonderful opportunity for faculty-student research collaborations. Prior to this research project, my past research focused on the perceptions of incarcerated students on their experiences taking college courses, as well as investigating the experiences of work-family spillover among registered nurses. This research has resulted in the following publications:
2020 Rhoads, James C., Jamie Chapman, & Susan Ramlo (in press). Using Q methodology in criminal justice studies: Exploring attitudes toward the relationship between mental health and incarceration.Sage Research Methods Cases [online]. London: Sage.
2019 Jamie Chapman and Marci Cottingham. “The Constant Caregiver: Work-FamilySpillover Among Men and Women in Nursing.” Currently in Revise and Resubmit status with Work, Employment & Society.
2018 Jamie Chapman. “How Do Nurses Perceive Role-Taking and Emotional Labor Processesto Influence Work-Family Spillover?” Pp. 243-262 in Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research. Vol. 13, The Work-Family Interface: Spillover, Complications, and Challenges. Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Publishing Limited.
On campus I also serve on the Nursing Advisory Board, the Faculty Development Committee and I am the faculty advisor to SCION, the Sociology and Criminal Justice Studies Interest group.