ABBY STEIN, Ph.D. - John Jay College Of Criminal Justice - CUNY

ABBY STEIN, Ph.D.
Office 212-237-8453
astein@jjay.cuny.edu
Education
Post-doctoral fellowship (2006-2008), William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry,
Psychoanalysis, and Psychology
Ph.D. (2000), Criminal Justice Program-Forensic Psychology track, City University of New York
Arthur Niederhoffer Memorial Fellowship
Dissertation Supervisor: Robert Jay Lifton, M.D.; First reader: Elizabeth Hegeman, Ph.D.
B.A. Forensic Psychology, CUNY Baccalaureate Program, 1991
Summa Cum Laude
National Dean's List
Psi Chi
Current positions
CEO, Stein Psychodynamic Associates, LLC
Provides education for the public and training for professionals in a variety of areas, including
but not limited to: clinical supervision of mandated clients, child maltreatment, adult trauma, sexuality
and gender, aggression and criminality, veteran’s issues, substance abuse, and grief reactions, and
offers individual, private psychodynamic counseling, support, and guidance for clients struggling with
a variety of life problems.
Associate Professor (substitute), Interdisciplinary Studies Program, John Jay College of
Criminal Justice.
As a member of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program for the last ten years, I have designed
and taught thirty one different courses (list attached). In the academic year 2003-2004 I was voted
Outstanding Teacher of the Year (Adjunct). In each of the years 2005, 2004, and 2003 I was the
recipient of the Student Certificate of Gratitude for my work with students beyond the classroom, on
student projects including Domestic Violence: A Survivor’s Guide, the Encyclopedia of Female
Killers, and Snapshots of Moral Dilemmas, an exhibit of student photographs of moral dilemmas,
based of the work of Harvard psychologists Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan.
Program Advisor, Vera Fellowship Program
As the program advisor for the Vera Fellowship Program at John Jay College, I have doubled
and diversified the applicant pool, expanded relationships within participating agencies, and
participated in the design of curricula, event planning, teaching, and student mentorship. Most
recently, I have partnered with Dr. Stew Friedman of Wharton Business School to adapt the
Total Leadership Program, used both at Wharton and in many Fortune 50 companies, to the needs
of John Jay students interested in leadership careers in the social justice arena.

Book
Stein, A. (2007), Prologue to violence: Child abuse, dissociation, and crime. Hillsdale, NJ: The
Analytic Press, Inc.
Prologue to violence has been reviewed in 10 major journals in 8 different disciplines:
Theoretical Criminology, Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, PsychCritiques, Journal of Psychohistory,
Choice: The Journal of the American Library Association, Psychologist-Psychoanalyst Review,
Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, Contemporary Psychoanalysis (in press), Psychoanalytic
Perspectives (in press), and the Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (in press).
Chapter
Stein, A. (In press), Shooting in the spaces: Violent crime as dissociated enactment. In J. Petrucelli
(Ed.): Knowing, not knowing, and sort of knowing. London: Karnac.
Peer-reviewed articles
Stein, A. (under review), The utility of contempt.
Stein, A. (2004), Fantasy, fusion and sexual homicide. Contemporary psychoanalysis, 40(4), lead
article, 495-517. Featured article, William Alanson White Institute website.
Stein, A. (2003), Dreaming while awake: the use of trance to bypass threat. Contemporary
Psychoanalysis, 39(2), lead article, 179-197. Featured article, William Alanson White Institute
website.
Stein, A. (2001). Murder and memory. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 37(3), 443-451.
Lewis, D.O., Yeager, C.A., Lovely, R., Stein, A. & Cobham-Portorreal, C.S. (1994), A clinical follow-up
of delinquent males: Ignored vulnerabilities, unmet needs, and the perpetuation of violence. Journal
of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(4), 518-528.
Stein, A., Lewis, D.O. & Yeager, C.A.(1993). The juvenile justice assessment instrument. Juvenile
and Family Court Journal, 44(3), 91-102.
Stein, A. & Lewis, D.O. (1992). Discovering physical abuse: Insights from a follow-up study of
delinquents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 16 (4), 523-532.
Scholarly articles in non-refereed publications
Stein, A., Grand, S., & Newirth, J. (2009), Violence and aggression in the clinical setting: A roundtable
discussion. Psychoanalytic Perspectives: A Journal of Integration and Innovation, volume 6(1).
Stein, A. (2009), Shock and Awe: How child abuse drives violent crime. Journal of Psychohistory,
35(3).
Stein, A. (2008), First defense: Dissociated states and criminal violence. International Society for the
Study of Trauma and Dissociation News, 26(2), 8-13.

