Christina Bellasalma

PhD Candidate and Adjunct Instructor, Florida International University, United States

Based in Miami, FL, Christina Bellasalma is currently an adjunct instructor and PhD candidate in International Crime and Justice at Florida International University. Her research interests include reentry, community corrections, voluntary community-based organizations in the criminal justice sector, and juvenile justice. She also works for the non-profit organization, Silent Victims of Crime, as a special programs coordinator serving children whose parents are incarcerated, as well as assisting recently released incarcerated people with reentry and reintegration back into society.
Christina earned a B.A. in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Law at the University of California, Irvine. While working on her Master of Science in Criminology with a focus in Criminal Law at the University of Miami, she began an internship with the Federal Bureau of Investigations while simultaneously working as a mentor and intake coordinator for a nonprofit that provides wraparound services for at-risk young men. It was only after these experiences that she decided to pursue her PhD in International Crime and Justice to begin empirical research on innovative methods to reduce recidivism and prevent intergenerational incarceration.