Dr. Timothy O. Ireland

Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences; Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Email:

toi@niagara.edu

Phone:

716.286.8098

CV:

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Bio

Dr. Ireland has been teaching at Niagara University in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice since 1996 and has been chair of the Department since 2002. Presently, the Criminal Justice Department is one of the largest majors on campus.

In the fall semester, Dr. Ireland typically teaches Introduction to Criminal Justice (CRJ 201) to majors, minors and those in the Academic Exploration Program. In the spring, he usually teaches Criminology (CRJ 210), which focuses on the causes of criminal behavior. In the graduate curriculum, Dr. Ireland teaches Theories of Crime (CRJ 555) along with other graduate courses including a special topic course on Juvenile Justice Administration. Dr. Ireland feels very fortunate to be part of an impressive learning community at Niagara University. The faculty in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice are outstanding teachers and impressive scholars and the broader academic culture at Niagara University is indeed impressive.

Dr. Ireland is very proud of Niagara University’s Criminology and Criminal Justice program. In his time at Niagara, he has seen several graduates continue on to develop wonderful careers in the field of criminal justice and related disciplines. For example, in recent years, criminal justice graduates (both undergraduate and graduate students) have gained employment in federal agencies including the DEA, the FBI, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and Federal Probation, as well as with the Capitol Police. Graduate students are also successfully working in state agencies like the State Police, and the NYS Division of Parole. A number of the master’s students are working full time in higher education after completing careers in law enforcement, and many of our alumni have gone on to law school or graduate school. Finally, he sees alumni working in a number of municipal agencies including the Niagara Falls Police Department, the Rochester Police Department, the Buffalo Police Department, the Syracuse Police Department and county-level probation and county Sheriff’s Departments across the state.

Current Research

Dr. Ireland’s research interests are diverse. For a number of years, he has been affiliated with a longitudinal research project (The Rochester Youth Development Study), which has allowed him to explore the causes and consequences of exposure to family violence. He recently finished work as a co-principle investigator on a National Institute of Drug Abuse grant.

Currently he is a research associate on a Center for Disease Control and Prevention grant working to understand the causes of family violence across generations. He also has an interest in environmental justice, which examines the relationship between measures of concentrated poverty, race and exposure to environment risk. He has a long-standing interest in a specific criminology theory – strain theory – which was the focus of his dissertation. He also has an interest in and around public housing, and how stressors and strains generate crime. He and Dr. Rivera are involved in an evaluation project of a HOPE VI project in the City of Niagara Falls. HOPE VI is a federal program designed to reconceptualize and rebuild public housing. Finally, he was awarded a state grant from the Developmental Disability Planning Council to design and implement disability awareness training for all First Responders in New York State.

Some of his recent research has been published in Critical Issues in Justice and Politics, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Journal of Adolescent Health, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Child Abuse and Neglect, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Criminology. These publications are co-authored with colleagues from University at Albany, University of Maryland, and Brigham Young University, as well as with Niagara University colleagues.  

Educational Background

• B.S., English Literature, St. Bonaventure University (1985)
• M.S., Criminal Justice, Northeastern University (1987)
• Ph.D., Criminal Justice, University at Albany (1996)