Apryl Alexander

Profile

I am the Metrolina Distinguished Professor in Health and Policy in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am also the Director of the UNC Charlotte Violence Prevention Center (VPC). My research interests center on interpersonal violence, trauma, poly-victimization, trauma-informed practice, psychological and forensic assessment, sexual offending, human sexuality, culturally responsive practice, advocacy and social justice, and popular culture.

I am actively involved in several professional organizations within psychology and related disciplines. Within the American Psychological Association (APA), I previously served on the Police and Citizen Working Group and the Task Force on Strategies to Eradicate Racism, Discrimination, and Hate and as Chair of the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI). In 2020, I was appointed inaugural Chair of the Racial Justice Task Force for the Colorado Psychological Association (CPA). Also, I am a fellow of the APA Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) and a graduate of the APA Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology (LIWP). Currently, I am the President-Elect for the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice (APA Division 37).

Disseminating scholarship to the public is also important in my work. Much psychological research is maintained in scholarly journals often behind a paywall. I have over 150 media appearances (i.e., TV, radio, podcasts) and have been interviewed by several major media outlets, including Essence, The New York Times, USA Today, and NBC Nightly News, about my research and advocacy work (see below for selected media appearances). I also engage in pop culture research, which allows me to bring psychological science to broader audiences. I have presented at Denver Pop Culture Con and the Popular Culture Association conference and previously contributed chapters to Spider-Man Psychology: Untangling Webs, After Midnight: Watchmen after Watchmen, The Joker Psychology: Evil Clowns and the Women Who Love Them, Black Panther Psychology: Hidden Kingdoms, and the most recent– The Handmaid’s Tale Psychology: Seeing Off Red.

I have also collaborated with several community organizations and nonprofits. I have served as a board member of the Colorado Juvenile Defender Center (CJDC), the Colorado Criminal Defense Institute (CCDI), the Transformational Community Engagement and Collaboration (TCEC) Advisory Board for the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA) (a statewide organization providing advocacy and support to address and prevent sexual violence), and the Wisdom Keeper Advisory Committee for the WINGS Foundation (a nonprofit dedicated to assisting adult survivors of sexual abuse), and Envision: You (a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating mental health disparities for LGBTQ+ Coloradans). In 2020, I was unanimously appointed to the Denver Citizen Oversight Board (COB) by the Denver City Council and served a two-year term. I serve on the board for Psychology for All, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating barriers to mental health care in the Charlotte metro region, and

In my free time (ha!), I am working towards my master’s in nonprofit leadership (with a concentration in mission-driven operations and management) at the University of Denver.

For more information:

A. Alexander CV | Google Scholar | Personal Website

Education

• B.S. in Psychology, Virginia Tech, 2005
• M.S. in Clinical Psychology, Radford University, 2007
• M.S. in Clinical Psychology, Florida Institute of Technology, 2009
• Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology, Florida Institute of Technology, 2012

Awards & Honors

• Fellow, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), 2024
• Karl F. Heiser APA Presidential Award for Advocacy, 2024
• Fellow, American Psychological Association (APA), 2023
• Fellow, Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice (APA Division 37), 2023
• Dalmas A. Taylor Distinguished Contributions Award, APA Minority Fellowship Program, 2023
• Evelyn Hooker Award for Distinguished Contribution by an Ally, Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (APA Division 44), 2023
• Presidential Citation, American Psychological Association (APA), 2022
• Fellow, Association for the Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Abuse (ATSA), 2022
• 2021 Marion Langer Award, Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice, 2022
• Distinguished Scholar Lecture for Teaching (formerly known as the G. Stanley Hall Lecture), Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP; APA Division 2), 2022
• Dr. Sarah Burgamy APA Citizen Psychologist Award, Colorado Psychological Association, 2022
• Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award, The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), 2022
• Robin Morgan Outstanding Woman Faculty Award, DU Women’s Coalition and HerDU Conference, University of Denver, 2022
• Early Career Award for Teaching and Mentorship in the Field of Psychology and Law, American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS), 2022
• Lorraine Williams Greene Award for Social Justice, Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service), American Psychological Association (APA), 2021
• Michele Alexander Early Career Award for Scholarship and Service, The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), 2019
• Early Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Benefit Children, Youth, and Families, Committee on Children, Youth, and Families (CYF), American Psychological Association (APA), 2019
• The Early Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research/Practice in the Field of Child Maltreatment, Division 37 Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice, American Psychological Association (APA), 2017
• APA Achievement Award for Early Career Psychologists, Committee on Early Career Psychologists (CECP), American Psychological Association (APA), 2017

Courses

• Fostering Health Policy and Action (HLTH 6243)
• Social Determinants of Health (HLTH 6228)
• Health Policy & Leadership (HLTH 6213)
• Health Policy Development (HADM 6142/PPOL 8000)

Current Research Projects

Public Perceptions of Reparations and Transitional Justice

The ripple effects of settler colonialism—including enslavement, mass incarceration, housing redlining, environmental and medical racism, and the wage/wealth gap—have impacted Black Americans’ social and economic mobility. Reparations are a public health priority and could reduce health disparities and improve the economic position of Black Americans (Bassett & Galea, 2020; Soled et al., 2021). In my team’s first study, we explored UNC Charlotte students’ perceptions of reparations. Findings revealed that over 80% of UNC Charlotte students support reparations!

