In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, associate professor of criminal justice, delivered the keynote address at the 2024 National Discussion on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at America’s Colleges, Universities, and Military Service Academies.
Stephanie Bonnes, Ph.D.
Criminal Justice Department
Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences
Education
Ph.D. Sociology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2018
M.A. Political and International Studies, Rhodes University, 2010
B.A. Sociology and History, Gettysburg College, 2008
About Stephanie
Stephanie Bonnes is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of New Haven. Her research is qualitative and broadly focuses on gender the intersections of victimization, identity, inequality, violence, and organizations. Her book Hardship Duty: Women’s Experiences with Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Discrimination in the U.S. Military, focuses on the puzzle of how sexual abuse remains highly prevalent in an organization that has dynamic policies, prevention strategies, and evolving education programs designed to combat sexual violence. Drawing primarily on in-depth interviews with fifty servicewomen, Hardship Duty uncovers how masculinity and misogyny are entangled in the organization’s structure, policies, values, physical spaces, and culture in ways that create sexual abuse vulnerability.
Her scholarship on military harassment and sexual violence has won awards from the Sociologists for Women in Society, the Sex and Gender Section and the Peace, War, and Social Conflict Section at the American Sociological Association, as well as the Division of Feminist Criminology and the Division of Victimology at the American Society of Criminology. Her work has been published in American Sociological Review, Gender & Society, Feminist Criminology, and Violence Against Women as well as media outlets such as the Washington Post.
Publications
Book
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2023. Hardship Duty: Women’s Experiences with Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Discrimination in the U.S. Military. New York: Oxford University Press.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (Student co-authors italicized)
Bonnes, Stephanie Kylie McCarthy, and Samantha Tosto. 2024."‘My coping doesn't really matter:’ How Military Lawyers Navigate Vicarious Trauma through Emotional Labor and Emotion Work.”Feminist Criminology.
Bonnes, Stephanie and Samantha Tosto. 2023. “Prosecuting Military Sexual Assault: The Entanglement of Military Discourse and Victim Stereotypes in Prosecutor Case Strategies.” Feminist Criminology vol. 18, no. 5: 459-489.
Tosto, Samantha and Stephanie Bonnes. 2023. “She clearly thought that something bad had happened to her:” How military lawyers construct narratives of victim legitimacy and perceived harm in sexual assault cases.” Armed Forces and Society.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2022. “Femininity Anchors: Heterosexual relationships and pregnancy as sites of harassment for U.S. Service Women." American Sociological Review vol. 87, no. 4: 618-643.
Bonnes, Stephanie and Jeffrey Palmer. (2021). “The U.S. Marine Corps’ Response to Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: An Analysis of The Family Advocacy Program and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program.” Armed Forces & Society vol. 48, no. 3: 609-633.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2021. “An Intersectional Approach to Military Sexual Violence.” Sociology Compass vol 15, no 12.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2020. “Service-women’s responses to Sexual Harassment: The Importance of Identity Work and Masculinity in a Gendered Organization” Violence Against Women vol. 26, no. 12-13: 1656-1680.
Bonnes, Stephanie. (2017). “The Bureaucratic Harassment of U.S. Servicewomen.” Gender & Society vol. 31, no. 6: 804-829.
Bonnes, Stephanie and Janet Jacobs. 2017. “Gendered Representations of Apartheid: The Women’s Jail Museum at Constitution Hill.” Museum & Society vol. 15, no. 2: 153-170.
Selected Media Commentaries
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2020. “What Can Stop Sexual Harassment in the U.S. military?” The Monkey Cage at The Washington Post.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2018. "How Bureaucracy can Help Maintain Sexism and Inequality in the U.S. Military." London School of Economics American Politics and Policy Blog.
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2017. "The Bureaucratic Harassment of U.S. Servicewomen" Gender & Society Blog:
Bonnes, Stephanie. 2017. "Sexual Harassment, Bureaucracy, and Discretionary Power in the U.S. Military." Work in Progress Blog:
Research Interestes
Violence Against Women, Sexual Abuse, Workplace Harassment, Victimology, Crime and Organizations, Intersectionality, Racial and Gender Inequality, Race, Gender, and Crime
Honors and Awards
- 2024 Society for the Study of Social Problems Crime and Juvenile Delinquency Division Scholarly Achievement Award
- 2024 Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders Award, Finalist
- 2024 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Victimology Section New Scholar Award
- 2023 American Society of Criminology Division of Feminist Criminology’s CoraMae Richey Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Year”
- 2023 Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research, Nominee
- 2023 Honorable Mention: American Sociological Association’s Peace, War, and Social Conflict Section’s Outstanding Article of the Year Award
- 2020 SAGE Teaching Innovation Award See More
- 2018 American Sociological Association’s Sex and Gender Section Sally Hacker Graduate Student Paper Award
- 2017 American Society of Criminology’s Division on Women and Crime Graduate Scholar Award
- 2017 American Society of Criminology’s Division of Victimology’s Graduate Student Paper of the Year Award
- 2017 Betsy Moen Mathiot “Walk the Talk” Award
- 2016 Sociologists for Women in Society's Cheryl Allyn Miller Early Career Award
- 2015 Ralph and Barbara Dakin Award, for outstanding scholarship that contributes to peace, inter-cultural understanding, resolution of conflict, and/or amelioration of important social problems
Grants
- 2023 American Political Science Association Centennial Center Grant
- 2021 MSU Exploratory Research Pilot grant (Co-PI with Dr. Jennifer Pace)
- 2020 MSU Exploratory Research Pilot grant (Co-PI with Dr. Jennifer Pace)
- 2015 American Society of Criminology's Division on Women and Crime Larry J. Siegel Fellowship
In the Media
In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, assistant professor of criminal justice, underscores the profound impact of a whistleblower's social media post that sparked a viral conversation about sexual harassment and toxic leadership in the Coast Guard, a crucial issue that for years has been overlooked.
In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, assistant professor of criminal justice, discusses sexual assault prevention in the military, as a report was released about a lack of prevention specialists. Bonnes recently authored Hardship Duty – Women’s Experiences with Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, and Discrimination in the U.S. Military.
In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, assistant professor of criminal justice, discusses the newest data from the U.S. Department of Defense that indicate harassment and sexual assaults in military academies throughout the United States are increasing.
In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, assistant professor of criminal justice, comments on the effectiveness of an employee walkout that brought attention to harassment and discrimination allegations at this company.
In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, assistant professor of criminal justice, discusses workplace harassment and says harassers need to be held accountable.
In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, associate professor of criminal justice, talks about victims of sexual harassment and how ‘bureaucratic harassment’ begins with those that will retaliation to protect the perpetrator.
In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, associate professor of criminal justice, talks about the investigation into the sexual harassment charges against Andrew Cuomo and how he retaliated against his victims and offers advice for those this happened to or witnessed.
In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, associate professor of criminal justice, says that unwanted behavior does not have to be sexual in nature to constitute sexual harassment under the law.
In the Media
Stephanie Bonnes, assistant profess of criminal justice, discusses the report from the Attorney General in New York on the sexual harassment and retaliation investigation against Governor Andrew Cuomo.
In the Media
Stephanie Boones, assistant professor of criminal justice, wrote an article on sexual and bureaucratic harassment being used to force women out of the military.