SFU Criminology welcomes new faculty member

We are thrilled to announce that assistant professor Amanda Butler has joined our talented faculty team at the School of Criminology this term.

Butler holds a criminology MA and a PhD in health sciences, both from Simon Fraser University. She is a mixed-methods researcher with extensive experience in using linked administrative health and justice data for population-level research. Her areas of specialization include mental health, substance use, drug policy, forensic systems, correctional policy and programming, prisons/jails, and epidemiology.

Learn more about professor Butler below.

WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY?

I am originally from St. Thomas, Ontario, and I moved to Vancouver specifically for the criminology program which has an excellent national reputation. I started my MA in criminology at SFU in 2011.  After completing the program, I worked at the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMHA) for nearly 3 years before starting a PhD in health sciences at SFU in 2016. Before my faculty position, I had already spent over 10 years at SFU as a student or employee. I loved my time at SFU as a student – I received world-class training, education, mentorship, and fantastic opportunities for personal and professional growth. I was thrilled to return to SFU as a faculty member – to a place that already felt like home!

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE THAT YOUR RESEARCH WORK ADDRESSES? AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU IN PARTICULAR?

I think what unites my work is an overarching focus on improving the health and lives of people who experience intersecting forms of social exclusion and looking critically at the systems that create and perpetuate harm. When we look at people who cycle in and out of correctional systems, for example, what we see is that very often, those people have been failed by many other systems (family, health, social, education, employment) along the way. The social determinants of health and the social determinants of crime overlap considerably. This is why interdisciplinary research and policy approaches are so important.

In terms of why these issues are important to me in particular… I grew up in a working-class family and I was the first person in my family to attend university. I had some friends and family members who experienced extreme hardship as children and young adults, eventually becoming involved in crime. I wanted to understand crime and its relationship to poverty, trauma, and other social determinants of health and to conduct research that might help tackle systems-level challenges.

WHAT ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL VALUES OF YOUR RESEARCH?

I am committed to equity-oriented and social justice scholarship. Wherever possible, I take a strengths-based approach to my work and promote reciprocity and mutual learning with collaborators and knowledge users. SFU has a strong focus on community engagement and community impact which is aligned with my goals and values as a scholar.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN WORKING AT SFU AND ALSO IN THE SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY?

I look forward to continuing my work with brilliant colleagues, and to making new connections both within the School of Criminology and other departments. I hope to build strong collaborations between the School of Criminology and the Faculty of Health Sciences (conveniently located in the same building!). I am excited to learn more about knowledge dissemination and mobilization – SFU has many experts to learn from!

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?

I enjoy taking my dog for long forest walks, doing yoga, paddle boarding, and I am currently trying to learn how to make sourdough bread (it’s not going well… being a baker won’t be my fallback if academia doesn’t work out).