Melissa Schaefer Morabito, Ph.D.
Melissa Schaefer Morabito received her doctorate from the Department of Justice, Law and Society, at American University. Her research interests include examining interactions between the police and mentally ill individuals, the potential for harm to the police and mentally ill individuals during these interactions, and understanding the factors that influence overall community well being. Dr. Morabito’s dissertation research examined whether police activities can positively affect community well being by mediating the antecedents of social disorganization. Before joining the Center, she obtained an MS.SW from Columbia University and was a Presidential Management Fellow with the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services where her work focused on police responses to domestic violence and people with mental illness.