alissa r. ackerman, PhD

Dr. Alissa Ackerman is an Associate Professor in the Division of Politics, Administration and Justice at California State University, Fullerton and co-founder of Ampersands Restorative Justice. She has dedicated her career to studying sex crimes policy and practice, the etiology of sexual offending, the effects of sexual victimization, and restorative justice options for those impacted by sexual harm.  She is a “survivor scholar”, in that she integrates her personal experience with sexual violence with her professional expertise as a sex crimes researcher. She facilitates restorative justice cases and trains future restorative justice practitioners and has worked with over 500 people who have perpetrated acts of sexual harm. She has written extensively on topics related to sexual violence in blogs and magazine articles and has published over 35 peer-reviewed journal articles.  Alissa is the author or editor of seven books and recently served as co-editor on a special edition of the Journal of Sexual Abuse.  Her most recent book, Healing from Sexual Violence: The Case for Vicarious Restorative Justice was published in 2019. Alissa has worked across North America, Australia, and New Zealand.  She has given over fifty national and international talks on her work, including a TED Talk on The Importance of Connection. She co-hosts the popular podcast, Beyond Fear: The Sex Crimes Podcast.