WELCOME!

My name is Steve Taylor.

I am currently an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at St. Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois.

My teaching specializations are sexual violence against women, victimology, crime and the media, corrections, and criminological theory, with additional research expertise in the criminal justice and societal response to intimate partner sexual assault.

My recent research has focused on investigative outcomes of cases of intimate partner sexual assault (IPSA) from police incident data from a large Midwestern city. Findings generally indicated that investigative outcomes of IPSA cases were influenced by a number of factors including those related to focal concerns theory, elements of convictability and the specific type of intimate relationship between suspect and victim. One article from these data, “Exceptional Cases: An Evaluation of Intimate Partner Sexual Assault Cases Cleared by Exceptional Means,” was published in the Journal of Crime and Justice (December 2021). Another article from these data, “Unfounding the Ideal Victim: Does Christie’s ideal victim explain police response to intimate partner sexual assault,” was published in Violence and Victims (April 2022).

My next large research endeavor involves analysis of sexual assault in feature films, specifically evaluating whether intimate partner sexual assault is being represented accurately. Supported by an internal research grant, I have been collecting and analyzing data from approximately 100 films selected specifically for their representations of sexual violence. From these data, I presented two individual papers, “Intimate Partner Sexual Assault on Film: A Qualitative Analysis of Representations of Sexual Violence” and “Reel Rape: A Content Analysis of Sexual Violence on Film,” at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology in November of 2021, as well as “Conceptualizing Consent: Viewer interpretations of sexual violence, 1971 - 2020” at the 2022 annual meeting.

Formerly, I was employed in the field of Probation and Court Services for nearly a decade, working in both the juvenile and adult divisions. I believe the knowledge and expertise gained from my Probation experience leaves me better prepared to teach prospective members of the criminal justice system. I am able to connect the classroom information to the practical application through my lived experiences.