Scholarly articles in non-refereed publications (continued)
Stein, A. (Oct. 2006), An octopus in the bathtub: The slippery nature of female sex offending. Sex
Offender Law Report, vol. 7(6), 81-82, 94-95. Civic Research Institute.
Encyclopedia articles
Stein, A. (2005), Confessions. In M.S. Rosen (Ed.): Encyclopedia of law enforcement, vol. 1 (pp. 90-
93). CA: Sage Publishing
Stein, A. (2002), Crime as Pathology. In D. Levinson (Ed.): Encyclopedia of crime and punishment,
vol. 1 (pp. 365-372). CA: Sage Publishing.
Stein, A. (2002), Sensation seeking. In D. Levinson (Ed.): Encyclopedia of crime and punishment, vol.
4 (pp. 1467-1470). CA: Sage Publishing.
Book reviews
Stein, A. (2009). The price of solitude: A review of “Loneliness: Human nature and the need for social
connection.” Journal of Psychohistory, 35(3).
Stein, A. (2008), This is your brain on trauma: A review of “Traumatic dissociation: Neurobiology and
treatment”. Journal of Psychohistory. 35(4), 400-405.
Television and Radio
Criminal Justice Matters, Cablevision, October, 2007.
Alternatives to incarceration, Joey Reynolds Radio Show, National Syndication, Sept. 20, 2007
Prison Stories, Joey Reynolds Radio Show, National Syndication, June 29, 2007.
Women’s empowerment through education. Joey Reynolds Radio Show, June 29, 2007.
Presentations
Overturning convictions: Language, belief, and re-writing the criminal narrative. International
Psychohistory Conference, Fordham University, New York, June, 2009.
Joyce Carol Oates’ Zombie, Q & A following show, Theater Row, New York, March & April 2009.
From his cradle to your grave: How child abuse drives violent crime, International Psychohistory
Conference, Fordham University, New York, June 4, 2008.
Anti-disciplinarity, Plenary speaker for Thinking and researching psychosocially, Sociology
Conference, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, May 5, 2008.
The Money Shot, Gender Research Roundtable, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Spring, 2008.

Presentations (continued)
Prologue to violence: Child abuse, dissociation, and crime. American Psychological Association,
Division 39, New York, April 10, 2008.
Prologue to Violence: Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime. International Society for the Study of
Trauma and Dissociation. Philadelphia, PA: November 13, 2007.
Clinical supervision of mandated clients. The Osborne Association, August 21, 2009.
Prologue to Violence: Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime. William Alanson White Institute of
Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology. New York, NY: Sept. 25, 2007.
Prologue to Violence: Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime. President’s Book and Author Series,
John Jay College of Criminal Justice. New York, NY: May, 2007.
Prologue to Violence: Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime. CUNY BA Book Talk, Graduate Center,
Cit University of New York. New York, NY: March 25, 2007.
Maximum Perversion. Sexual Abuse Service, William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry,
Psychoanalysis, and Psychology, Fall, 2006.
Breaking tradition: Redefining gender pedagogy for the next century. Better Teaching Seminar, John
Jay College of Criminal Justice, Spring, 2006.
Rape: Myths and realities. Women’s History Month Seminars, John Jay College of Criminal Justice,
Spring, 2003 & 2001
Using dream journals in undergraduate psychology courses, Better Teaching Seminar, John Jay
College of Criminal Justice, Fall, 1997.
Beyond Diagnosis: An alternative to DSM III-R keyed adolescent protocols. Paper (co-authored, with
D.O. Lewis) presented at the International Perspectives on Crime, Drugs and Public Order
Conference, New York, NY, 1995.
Peer-reviewer
Psychoanalytic Psychology
Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
Current research: The Emotional Empowerment Project (IRB approved)
Over the years, in the course of interviewing offenders in the prisons, and non-offenders in a
clinic based practice, I have become interested in the different ways that individuals use what feminist
philosophers have called “negative” emotions, such as anger or contempt (Spelman, 1989; Mason,
2003, Bell, 2005). This research will test the hypothesis that developing feelings of “contempt” for
one’s abuser-and his abusive acts-is an emotional prerequisite for the decision to leave the
relationship. The nature of contempt and its impact on subsequent behaviors are being explored in a
qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews, in an attempt to understand ways that women may
use feelings of moral superiority to empower their break-ups. At a later date, I plan to do the same
type of interviews with female offenders who have killed their abusers, in order to assess possible
differences in the type, intensity, and/or persistence of the emotions that drove their homicides.

Book proposal
I am currently putting together a book proposal, tentatively titled The Catalytic Emotions.
Based on depth interviews, the book will explore the emotional context of life altering decisionmaking.
Grant activity
I have many projects for which I plan to seek funding, including seed money for a Men’s
Center at John Jay College, an expansion of the Vera fellowship Program, and a summer stipend
to do research for the book proposed above.
Clinical experience
2008-present: Stein Psychodynamic Associates, LLC
2006-2008: William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology
1989-1996: Prison Unit, New York University-Bellevue Medical Center
Child and Adolescent Unit, New York University-Bellevue Medical Center
Service
Reviewer, PSC-CUNY grants
Gender Studies Committee
Outstanding Teacher Nominating Committee
2004 Presidential Search Committee
ISP appeals committee
Professional memberships:
American Mensa
American Criminal Justice Association
American Psychological Association (Division 39)
International Association of Relational Psychoanalysts and Psychotherapists
International Psychohistory Association
International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation

Course List
• Vera Fellowship Seminar
• Ethical and moral dilemmas in criminal justice
• Investigations of male aggression
• Sex, Race, and Music
• Internship & Cooperative Education seminar
• Possession
• Frankenstein’s baby: Medical and psychological experiments in the twentieth century
• Knowing and not knowing
• Morality: Good, bad, and indifferent
• Sex: Hysterics, Perverts and villains
• Crime and intimacy
• Sex: Deviance, crime and moral authority
• Intimate violence
• Women who kill: The history and psychology of murderous females
• Hate crimes/Love crimes
• Rape: History and social psychology
• Creating gender: A socio-historical analysis
• Lethal Violence: A psycho-historical examination
• Life under the microscope: How science and social science intersect
• Self against self: Consciousness, control, culpability
• Women: History and culture
• Suffer the children: Child maltreatment in cultural and historical context
• Shadows of self: The appearance and disappearance of identity
• Anxiety, panic and hysteria: The nature of personal and social emergency
• Madness
• Psychology of self creation
• Psychology of cultural desire
• Psychological profiling
• Criminology