Victim Researcher Profile

BIO

Lucia Summers is an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Texas State University. As part of her PhD research (University College London, 2012), she examined the situational differences between indoor and outdoor serious violence using homicide and attempted murder data from the Metropolitan Police. The correlates of outdoor incidents were then explored, with an emphasis on establishing whether more accessible areas had higher crime rates. Prior to joining Texas State University in 2012, Dr. Summers worked as a research assistant/fellow at the UCL Jill Dando Institute (2003-2011), where she took part in various projects relating to repeat and near-repeat victimization, the geographic, temporal, and spatio-temporal patterns of crime, situational crime prevention, and situational offender decision-making. By understanding how offenders choose their targets and how certain individuals/households/areas/etc. are disproportionally affected by crime, we can determine how to allocate resources most efficiently and develop prevention efforts. MORE INFORMATION https://faculty.txstate.edu/profile/1921059 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS Summers, L., & Rossmo, D. K. (2019). Offender interviews: Implications for intelligence-led policing. Policing: An International Journal, 42(1), 31–42. Mletzko, D., Summers, L., & Arnio, A. N. (2018). Spatial patterns of urban sex trafficking. Journal of Criminal Justice, 58, 87–96. Summers, L., & Johnson, S. D. (2017). Does the configuration of the street network influence where outdoor serious violence takes place? Using space syntax to test crime pattern theory. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 33(2), 397–420. Bowers, K. J., Johnson, S. D., Guerette, R. T., Summers, L., & Poynton, S. (2011). Spatial displacement and diffusion of benefits among geographically focused policing initiatives: a meta-analytical review. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 7(4), 347–374. Summers, L. (2010). Virtual repeats and near repeats. In B. S. Fisher & S. P. Lab (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of Victimology and Crime Prevention (pp. 1044–1049). London: Sage.

VICTIMIZATION FOCUS

Burglary, Domestic and Family Violence, Drug-Related Victimization, Gun Violence, Physical Assault (other than domestic violence or elder abuse), Robbery, Sexual Abuse or Violence (other than campus sexual assault), Trafficking in Persons

SPECIAL POPULATIONS

Limited English proficiency victims, Urban high crime neighborhood victims

RESEARCH EXPERTISE

Data collection, Descriptive studies, Needs assessment, Program evaluation, Qualitative studies, Quantitative studies, Quasi-experimental studies, Randomized controlled trial, Training and/or technical assistance

VICTIM RESEARCH EXPERIENCE