Alexander, A. A., & Mosley, K.⁺ (in press). Support for Black reparations: A qualitative study of college students’ perceptions. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678251351682

Sponsored by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and funded by The Gambrell Foundation through the Gambrell Faculty Fellowship Program, my team will assessing the perceived societal and economic impact of reparations in the Charlotte metro area. We assess attitudes towards various forms of reparations among Black community members’ living in Charlotte/Mecklenburg county.

Use of Self-Defense Laws 

Self-defense laws, such as stand-your-ground and castle doctrine, have received increasingly intense public and media attention and debate within the last decade. The highly publicized murders of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, and Renisha McBride are examples of situations when these laws were raised to justify homicide. Past research on these laws reveals unfair treatment of racially minoritized individuals and/or women in the criminal legal system regardless of whether they are victims or perpetrators. Our current study examines how gun attitudes influence college students’ opinions on self-defense laws. 

Check out our recent article (available open access):

Sower, E.⁺, Alexander, A. A., & Klukoff, H.⁺ (2023). Public perceptions of castle doctrine and stand your ground cases: Effects of defendant gender. Social Sciences Quarterly, 104(2), 69-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13258

Public Scholarship Engagement

Public impact scholarship is a relatively new concept that encourages researchers to think of innovative and creative ways to disseminate their research and scholarship beyond peer-reviewed journal articles and books. For reference, see the following:

Alexander, A. (2025). Off the shelf and into the community: Advocacy and public scholarship. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 95(4), 421-426. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000800

For example, op-eds are opinion pieces, typically published in newspapers, written for public audiences to be informative or persuasive. Funded by the UNC Charlotte Center for Teaching and Learning Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant, my team examined the effectiveness of op-ed training for public health graduate students:

Alexander, A. A., Fandetti, S.⁺, & Peters, A.⁺ (2025). A preliminary assessment of op-ed writing with graduate public health students as a pedagogical tool to increase health promotion advocacy skills. Pedagogy in Health Promotion, 11(3), 155-161. https://doi.org/10.1177/23733799241306419

If interested in joining Dr. Alexander’s research team, please email her a brief statement of interest and CV/resume at Apryl.Alexander@charlotte.edu.

