SFU Criminology welcomes criminal groups’ dynamics expert Marie Ouellet

SFU Criminology is excited to welcome criminal groups’ dynamics expert, Marie Ouellet, to our talented faculty team as an assistant professor.

Ouellet's research utilizes network science to explore how relationships and interactions influence criminal behaviour, mobility, and group evolution. She is currently leading a longitudinal study on police networks that aims to understand how officers form social relationships, and the impact of these networks on police behaviour, particularly in relation to misconduct and weapon use. Her work on these topics has received over one million dollars in support from the National Science Foundation's Early CAREER Award, the National Collaborative of Gun Violence Research, and the US Department of Homeland Security.

What made you choose Simon Fraser University?

SFU carries personal and professional significance for me. It is where I first developed many of my research ideas having completed a PhD in SFU’s School of Criminology in 2016. Professionally, SFU offers the opportunity to further integrate data science techniques with many of the School of Criminology’s established research clusters on policing, group dynamics, and cybercrime.

What is the most important issue that your research addresses, and why is it important to you in particular?

The key issue my research addresses is how networks shape the spread of criminal behaviour. Whether it’s police misconduct or cybercrime, my research suggests that how people are connected impacts who commits crimes, and how those crimes are committed. This is important to me as traditionally many criminologists focused on the personality traits or characteristics of individuals involved in crime, such as gender, education, or temperament. Whereas others sought to explain criminal behaviour by focusing on larger institutions and community structures. A network approach offers a middle ground across micro and macro perspectives by focusing on the relationships and interactions that connect individuals within these larger social structures. Network analysis offers concrete assessments of how individuals are linked, revealing the social worlds in which we are embedded.

What developments in your research or teaching are you most excited about?

I have recently compiled a longitudinal dataset on police officers’ professional social relationships – the colleagues, friends, and mentors with whom officers interact - across various large and small departments. A unique feature of our data collection effort is that we invited every officer in the department to participate in the study, which enables us to examine how officers are linked throughout the entire department. The data reveals the social worlds of officers, highlighting how officers build and maintain relationships, and the consequences of these relationships on the diffusion of officers’ behaviours and attitudes. Perhaps, most excitingly, the data allows us to design network interventions, including assignment protocols that aim to increase retention and curb police abuses, such as misconduct and the use of force.

What are you most looking forward to in your work at SFU and in the School of Criminology?

I am most looking forward to developing partnerships and working with community stakeholders in the area of policing and crime. Having roots in British Columbia, I look forward to applying my research in practical ways to assist practitioners and support criminal justice institutions. I hope to find ways to build partnerships that integrate the use of network methods to better tackle pressing issues, such as cybercrime, police misconduct, and violence more broadly.

What are your hobbies?

Tennis, kayaking, and exploring new areas of the city with my two kids.