About Samantha Manuel
My name is Samantha Manuel, and I am a second year PhD student in the Criminology program here at UT Dallas. I hope to help close the gap in research regarding the effects of child maltreatment on juvenile delinquency and adult criminality, and most importantly, help find potential methods to mitigate and prevent these outcomes. I recently presented my thesis, “‘I’m Still Here, I’m Still Alive’: Resilience Among Survivors of Child Maltreatment”. I presented my thesis at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences 59th Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 19th, 2022. This thesis illustrated how child abuse affects one’s ability to resist criminality and deviance in later adulthood. This study intended to provide a better understanding on an individual level as to why victims of childhood maltreatment choose to promote resilience and quality of life instead of criminal or antisocial behavior. By continuing with a PhD, I hope to further increase the criminological field’s understanding of why some individuals do not become criminal, and go against what is expected of them.
My academic interests tend to focus on juvenile delinquency and related topics. My personal belief is that the youth of society are the future, and it is imperative that scholars and policy makers alike emphasize the support and scaffolding of young community members. Once I earn my PhD, I hope to become a professor. In this position, I can help teach others the importance of research and policy development. Through my continued education here at UT Dallas, I hope to gain the skills and tools I need to become a better teacher and role model for my students. I aim to inspire the youth of these communities to dream big and to become productive members of society. In addition to teaching, professors are also expected to lead research studies. I hope to use my position to help further criminological research by applying theory to policy. In this way, I will be able to best use my position to advocate for programs and initiatives that can help improve our communities.
In future research, I would like to continue to investigate the causes and effects of juvenile delinquency, specifically in relation to childhood maltreatment. Furthermore, I intend to expand the recently developed concept of resiliency, which is of particular interest to me. It is inspiring to me that individuals who researchers have predicted to be deviant and criminal defy what is expected of them, and ultimately become dynamic and impactful members within their community. I also hope to close the research gap on child maltreatment, resiliency, and mental health related to minority populations, especially Asian Americans. As a future researcher, I would like to empirically assess potential policies that may positively influence these populations of individuals, and help them reduce recidivism in the long run. By obtaining my PhD degree here at UT Dallas, I will better equip myself with a vast background knowledge in my field, while also fine-tuning my teaching abilities. In this way, I hope to have as much positive influence as possible on scholars to come.