School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Megan Denver
Co-Director of the Corrections and Reentry Lab; Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Megan Denver’s research interests include criminal record stigma, criminal background checks for employment purposes, and positive credentials as signals of desistance. She uses a variety of methods to address her research questions and integrates theory with policy. She was a recipient of the Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award (American Society of Criminology) and previously worked as a research associate at the Urban Institute.
Read Denver’s faculty spotlight.
- Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award, 2021, American Society of Criminology.
- Outstanding Young Experimental Criminologist Award, 2019, American Society of Criminology, Division of Experimental Criminology.
- University Distinguished Dissertation Award, 2018, University at Albany.
- Denver, Megan, Rod K. Brunson, and Oscar Navarro. OnlineFirst. “It’s a start”: Formerly incarcerated adults’ perceptions of second‐chance employers and policies.Criminology & Public Policy.
- Denver, Megan, Oscar Navarro, and Rod K. Brunson. Early View. Bounded engagement and institutional interdependency: Exploring formerly incarcerated adults’ (non)engagement experiences and perceptions. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.
- Shi, Luzi and Megan Denver. 2025. The Transferal of Criminal Record Stigma in the Employment Context: Evidence from Conjoint and Vignette Experiments. Criminology 63(1): 89-121.
- Denver, Megan, Abby Ballou, and Samuel E. DeWitt. 2024. What’s in a Label? Public Use and Perceptions of Labeling Alternatives in Criminology. Justice Quarterly 41(6): 763–89.
- Denver, Megan and Samuel E. DeWitt. 2023. “[It’s] What You Do After the Mistake that Counts”: Positive Employment Credentials, Criminal Record Stigma, and Potential Pathways of Mediation. Criminology. 61(1): 5-39.
- DeWitt, Samuel E., and Megan Denver. 2020. Criminal Records, Positive Employment Credentials and Race. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency57(3): 333-368.
- Denver, Megan. 2020. Criminal Records, Positive Credentials and Recidivism: Incorporating Evidence of Rehabilitation into Criminal Background Check Employment Decisions. Crime & Delinquency 66(2): 194–218.
- Denver, Megan, Justin T. Pickett, and Shawn D. Bushway. 2017. The Language of Stigmatization and the Mark of Violence: Experimental Evidence on the Social Construction and Use of Criminal Record Stigma. Criminology 55(3): 664-90.
Recent Newsletter Essays
- Denver, Megan. 2025. The Why, What, and How of Conjoint Experiments. Data/Methods Brief, The American Society of Criminology’s Division of Public Opinion and Policy Newsletter. Spring issue: pp. 6-8.
- Bushway, Shawn D. and Megan Denver. 2025. The Myth that Most People Recidivate. The Criminologist. 51(2): 1-7. (March/April Issue)
- “Planning Phase Grant to Examine the Impact of Tablet-Based Educational Programming on Improved Outcomes and Desistance Signals for Incarcerated Individuals.” Arnold Ventures. Principal Investigator. Co-I: Brian Hill from the Edovo Foundation. 2025-2026. ($99,785.)
- “Navigating Mainstream Institutions and Non-Traditional Alternatives Post-Incarceration.” National Science Foundation. Principal Investigator. Co-PI: Rod Brunson. 2021–2023. ($297,178.)
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Education
PhD, Criminal Justice, University at Albany
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