Diana Falkenbach

Dr. Diana Falkenbach is a tenured Professor in the Psychology Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Director of the M.A. program in Forensic Psychology. She completed her doctoral studies in Clinical Psychology at the University of South Florida. She holds an M.S. in Counseling from Georgia State University and a B.A. in Psychology from Emory University. Prior to joining the John Jay Faculty, she completed her internship at Bellevue Hospital Center and Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, where she conducted testing, forensic evaluations, and therapy with violent mentally ill offenders. Dr. Falkenbach is a clinical researcher focusing on psychopathy and related behaviors. She is interested in understanding the etiology of psychopathy and violence, as well as the development and evaluation of assessment instruments. While these areas of research are commonly studied in adult males, Dr. Falkenbach pursues research on psychopathic traits and predictors of violence in women, juveniles, various multicultural groups and noncriminal populations. Her recent focus is on “successful” adaptations of psychopathic traits and considering if heroes and criminal psychopaths may be “twigs off of the same genetic branch” (Lykken, 1995). She is working on several research projects considering psychopathic traits in police, FBI and corporate samples.