ASU graduate student Jillian Turanovic sits in her office at the University Center in Downtown on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014 in Phoenix, Ariz. Turanovic spends much of her time working on her research in her office. (Photo by Jonathan Williams)Criminology and criminal justice fourth-year doctoral student Jillian Turanovic is studying the effect of victimization at different ages to develop new ways of helping.
Turanovic was also awarded the National Institute of Justice Graduate Research Fellowship, which will allow her to continue her research further.
“I’m studying how people respond when bad things happen to them,” Turanovic said.
In her research, Turnavic hopes to gain a better understanding of what it is like to be a victim. This area of research is not widely studied.
Growing up in Canada, Turanovic studied her undergraduate at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She said she would visit America frequently and she is an American citizen.
Turanovic said when she was an undergraduate, she worked with victims in her hometown which inspired her research.
“I was really interested why some victims are worse off (than others),” Turanovic said.
Turanovic said she would encounter victims with certain psychological problems, like post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Victimization is a really unjust experience,” Turanovic said. “My goal is to identify what works and help (victims) cope in healthy positive ways.”
Graduate research assistant Andrea Borrego shares an office with Turanovic. They're both fourth-year graduate students, and they’ve had many classes together.
“She’s passionate about what she does,” Borrego said. “It makes her a good researcher.”
Borrego said outside of the office, Turanovic is very outgoing but still very dedicated to her work.
“She’s very focused,” Borrego said. “She gets what she needs to get done.”
Borrego said Turanovic was very excited when she got the award.
“She was so happy for all of the opportunities she’s received,” Borrego said. “They’re not given to her, she earned them.”
Turanovic works down the hall from graduate student Laura Beckman.
Beckman said they met at a meet and greet for the doctorate program in spring 2012.
“She’s really funny,” Beckman said. “She likes to laugh.”
Beckman said there was a massive storm late at night and Turanovic had no idea it was happening because she was so involved in her work.
“She was so involved in her work, she never even noticed,” Beckman said. “We were hungry, so we took magazines as umbrellas and ran over to the Westin.”
Reach the reporter at jwilli62@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @JonWilliams_23
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