Education

2018 Tulane University, B.S.
2023 Northeastern University, M.S.
2006 Northeastern University, Ph.D.

Courses Taught

Introduction to Criminology
Introduction to Criminal Justice

Career Specialties

Heather Paterson's career interests center on understanding the biological and neurocognitive impacts of adverse childhood experiences and early-life adversity, and how these experiences shape pathways to delinquent behavior. She is committed to making the juvenile justice system more responsive to trauma-affected youth to break cycles of intergenerational criminal justice involvement. She is looking to partner with local agencies to implement and evaluate trauma-informed programs or interventions.

Professional and Community Activities

Paterson’s research examines the biological and neurocognitive impacts of adverse childhood experiences and early life adversity, with a focus on how these experiences shape pathways into antisocial and deviant behavior. Her work is animated by a broader commitment to making the juvenile justice system more responsive to trauma-affected youth and to interrupting cycles of intergenerational criminal justice involvement. A central thread of this work is expanding the use of evidence-based developmental crime prevention programs so that youth with significant early adversity can access resources that help them avoid or minimize contact with the justice system. In addition, she has collaborated with a New England public school system to investigate correlates of chronic absenteeism and to provide evidence-based recommendations to help the district mitigate this issue.

Recent publications focused on development and crime prevention:

Paterson, H., and Welsh, B. C. (2024). Is it time for the use of pair-matching in all randomized controlled trials of crime and violence prevention? A review of the research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 74, 101889. 

Welsh, B.C., Paterson, H., Rocque, M., and Farrington, D.P. (2024). Early developmental crime prevention and social impact over the life-course. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 714(1), 74-96. 

Welsh, B. C., Paterson, H., and Farrington, D. P. Early Prevention as an Alternative to Imprisonment: The Research Evidence on Monetary Costs and Benefits. (2023). In M. Tonry & B. Welsh (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Crime and Justice Policy. Oxford University Press. 

Relatedly, she looks forward to publishing work from her dissertation entitled “Unraveling the Influences of Childhood Trauma, Neurocognitive Functioning, and Genetic Influences on Delinquent Behavior.”

In addition, Paterson contributed to the development of the first quantitative and qualitative dataset on the experiences of juvenile lifers that includes those currently incarcerated. This dataset has produced a forthcoming book chapter examining the role of hope among those under 18 years of age sentenced to life without parole (Paterson et al., in press), with additional articles in preparation. Finally, Paterson is involved with the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study, the longest-running longitudinal study of the correlates of juvenile delinquency. Publications in this area include a historical analysis of the study’s mid-life follow-up under Joan McCord, and a cohort profile of the study.

Paterson, H., and Welsh, B.C. (2025). Iatrogenic effects and the myth of the downfall of delinquency prevention: Joan McCord and the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study, 1975-2004. British Journal of Criminology. azaf105, 0-18. 

Welsh, B. C., Zane, S. N., Yohros, A., and Paterson, H. (2022). Cohort Profile: the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study (CSYS). Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 9, 149-168. 

Honors and Awards

2026 Donna Bishop PhD Student Award - Northeastern University
2025-2026 College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH) Outstanding Teaching Award - Northeastern University