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Amanda Witwer

Amanda Witwer
  • PhD Candidate
  • School of Criminal Justice
  • BA 2018, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Biography

Amanda R. Witwer is a doctoral candidate in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public policy analysis from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018. Her research interests include court decision making and sentencing guideline systems. Amanda’s work has been published in Crime & Delinquency, Federal Probation, and Public Administration Review. Her article on the relaxation of Michigan's sentencing guidelines won the Ben Steiner Excellence in Corrections Student Paper Award in 2023. As a graduate research assistant, she supports an NIJ-funded longitudinal study of the Gang Resistance, Education, and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program. Before pursuing a doctoral degree, she supported research on innovative programs, policies, and technologies as a Research Analyst at RTI International and served as a Research Assistant with the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission. She is a member of the American Society of Criminology.

Selected Publications

Holmstrom, A.J., Morash, M., & Witwer, A. (2025). Trait Self-Efficacy as a Moderator of Esteem Support Message Effects in the Parole/Probation Agent-Client Relationship. Communication Studies, 1–20.

Witwer, A.R. (2023). Discretion and Disagreement: A Longitudinal Study of Departures Under Presumptive and Advisory Sentencing Guidelines. Crime & Delinquency.

 

Hamm, J.A., Ropp, J.W., Witwer, A., & Scott, B.A. (2023). Self-Efficacy, Prosocial Impact, and Self-Legitimacy as Psychological Predictors of Judicial Officer Performance. Public Administration Review.

DeMichele, M., Baumgartner, P., Wenger, M., Comfort, M., & Witwer, A. (2023). Where’s the Bias: No Evidence of Bias by Sex When Testing the Public Safety Assessment. Crime & Delinquency.

Langton, L., Planty, M., Banks, D., Witwer, A., Woods, D., Vermeer, M. & Jackson, B. Sex Trafficking and Substance Use: Identifying High Priority Needs Within the Criminal Justice System. National Institute of Justice (as part of the Priority Criminal Justice Needs Initiative). 2022.

Oblea, P.N., Adams, A.R., Nguyen-Wu, E.D., Hawley-Molloy, J.S., Balsam, K., Badger, T.A., Witwer, A.R., & Cartwright, J. (2022). Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer Health-Care Experiences in a Military Population. Journal of Homosexuality.

Witwer, A., Langton, L., Banks, D., Woods, D., Vermeer, M., Jackson, B. Online Dispute Resolution: Perspectives to Support Successful Implementation and Outcomes in Court Proceedings. National Institute of Justice (as part of the Priority Criminal Justice Needs Initiative). 2021.

Hamm, J.A., Ropp J., Scott B.A., Witwer, A.R. Virtual Courtroom Survey: Analysis Report. Michigan Supreme Court. 2021.

Lattimore, P., Tueller, S., Levin-Rector, A., Witwer, A. (2020). The Prevalence of Local Criminal Justice Practices. Federal Probation.

Witwer, A., Langton, L., Vermeer, M., Banks, D., Woods, D., & Jackson, B. Countering technology-facilitated abuse: Criminal justice strategies for combating nonconsensual pornography, sextortion, doxing and swatting. National Institute of Justice. 2020.

Gourdet, C., Witwer, A., Langton, L., Banks, D., Planty, M., Woods, D., & Jackson, B. Court appearances in criminal proceedings through telepresence: Identifying research and practice needs to preserve fairness while leveraging new technology. National Institute of Justice. 2020.