Ph.D., City University of New York, 2008
M.S., University of New Haven, 2000
B.S., University of New Haven, 1996
Tracy Tamborra is a nationally recognized expert on domestic violence, sexual assault and abuse, and the effects of the criminal justice system on women, persons of color, and persons affected by poverty.
Dr. Tamborra has co-authored one book, Victimology: The Transformation into the 21st Century, and is currently completing her next book, The Truth about Rape in America: It’s Legal. In addition, she has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles in journals such as Feminist Criminology, Violence and Victims, Violence Against Women, and Journal of Studies in International Education. She has also contributed to such works as African Americans and Criminal Justice: An encyclopedia, and Jura Gentium, Rivista di filosofia del diritto internazionale e della politica globale. Finally, her written work has also resulted in the publication of editorials, including her most recent discussion titled, “White liberal parents are also responsible for George Floyd’s death”, which was featured in the New Haven Register.
See MoreDr. Tamborra recently examined the safety of U.S. university students studying abroad. Her findings suggest that studying abroad is a safe experience and that rates of the most serious forms of victimization including physical assault and sexual assault are low. This research was highlighted in Inside Higher Ed. Dr. Tamborra hopes her research dispels myths that studying abroad presents greater than average victimization risks. Additionally, her publications include titles such as, "Poor, Urban, Battered Women Who Are Stalked: How Can We Include their Experiences?", "Verbally Coerced Sex: Does She Have to Say No?" and “African American Females and Domestic Violence.”
In 2016, she was selected as an expert contributor by the Crime & Justice Research Alliance, a collaborative partnership between the nation’s two leading criminal justice scholar associations. She is often asked to share her insight about violence against women and her critical perspective on the criminal justice system with the media. Her recent media contributions include interviews with NBC LX, Bustle, The Global News, and The Guardian.
Dr. Tamborra comes to academia after a career in social services. As former director of WomenRising, Inc., a domestic violence services agency in New Jersey, she developed and facilitated training sessions on topics related to domestic violence and sexual assault/abuse for law enforcement and prosecutors. She also developed and facilitated a training program at the University of New Haven for campus police, municipal police, University faculty, staff, and students to share best practices for responding to and preventing violence against women, by applying an intersectional lens.
Dr. Tamborra received her Ph.D. in criminal justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and her M.S. and B.S. degrees from the University of New Haven. She has received numerous awards including the University of New Haven Shero Award, ËÄÉ«AV of New Haven Full Time Faculty of the Year Award, and the Gail Burns-Smith Special Recognition Award from the Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services.
Stanley, D., Pfeifer, H., Wasileski, G., & Tamborra, T.L. (2020). Prioritizing the Victim: The 21st Century Transformation of Victimology, 1st Edition. Kendall/Hunt Publishing.
Tamborra, T.L. (2014). African American females and domestic violence. African Americans and Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press: CA.
Tamborra, T.L., Dutton, L.B., Narchet, F.M., & Cuevas, C. A. (2021 online). Women’s experience with sexual harassment and assault while studying abroad. Violence Against Women 0(0), 1 - 14. DOI: 10.1177/10778012211030945
Tamborra, T.L., Baker, AN., Jeffries, S., Tempio, M., & Campbell, E. (2020). Victimization experienced while studying abroad: An examination of rates and other relevant factors. Journal of Studies in International Education, 1028315319861 354.
Dutton, L. B., Tamborra, T.L., & Narchet, F. M. (2019). Domestic violence agency personnel’s experiences with and perceptions of the Lethality Assessment Program. Violence and Victims 33(3). 417-435.
Dutton, L. B., Tamborra, T.L., & Pittman, M. (2018). Police officers’ and victim advocates’ experiences with and perceptions of the Lethality Assessment Program. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 0887403417740187.
See MoreTamborra, T.L. (2016). Quando le politiche e le leggi pensate per le aree residenziali sono applicate ai residenti delle aree urbane - Una critica delle leggi e delle ricerche in materia di stalking. Jura Gentium, Rivista di filosofia del diritto internazionale e della politica globale, ISSN 1826-8269.
(Title translation: When politics and law developed for suburban residents are applied to urban residents: A critique of law and research on stalking.)
Muzzica, R., Tamborra, T.L. & Amarelli, G. (2015). Emerging cultural offenses in Italy: A challenge for criminal law. International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, 4, 141 – 153.
Raghavan, C., Cohen, S., & Tamborra, T.L. (2015). Development and Preliminary Validation of the Multidimensional Sexual Coercion Questionnaire. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 1-19. Doi: 10.1080/13552600.2014.917341
Tamborra, T.L., Terry, K., & Dutton, L. (2014). Verbally coerced sex: Does she have to say no? International Review of Victimology 20(2), 227 - 241.
