Devon Polaschek

Devon Polaschek
MNZM
Polaschek in 2019
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington
Scientific career
Fieldspsychology of sexual offenders
InstitutionsVictoria University of Wellington, University of Waikato
Thesis

Devon Leigh Logan Polaschek MNZM is a New Zealand professor of psychology and of Crime Science at the University of Waikato in New Zealand who studies high-risk violent offenders in prisons and on parole.[1]

In 2011, she spoke at the University of Otago about recidivism and about the myth that offenders cannot be treated. She also said that psychopaths who had many previous convictions became worse after poorly implemented treatment.[2] However, in 2014 she published an article dispelling the myths about psychopathy and argues that they can be successfully treated using the same methods that are used in the treatment of high risk, high need, and high responsivity offenders.[3] Currently she continues her research at the Violence Prevention Unit Te Whare Manaakitanga, in Wellington's Rimutaka Prison.[1] Having previously been with Victoria University of Wellington, she moved to the University of Waikato in December 2016 and gave her inaugural lecture on 30 May 2017.[4]

In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Polaschek was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to criminal psychology.[5]

  1. ^ a b "A question of violence". Stuff. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  2. ^ Elspeth McLean (21 November 2011). "'Quackery' does not reduce recidivism: prof". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  3. ^ Polaschek, Devon (2014). "Adult Criminals With Psychopathy: Common Beliefs About Treatability and Change Have Little Empirical Support". Current Directions in Psychological Science. 23 (4): 296–301. doi:10.1177/0963721414535211. S2CID 145742982.
  4. ^ "Mean, misunderstood, and mistreated: Psychopathy in the wild and in prison". University of Waikato. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2019". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.