Satenik V. Margaryan
Assistant Professor
Social Sciences, Human Services and Criminal Justice
EMAIL: smargaryan@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: S-642B
Office Hours: Fall 2019: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Phone: +1 (212) 776-6391
Satenik Margaryan, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the City University of New York (CUNY) Borough of Manhattan Community College, Department of Social Sciences, Human Services and Criminal Justice. Prior to joining BMCC, she taught at Saint Peters University in Jersey City and Montclair State University.
Expertise
Degrees
Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey (2007)
M.A. in Criminal Justice, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey (2003)
M.P.A. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY (2000)
Diploma in Sociology, Yerevan State University (1998)
Courses Taught
- Criminal Justice is the field that studies formal social control. This course covers the processing of crime by agents of formal control (police, courts, and institutional corrections). The general focus is on understanding the complex interactions of structures and agents in the system. Of particular concern are discretion and diversity in law enforcement, due process in criminal courts, and the punishment-rehabilitation dichotomy in corrections. The ultimate goal is to provide a critical foundation that prepares students for the challenges of a career in criminal justice.
- This is an introductory and foundational course in the study of crime and justice. It is designed to introduce students to the various historical and contemporary theories and empirical research used to understand deviant and criminal behavior. This course takes a critical approach to the study of the definition and measurement of crime, as well as applications of these theories to practice and in policy. Offending and victimization, as these relate to specific crime types (i.e., white collar crime, violent crime, sex crime, drug related crimes, etc.) will be explored. Prerequisite: SOC 100
- This course provides a historical overview of the relationship of the states of the Bill of Rights, and how the Supreme Court has interpreted the powers of the federal government. The effect of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment on the application of the Bill of Rights to the states is examined through a study of the leading Supreme Court decisions related to criminal justice. Topics include characteristics and powers of the three branches of government, the principles governing the operation of the Bill of Rights, and the variables affecting the formulation of judicial policy. Prerequisite: POL 100
- This course examines the history of criminal punishment in Western society, emphasizing the United States. The course highlights social forces (political, religious, economic, and technological) shaping punishment; reviews common theories (deterrence, retribution, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and restoration) and examines how theory relates to policy. The course takes a critical approach to correctional systems and policies by considering disparities and structural inequalities. Empirical evidence is used to examine contemporary crises of punishment (i.e., mass incarceration, school-to-prison pipeline) as well as prison culture, staffing, privatization, and prisoner civil rights. Alternatives to traditional punishment, especially restorative justice models, are explored. Prerequisite: CRJ 101
- This course takes a critical approach to the study of crime and justice in urban settings. Course materials examine contemporary crime-related issues that affect urban communities within a historical and sociological context. The course highlights the intersections of deviant behavior and the criminal justice system within the structures of class, race, gender, and power inequalities. Topics explored may include racial profiling, juvenile delinquency, media representations of crime, policing, the war on drugs, and prisoner re-entry.
Prerequisite: CRJ 101 and CRJ 102
Research and Projects
Currently working on a manuscript on the feasibility of judicial elections to gain judicial impartiality and independence in post-Soviet countries (Armenia, in particular).
Publications
Khechumyan, Aleksandr and Satenik Margaryan
2014 The Practice of Pretrial Detention in Armenia: an Examination of the Role of the Soviet
Legacy. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research: 1-18.
Margaryan, Satenik
2010 Chapter 10: International Human Rights Movement. In S. Kethineni (Ed.), “Comparative
and International Policing, Justice, and Transnational Crime.” Durham, N.C.: Carolina
Academic Press.
Margaryan, Satenik
2008 “Penal Reform in a Society in Transition: An Institutional Analysis of Penal Reform in the
Republic of Armenia.” Saarbrücken, Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller.
Finckenauer, James O., Satenik Margaryan, and Mercer L. Sullivan
2005 “Evaluability Assessment in Juvenile Justice: A Case Example.” Youth Violence and
Juvenile Justice, 3(3): 265-275.
McCoy, Candace, and Satenik Margaryan
2005 Guilty Pleas and Plea Bargaining. In Wright, Richard A., and J. Mitchell Miller. (Eds.)
“Encyclopedia of Criminology.” New York: Routledge.
Perrone, Dina, Christopher Sullivan, Travis C. Pratt, and Satenik Margaryan
2004 “Parental Efficacy, Self-Control, and Delinquent Behavior: A Test of a General Theory of
Crime on a Nationally-Representative Sample.” International Journal of Offender
Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 48(3):298-312.