Recent Publications

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1. Cantone, J. A., Alexander, A. A., Fountain, E. N., Woolard, J. L., & Levett, L. M. (2024). Improving graduate education in legal psychology: Early career psychologists’ recommendations on diversity, debt, and applying legal psychology in the real world. Law and Human Behavior, 48(4), 299-314. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000573
2. Brown, C. S., Young, L., Thomas, A., Ross, T., Troutman-Jordan, M., & Alexander, A. A. (2024). Empowering minds: Harnessing AI for dynamic classroom learning. UNC System Learning and Technology Journal, 2(1), 1-23. https://journals.charlotte.edu/ltj/article/view/1777
3. Zabelski, S.⁺, Hollander, M., & Alexander, A. (2024). Addressing inequities in access to mental healthcare: A policy analysis of community mental health systems serving minoritized populations in North Carolina. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 51, 543-553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-024-01344-8
4. Alexander, A. A., Klukoff, H.⁺, & Gaglione, C.⁺ (in press). Addressing mass incarceration amid a pandemic: Decarceration as a public health and racial justice response. Translational Issues in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1037/tp0000386
5. Alexander, A. A., Sower, E.⁺, Neal, B. ⁺, & Schmader, A. ⁺ (2023). Kink and BDSM awareness in sex offense treatment. Journal of Positive Sexuality, 9(2), 9-14. https://doi.org/10.51681/1.922
6. Alexander, A. A., Klukoff, H.⁺, & Gaglione, C.⁺ (in press). Addressing mass incarceration amid a pandemic: Decarceration as a public health and racial justice response. Translational Issues in Psychological Science.
7. Alexander, A. A., Sower, E.⁺, Klukoff, H.⁺, Allo, H.⁺, & Mendoza, S.⁺ (2023). Childhood polyvictimization as a predictor of psychopathic personality traits in women. Violence and Gender, 10(4), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2022.0029
8. Alexander, A. A., Falligant, J., Marchi, C., Floding, E., & Jennings, M. (2023). Sex offender registration and notification act with adolescents adjudicated for illegal sexual behavior: A therapeutic jurisprudence perspective. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1160922
9. Sower, E., Alexander, A. A., & Klukoff, H. (2023). Public perceptions of castle doctrine and stand your ground cases: Effects of defendant gender. Social Sciences Quarterly, 104(2), 69-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13258
10. Dixon, J., Caddell, T. M., Alexander, A. A., Burchett, D., Anderson, J. L., Marek, R. J., & Glassmire, D. M. (2023). Adapting assessment processes to consider cultural mistrust in forensic practices: An example with the MMPI instruments. Law and Human Behavior, 47(1), 292-306. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000504
11. DePrince, A. P., Alexander, A. A., Cook, J. M., & Gudiño, O. G. (2022). A roadmap for preventing and responding to trauma: Advancing community-engaged methods. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 14(6), 948-955. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001159
12. Alexander, A. A., & Allo, H.⁺ (2021). Building a climate for advocacy training in professional psychology. The Counseling Psychologist, 49(7), 1070-1089. https://doi.org/10.1177/00110000211027973
13. Sower, E.⁺, & Alexander, A. A. (2021). The same dynamics, different tactics: Domestic violence during COVID-19. Violence and Gender, 8(3), 154-156. https://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2020.0066
14. Klukoff, H.⁺, Kanani, H.⁺, Gaglione, C.⁺, & Alexander, A. A. (2021). Toward an abolitionist practice of psychology: Reimagining psychology’s relationship with the criminal justice system. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 61(4), 451-469. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678211015755
15. Alexander, A. A., McCallum, K. E., & Thompson, K. (2021). Poly-victimization among adolescents adjudicated for illegal sexual behavior: A latent class analysis. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 30(3), 347-367. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2020.1774692
16. Alexander, A. A., Allo, H. ⁺, & Klukoff, H. ⁺ (2020). Sick and shut in: Incarceration during a public health crisis. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 60(5), 647-656. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167820930556
17. Alexander, A. (2020). The politics of respectability in Luce. PopMeC Research Blog. https://popmec.hypotheses.org/2427
18. Fix, R. L. ⁺, Falligant, J. M. ⁺, & Alexander, A. A. (2020). Simulated judicial decision-making for African and European American adolescents with illegal sexual behavior: The impact of medical data and victim race/ethnicity. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 38(1), 51-65. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2431
19. Alexander, A. A. (2019). “We Don’t Do That!” Consensual non-monogamy in HBO’s Insecure. Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships, 6(2), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1353/bsr.2019.0018
20. Alexander, A. A. (2019). Sex for all: Sex positivity and intersectionality in clinical and counseling psychology. Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships, 6(1), 49-72. https://doi.org/10.1353/bsr.2019.0015
21. Alexander, A. A. (2019). Confluence model of sexual aggression in college males: Examining polyvictimization. Violence and Gender, 6(2), 139-141. https://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2018.0025
22. Wood, M. E., Anderson, J. L., Gillespie, M. L., Alexander, A. A., Backstrom-Sieh, T., & Glassmire, D. M. (2019). The association between specific competence-related abilities & competence treatment. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 30(2), 250-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/14789949.2018.1542448
23. Danzer, G. S., Wheeler, E. M. A., Alexander, A. A., & Wasser, T. D. (2019). Competency restoration for adult defendants in different treatment environments. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 47(1), 68-81. https://doi.org/10.29158/JAAPL.003819-19
24. Fix, R. L. ⁺, Falligant, J. M. ⁺, Alexander, A. A., & Burkhart, B. R. (2019). Race and victim age matter: Sexual behaviors and experiences among confined African American and European American youth with sexual and nonsexual offenses. Sexual Abuse, 31(1), 50-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063217720926

Selected Public Scholarship

Op-Ed:

1. Opinion: Why too few Black women and girls report sexual violence. The Colorado Sun.
2. If Black lives matter to him, Polis needs to reduce prison population. The Denver Post.
3. Opinion: Let’s find ways to protect students without placing them at additional risk. The Colorado Sun.
4. The murder of Jordan Vong and why teens shouldn’t be tried as adults. The Denver Post.
5. Legislature must ban use of ‘conversion therapy’ on our youth. Colorado Politics.

Selected Media Appearances:

• Essence Magazine: When is true crime content inappropriate? Fans, a legal expert, and a psychologist weigh in
• The Washington Post: Why a single slap struck so many.
• A&E True Crime Blog: Are violent juveniles doomed to become violent adults?
• The 19: ‘It’s like no one is looking for us’: How states can when women of color go missing
• Colorado Public Radio: Colorado’s criminal justice reformers say Chauvin verdict is a ‘single small step for equality.’
• NBC News: How ‘sex addiction’ has historically been used to absolve white men
• Vox.com: What you’re feeling is grief
• The Associated Press: After Trump, will the presidency recede a bit for Americans?
• USA Today: Has Twitter’s cancel culture gone too far?
• The Wall Street Journal: Joe Biden gains support with young voters amid protests
• The Pew Charitable Trust: Protests prompt policing changes, but skeptics doubt they will be enough
• The Washington Examiner: Family member abuse spikes amid coronavirus lockdown
• The New York Times: Who’s Wearing a Mask? Women, Democrats and City Dwellers
• The Associated Press: Mid-April in America is an unforgiving time, and now this
• The New York Times: When are you really an adult?