Jillian Peterson

Jillian Peterson is an American scholar in criminology and criminal justice. She currently serves as the Director of the Forensic Psychology Program at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Peterson holds a master's degree in social ecology and a doctorate in psychology and social behavior, both earned from the University of California. Alongside James Densley, she led a three-year research project funded by the National Institute of Justice, focusing on the psychosocial backgrounds of individuals involved in public mass shootings. Their findings were published in the book 'The Violence Project: How To Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic,' which won the 2022 Minnesota Book Award. Additionally, Peterson is a co-founder of The Violence Prevention Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research center dedicated to reducing violence in society through rigorous research and analysis.