About the Author

Teacher, Educator, Social Activist and Author Deborah J. Burris-Kitchen, PhD is a Professor of Criminology and Department Chair at Tennessee State University in Nashville. She completed her doctorate in Sociology from Western Michigan University. Some of Deborah’s notable publications include:

• She is the author of Female Gang Participation (Edwin Mellen Press, 1997)
• Co-authored an Article on racism in higher education in the College Student Journal (2000).
• A book titled Short Rage: an autobiographical look at heightism in America (2002).
• A book chapter (July 2010) titled Pathways to prison: Implications for the Health and Mental health in the African American Community handbook for African American Health Psychology: Evidence-based treatment and prevention practices (edited by Robert Hampton & Ray Crowell);
• From Slavery to Prisons: A Historical Delineation of the Criminalization of African-Americans (2010)
• A journal article titled Short Rage Revisited (2018)
• Deviance and Control, Kendall and Hunt (2020)
• The second edition of Deviance and Control was released by Kendall and Hunt (2021)

Dr Burris-Kitchen has served as the chair of the research committee and as the Vice President of the National Organization of Short-Statured Adults (NOSSA). She has also served as President of (the Association of Humanist Sociology) AHS and was a member of AHS for many years. She has also been a member of the American Society of Criminology and the American Sociological Association. Dr Burris –Kitchen is also an activist who fights against violence, racism, exploitation, greed, and capitalism.