Karen Parhar
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Research Interests
- Karen has been involved in a variety of applied research projects involving correctional treatment programs, housing and even health. Her main area of research is crime desistance. She is currently studying how motivation and social factors work together to help ex-offenders desist from crime in a project that was funded by the Douglas College Research and Scholarly Activity Project Fund and the Kwantlen Katalyst Grant Program.
Other Scholars in Psychology
Other Scholars in Humanities and Social Sciences
Academic Introduction
Education and Credentials
Ph.D., Applied Social Psychology (Forensic), University of Saskatchewan
M.A., Applied Social Psychology (Forensic), University of Saskatchewan
B.A., Psychology (Honours), University of British Columbia
Academic and Professional Profile
Born and raised on Vancouver’s North shore, Karen knew her calling was in forensic psychology after taking an introductory psychology course at UBC. After volunteering in the forensic psychology lab at UBC and completing her honours degree, Karen braved Saskatoon’s winters while completing her M.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology (Forensic concentration) at the University of Saskatchewan. Karen worked as a Senior Research and Evaluation Analyst for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services for the Government of Ontario before returning to her hometown of Vancouver and joining the Psychology faculty in 2012. Karen was also involved in producing the documentaries “100 Days of Freedom” (2006), which followed three federal offenders after being released from incarceration, and “Stolen Sisters” (2007), which profiled missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Recent Citations for Karen Parhar
- Risk factors for homelessness among recently released offenders
- Evaluation of the predictive validity of the Violence Risk Scale in a paroled offender sample: a seven-year prospective study
- Offender coercion in treatment: a meta-analysis of effectiveness
- Suicide ideation in different generations of immigrants
