Social Impact Heroes: How Dr Catherine Shaffer of Simon Fraser University Is Helping To Change Our World
“The devil is in the details.” Early in my academic career, I took this to heart. I was very focused on being accurate and methodologically rigorous and overthought everything.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Catherine Shaffer.
Dr. Catherine Shaffer, PhD, CFCP/FCCS, is a public safety scientist, Adjunct Professor of Forensic Psychology and Law at Simon Fraser University, and founder of Shaffer Research and Statistical Consulting. Her work focuses on violence risk, criminal behavior, and adolescent offenders. She has co-authored over 130 publications, reports, assessment tools, and presentations on violence and crime prevention, has been featured in national and international media outlets, and is a recipient of the Christopher Webster Award for significant early-career contributions to the forensic mental health field.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve been interested in psychology since I was a teenager; however, it wasn’t until halfway through my undergraduate degree that I developed a specific interest in forensic psychology when I was introduced to the work of Dr. Robert Hare, a leading Canadian criminal psychologist. Reading his book, Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us, I found myself increasingly fascinated with understanding the etiology of crime, violence, and personality pathology — Is it genetics? Environmental factors? Both?
This interest led me to the Forensic Psychology graduate program at Simon Fraser University, where I completed my MA and PhD under leading professionals in the field. One strength of the program is its emphasis on applying empirical research to mental health, criminal justice, and public safety settings. That foundation, along with the training and mentorship I received, continues to influence how I approach my work today.
I tend to describe myself as a hybrid researcher. I am not a full-time academic, but I also don’t work solely in industry. Instead, I work at the intersection of academia, practice, and policy.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
Through my work on academic and public sector research projects, I have developed a variety of advanced research, data management, and statistical analysis skills. As an example, I can use data to better understand reoffending risk, which can help inform resource allocation. After years of being the go-to person for colleagues whenever they had a research question or needed help with their analyses, I decided to launch my own research and statistical consulting company in 2025. At first, I was excited, but fairly quickly, I became uncertain about whether this was the right call. I was only five years out of my PhD, and most professionals wait until much later to launch a consulting business. Fortunately, not long after, I was approached to potentially lead a research project focused on strengthening evidence-based risk assessment practices. This request confirmed that I made the right decision in launching my own business.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I still remember a valuable and rather fitting piece of advice I received from my honours thesis supervisor, a well-known researcher in memory and eyewitness testimony: “The devil is in the details.” Early in my academic career, I took this to heart. I was very focused on being accurate and methodologically rigorous and overthought everything. While this approach is beneficial when designing a research project, conducting analyses, or writing a manuscript for publication in an academic journal, it also makes it easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. That is, what is the end goal of the research? How can the findings be used to inform practitioners and policymakers, or even the public?
During one of my first professional conference talks in Toronto, I was so focused on providing all the minutiae of my methodology and analyses of my study of gang-involved adolescents that I started to lose part of the audience. Afterwards, a clinician approached me asking, “How can I apply these findings to the youth I work with?” Now, I try to make sure my research disseminations prioritize the most important and applied information.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
A large part of my work has been the development and validation of tools that help identify individuals at risk of engaging in violent and criminal behavior and connect them with strategies and interventions to reduce or manage that risk. I am the co-author of a risk management and intervention planning guide that is used across Canadian criminal justice settings with several thousand adolescents involved in general, violent, and sexual offending each year. In addition, I have contributed to a tool designed to support individuals in transitioning out of gang life. I also developed a pilot version of an adolescent intimate partner violence risk assessment and management tool, which was adapted from a widely used adult tool. This represents an important step toward addressing gaps in risk assessment and management for adolescent intimate partner violence.
I’ve contributed to research projects with national and international reach. For example, using population-based data from over 30,000 youth, I examined rates of dating victimization among adolescent boys and girls, findings that received national and international media attention and helped raise awareness of the issue of domestic violence among both genders.
Following one of my publications, I was invited to contribute to a national task force addressing the decriminalization of assisted dying in Canada as it relates to persons with mental disorders and mature minors.
More recently, my work has expanded into financial crime. For instance, I contributed research support to a provincial inquiry into money laundering.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
My work typically focuses on addressing systems or groups rather than individuals. Nevertheless, there have been special moments in my career when I’ve learned about the positive impacts of my work on individuals.
Although there are several tools to identify adolescents at risk for violence, after these tools are administered, there can be limited guidance on how to connect adolescents with appropriate services and interventions. To address this gap, my colleagues and I developed a guide that provides evidence-based strategies to address risk factors for violent behavior and build or enhance protective factors, such as providing caregivers with information on supervision strategies, motivational interviewing, or referring a youth to cognitive-behavioral therapy.
In practice, we’ve seen that using this guide with youth on probation increases the use of supported interventions, adherence to best practices, and the integration of culturally-tailored approaches.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Invest in prevention and early intervention
Across different settings, action often takes place after harm has already occurred. However, empirical and professional research and practical experience have shown that many forms of violent and criminal behavior are preceded by identifiable, and often preventable, risk factors that can manifest as early as childhood or adolescence. For instance, poor parenting practices, peer delinquency, and problems in school. Investment in prevention and early intervention for children and adolescents can significantly reduce the likelihood that problems may worsen and extend into adulthood and improve outcomes for offenders, victims, and communities.
Implement evidence-based policies and procedures
In frontline environments, policies and procedures are often influenced by time constraints, especially within the context of risk and threat assessment. However, policies and procedures are most effective when they adopt an evidence-based approach. This includes regularly evaluating their effectiveness and integrating recent and reliable empirical evidence.