Tamborra, T.L. (2012). Poor, urban, battered women who are stalked: How can we include their experiences? Feminist Criminology, 7(2), 112 - 129.
Tamborra, T.L. & Narchet, F. (2011). University Sexual Misconduct Policy: Prioritizing student-victim voices. Crime Prevention and Community Safety 13(1), 16-33.
Tamborra, T. (2020). White liberal parents are also responsible for George Floyd’s death. New Haven Register, June 4, 2020.
Tamborra, T. (2016). Should teachers be armed: Experts pick sides. Featured expert contributor: Wallet Hub.
Tamborra, T. (2016). Is Donald Trump a scapegoat for some of our personal frustrations? Op-Ed published by the New Haven Register, November 15, 2016.
Tamborra, T. (2010). Rape is too common to be shocking. Op-Ed published by the New Haven Register, March 4, 2010.
Tamborra, T.L., Dutton, L.B, & Narchet, F.M. (2019). Sexual assault and harassment experienced by females studying abroad: How priming, pre-departure attitudes, and protective factors relate to reported rates of victimization. Presented at the 2019 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Tamborra, T. L., Baker, A.N., Jefrries, S. (2018). Victimization experienced while studying abroad: An examination of rates and other relevant factors. Presented at the 2018 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
Tamborra, T.L. (2016) Round Table Chair: Managing hot topics in the classroom. Presented at the 2016 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
**Dutton, L.B., Tamborra, T.L., & Pittman, M. (2016). Police officers’ experience with and perceptions of the Lethality Assessment Programs. Presented at the 2016 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
Tamborra, T. L., Baker, A.N., Jefrries, S. (2018). Victimization experienced while studying abroad: An examination of rates and other relevant factors. Presented at the 2018 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
Dutton, L. B., Tamborra, T., & Pittman, M. (2016). Police officers’ experiences with and perceptions of the Lethality Assessment Program. American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
Dutton, L. B., Tamborra, T., & Pittman, M. (2016). Police officers’ and victim advocates’ experiences with and perceptions of the Lethality Assessment Program. International Family Violence and Child Victimization Conference, Portsmouth, NH.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, cautions 'the public from coming to a conclusion that there was a cover-up' in the domestic violence incident involving a chief of police and how the complaint was handled by local officers.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, discusses two criminal cases, one involving a woman who killed a family friend with eye drops after stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the other involving a man who repeatedly stalked women, as surveillance cameras captured the final victim being brutally murdered.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, comments on professional conduct rules, saying there is “no way of measuring and assessing morality and ethics.”
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, comments on why small cities and towns are perceived safer than large cities.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, a professor of criminal justice, discusses how the Lorena Bobbitt case changed some laws for domestic violence against women and created additional resources for victims.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, comments on domestic violence that leads to potentially lethal situations and the training provided by police departments to assess these cases.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, comments on how crime and social unrest impact community safety.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, comments on a study of criminal patterns of how abusers may downplay their behavior by shifting the blame to the abused for their actions.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, discusses two cases in which parents committed acts of violence against their families and the history of familicide.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, a professor of criminal justice, who was interviewed on two murder-suicides in Danbury, was part of an end-of-year feature for the stories that made headlines locally in 2022.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, comments on two cases of murder-suicide in Danbury, saying these types of domestic violence crimes are rare.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, discusses Harvey Weinstein’s trial in California for sexual assault, including targeting well-known actors and models, and comments those who are socially, economically, or politically powerful seem to be given the creditability an average woman might not receive in order to get their day in court.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, discusses two cases, one with a random act of violence and one in which the victim knew her killer.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, comments on the damage being caused by the highly publicized Depp-Heart trial on reporting domestic violence and having victims be believed.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, talks about two child abuse cases and some of the warning signs a child may display if they are being abused physically.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, discusses how families are turning to social media for help in solving murders and why this can be problematic.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, discusses the long-term outlook for the law enforcement field.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, advises on how women can gain financial independence after experiencing domestic violence.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, talks about the difference between chocking and strangulation in the Gabby Petito murder case.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, wrote an op-ed on white, liberal professionals who benefit from white supremacy, whether they acknowledge it or not.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, shares a story from her time working as a director of a domestic violence services agency in New Jersey.
In the Media
Tracy L. Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, and Amy Nicole Baker, associate professor of psychology, conducted the first study that examines the rates of victimization students experience while studying abroad by using anonymous self-report data.
In the Media
Tracy Tamborra, professor of criminal justice, questions how the claims that the president’s nominee to lead the office on violence against women, Shannon Lee Goessling makes in support of arming battered women can be scientifically backed up.