Max Osborn (he/him, they/them) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Villanova University. He holds a PhD in Criminal Justice from the CUNY Graduate Center and John Jay College of Criminal Justice, as well as a master’s degree in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College and a BA in Liberal Arts from Bennington College. Max’s work has been published in journals including Feminist Criminology, Violence Against Women, Psychological Medicine, and Trauma, Violence & Abuse.
His dissertation project consisted of a qualitative interview study examining police contact and help-seeking experiences among LGBTQIA+ individuals. They conducted interviews with two participant groups — LGBTQIA+ people and service providers serving LGBTQIA+ client populations — about identity, presentation, institutional harm, and access to support services.
Max held a Graduate Center Summer Fellowship at the Vera Institute of Justice in the summer of 2018, where he helped prepare for a nationwide survey on the use of restrictive housing in jail facilities. He also served as a Tow Policy Advocacy Fellow at College and Community Fellowship, where he worked with the Education from the Inside Out Coalition, coordinating with community stakeholders and meeting with federal and New York State legislators to advocate for increased access to higher education for currently and formerly incarcerated people.
As an educator, Max has taught research methods and criminological theory courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He strives to create an engaging, inclusive classroom environment that centers the research, work, and experiences of systemically excluded and underrepresented scholars and community members.
Other previous work includes online crisis counseling for survivors of sexual assault, assisting at a transitional housing program for system-involved women with children, and volunteering with the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP), which provides support and resources to LGBTQ and HIV-affected survivors of violence.
Max Osborn 