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Marina Sorochinski's main area of specialty and expertise is in applying psychological principles and rigorous empirical methods to improving police investigations. She has extensive experience leading research projects, teaching a wide range of social science courses, and mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students. She has worked in collaboration with national and international academic faculty as well as government agencies, including the FBI and South African Police Service, received multiple scholarships and awards, and presented at a wide variety of national and international conferences, such as American Society of Criminology, International Association of Investigative Psychology, American Psychology and Law Society.
She is also the co-director of the Center for Social and Criminal Justice at Mercy.
Educational Background:
B.A. (Honors) Psychology - Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
M.A. Forensic Psychology - John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Ph.D. Psychology & Law - CUNY Graduate Center
Research interests:
-Behavioral Analysis of violent crime
-Empirical approaches to profiling & linking serial crime
-Investigative interviewing & decision-making
Current Teaching:
-CRJU/SOCI 212 Criminology
-CRJU 396 Research Methods
-CRJU 295 Special Topics: Behavioral Analysis of Violent Crime
-PSYN209 Forensic Psychology
-CRJU401 Senior Seminar in Criminal Justice
Peer-reviewed Publications
Sorochinski, M. & Salfati, C. G. (2019). Sex worker homicide series: Profiling the crime scene. Special Issue on Sexual Homicide, International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology. DOI: 10.1177/0306624X19839274
Salfati, C. G. & Sorochinski, M. (2019). MATCH: A new approach to differentiating & linking series of sex worker homicides and sexual assaults. Special Issue on Sexual Homicide, International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology. DOI: 10.1177/030662-4XI9839279
Sorochinski, M. & Salfati, C. G. (2017). A Multidimensional Approach to Ascertaining Individual Differentiation and Consistency in Serial Sexual Assault: Is it time to redefine and refine? Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. DOI: 10.1007/s11896-017-9235-z.
Sorochinski, M. & Salfati, C. G. (2015). Thematic classification of planning and violent behaviors in serial homicide: A cross-national comparison between South Africa and the US. Special Issue on South African Serial homicide. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender profiling. DOI: 10.1002/jip.1427
Salfati, C. G., Horning, A., & Sorochinski, M. (2015). South African serial homicide: Consistency in victim target and behaviors across series. Special Issue on South African Serial homicide. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender profiling. DOI: 10.1002/jip.1428
Salfati, C. G., Labuschagne, G., Horning, A., Sorochinski, M., and De Wet, J. (2015). Demographics of all solved serial homicides in South Africa 1930-2007. Special Issue on South African Serial homicide. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender profiling. DOI: 10.1002/jip.1425
Sorochinski, M., Hartwig, M., Osborne, J., Wilkins, E., Marsh, J. J., Kazakov, D., & Granhag, P. A. (2014). Suspect interviewing strategies: When to disclose the evidence? Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. DOI 10.1007/s11896-013-9121-2
Sorochinski, M. & Salfati, C. G. (2010). The consistency of inconsistency in serial homicide: Patterns of behavioral change across series. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 7, 109-136.
Book chapters
Salfati, C. G. & Sorochinski, M. (in press, 2018). Sex worker victims: Consistency vs. inconsistency in victimization patterns by serial sexual homicide offenders. In J. Proulx & E. Beauregard (Eds.) International Handbook of Sexual Homicide.
Sorochinski, M. & Salfati, C. G. (2017). Assumptions underlying behavioral linkage revisited: A revised approach to ascertaining individual differentiation and consistency in serial rape. In: P. A. Granhag, R. Bull, A. Shaboltas, & E. Dozortseva (Eds.). Psychology & Law in Europe: When West Meets East. (pp. 51-78). Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis/CRC Press.