Strengthen inter-agency collaboration
Over their lifetime, individuals engaged in crime will likely encounter multiple systems, including law enforcement, the legal system, and community supports or specialized services, such as those addressing education or employment difficulties, mental health problems, or substance misuse. Coordination and communication across these systems can sometimes be disjointed. Strengthening inter-agency collaboration can support more effective service delivery and risk management practices.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
I have consistently worked with exceptional leaders and mentors. Sadly, two of these individuals have passed away. I am very fortunate for the time I got to work with and learn from them. Among the strongest leaders, a key message was that leadership should be about guidance and support. With my students, I see leadership as sharing knowledge and resources, providing constructive, growth-oriented feedback, supporting them through challenges, and helping foster confidence in their own competencies and skills.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1. Non-traditional career paths are rewarding
In contrast to some of my peers, I decided against a career in Clinical Psychology and entered graduate studies in Experimental Psychology instead. This gave me the opportunity to focus solely on research, which I was most passionate about. While it may have limited future career opportunities in some respects, it also allowed me to work as a researcher full-time and opened other doors. When I finished my PhD, I went against the grain again. Instead of pursuing a full-time career in academia, I transitioned into industry work. I remember feeling anxious about this decision and wondering if I would regret it. However, today, I feel like I have a great balance in my professional life (and get to work with amazing colleagues) and I help to bridge gaps between academia and applied contexts in ways that ultimately benefit organizations, professionals, and students. I’d like to tell my younger self, it’s okay to branch out and do something different.
2. You don’t need to say yes to everything
When I first started, I said yes to almost everything — every research project, collaboration, manuscript, and conference presentation. This was largely out of discomfort with saying no, and perhaps an overly ambitious (and slightly masochistic) desire to build a curriculum vitae as comprehensive and long as possible. While this helped me to accrue a wide range of skillsets and experiences (and, yes, a long CV), it also led to me being stretched too thin and periods of burnout. Today, I am more selective in what I agree to and prioritize opportunities in which my contributions are most impactful and best align with my areas of interest.
3. Interdisciplinary work meaningfully solves problems
Many social and public health problems, such as crime and violence, require an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates different perspectives, methods, and areas of expertise. Some of my most impactful work has been interdisciplinary in nature. For instance, to better understand how mental health and neighborhood characteristics can interact to influence violence perpetration and victimization, I applied psychological and criminological concepts. I recommend developing a network of contacts across disciplines early; you never know when they might come in handy, and they can help provide useful insights.
4. Science communication is important
One thing I wish I had appreciated earlier in my career is the value of science communication. When I first started, I assumed that publishing in academic journals and presenting at conferences was sufficient to make a name for myself. However, restricting findings to academic audiences limits their impact. People in the general public are genuinely interested in scientific research, and universities have started encouraging academics to engage more frequently with the media to make a more considerable impact. I encourage researchers to take advantage of available resources to become more effective in translating their research into accessible content. When it’s done well, science communication can raise awareness of an issue, challenge its misconceptions, and help individuals have more informed conversations.
5. Make time for self-care
I feel like this is standard advice, but make time for self-care. There will always be more work. I remember a period when I was so busy and had so much on the go, I was scared to take a day off, in case I enjoyed the freedom from work a little too much and would be unable to get back into the grind the day after. However, I find I am most insightful and sharp when my brain has taken some time to recover. I now regularly schedule breaks.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
One of my favorite quotes is from John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, “But the Hebrew word, the word timshel — ‘Thou mayest’ — that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’ — it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not’.”
I will avoid giving spoilers from the book, but essentially, this quote represents that, regardless of an individual’s background or past actions, there is always the possibility for growth and change. I previously included this quote in my doctoral dissertation on adolescent intimate partner violence.
I find this quote relevant to my research for two reasons. First, violence, particularly intimate partner violence, can have an intergenerational component, with individuals who witness or experience violence at a young age more likely to engage in violence themselves when they are older. However, not all individuals do so, and some may choose a different path and break the cycle. Second, for adolescents, the emphasis should also be on rehabilitation rather than solely on punishment. If an adolescent is engaged in offending, they might not always remain entrenched in criminal behaviors, and, wherever possible, efforts should be made to promote positive outcomes.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I would love to sit down with Sir Patrick Stewart.
I’m a big fan of his, first for his role as Captain Picard, and then later as Charles Xavier in the X-Men series. I greatly admire him for his advocacy against domestic violence and for using his platform to candidly speak about his own experiences as a child. I’d love the opportunity to tell him about the recent research developments in domestic violence prevention.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
One area I would like to see strengthened is how criminal justice systems respond to survivors of physical and sexual violence. In particular, ensuring that trauma-informed and other evidence-based approaches are consistently used to better support and protect victims.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during their lifetime, more than 1 in 3 women and more than 1 in 6 men experience violence by an intimate partner, and nearly half of women and more than one in six men report experiencing some form of sexual violence. These numbers highlight the pervasiveness of physical and sexual violence. Only a small number of incidents are reported to the police, and an even smaller number result in legal consequences.
While the past few decades have witnessed significant progress in responses to these issues, there are still areas for improvement, particularly in terms of consistency and reducing systemic barriers to reporting.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
More information about my research and consulting can be found on my website at http://drcatherineshaffer.ca. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn, where I share insights on preventing, assessing, and managing crime and violence.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
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