Dr. Ken Balusek

Chair

Associate Professor of Criminology

---

Education

• Ph. D. Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, Texas
• Juris Doctor, The Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Michigan
• B.S. Criminal Justice, Texas State University, Texas

Courses Taught

• Introduction to Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Corrections
• Research Methods in Criminal Justice
• Statistics
• Juvenile Delinquency
• Psychopathy
• Sex Crimes: Theory, Practice, and Policy

Research Interests

• Criminological Theory
• Corrections
• Correctional Programming
• Crime Trends
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL)

Curriculum Vitae

Download >>

Biography

Ken Balusek is an Associate Professor of Criminology and the Chair of the Department of Sociology & Criminology. He served as Chair of the Department of Politics, Justice, & Society and Associate Chair of the Department of Psychology, Justice, & Society at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri before joining Arkansas State. A native Texan, Dr. Balusek received his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University. Prior to earning his doctorate in CJ and entering academia, he practiced law for approximately fifteen years. His practice consisted primarily of criminal defense in Federal and state courts. This experience gives him a unique perspective on the Criminal Justice System, and he brings this experience to the classroom to share with his students.

Dr. Balusek’s research and teaching interests include criminology, biosocial criminology, corrections, psychopathy, program evaluation, statistics, and research methodology. His first book, Offender Reentry and Cognitive Intervention: Propensity Score Matching Utility for Outcome Assessment (2014) evaluated the effectiveness of a cognitive intervention program offered to offenders in the Texas prison system. Other publications and presentations involve tests of criminological theories, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), other evaluations of programs, as well as public perceptions of crime and crime rates. He is currently working on a proposal for a textbook on biosocial criminology as well as a test of Evolutionary Nueroandrogenic (ENA) theory using a sample of incarcerated offenders.

Dr. Balusek is married to Stephanie, has two grown sons, Bryce and Brent, and two dogs, Buster and Millie. In his free time, he enjoys golfing, watching sports, and doing jigsaw puzzles. He looks forward to leading the Department of Sociology & Criminology and working with the outstanding faculty and staff.