Mariam Elassal (’24) was just two semesters away from field placement in the Social Work program at JMU when life took her in a different direction. She planned to earn her degree in Social Work with a focus on criminal justice policy, but after reviewing her academic requirements, Elassal realized the constraints of the program would prevent her from completing her Youth Justice minor.
“The level of disappointment and grief I felt made me realize that I cared far more about the justice studies and public policy aspect of my future career,” she said. The current undergraduate social work program she was pursuing didn’t offer that focus.
When she shared her disappointment with her roommate, she learned about a program offering study topics that didn’t fit within traditional disciplinary boundaries. Initially this sounded too good to be true.
“In my social work and youth-justice courses, there was a constant image in my mind of arrows connecting the culture of the U.S. from its founding to Jim Crow and the War on Drugs; inequitable policies that produced gaps in access to resources … the punitive approach to the justice system; and the coinciding poor treatment of former offenders,” Elassal said.
“I would talk about it with professors and classmates, but it never felt like anyone saw the gravity of this the way I do. The first time I felt truly seen in this thought pattern was the first time I met with Dr. Chamberlin to discuss why I wanted to create my own major.” Feeling understood and appreciated for her areas of interest, Elassal realized the program would be the right fit.
Her official major is Reforming Systems of Justice, and her curriculum stands on four disciplinary pillars: social work, public policy, sociology and justice studies, each of which played a unique role in her studies.
“Social work gave me the foundation of the advocacy piece, and public policy was important for me to learn because my outlook for justice reform is heavily based in policy change,” she shared. “The sociology portion was key because my thoughts about the justice system … are heavily based in how culture influences systems and vice versa.”
In her senior year, she undertook two massive research projects. The first, her capstone, took her across state borders to Memphis, Tennessee. “My capstone was an incredibly unique experience,” she said. “I led an interdisciplinary group in collaboration with a local, family-resource center director in Memphis to create solutions for the disconnect between the community and the youth-justice system.
“Our understanding of the problem, and therefore our research question, was constantly evolving throughout the semester. Overall, we aimed to create an educational space for stakeholders to connect with one another and explain their perspectives, building empathy and preventing the rollback of policies in their youth-justice system that align with adolescent development science.”
To fulfill her career and advocacy goals, she interned in Virginia with Fairfax County’s youth-justice system as part of her senior project. “It was important for me to gain hands-on experience working within the justice system — to dive deeper into a specific topic that incorporated all of my disciplines and apply the knowledge from both to create this project,” she shared.
During her undergraduate studies, Elassal was also editor-in-chief of The Independent Scholar e-zine — an outlet for Independent Scholars students to share short pieces related to their areas of research during their time in the program. With the help of Frana, Elassal has discussed expanding e-zine submissions to students in similar programs across the country.
Since graduating, Elassal is leveraging her Independent Scholars experience by drawing on the traits it instilled in her. “Designing my own major required significant ambition, initiative and passion,” she said. “I’ve been able to demonstrate these qualities to employers by explaining what the process entailed and how I went to all of this effort because of my belief in a better future for the way we handle crime, and faith that this can be achieved through interdisciplinary collaboration.”
So far, she has sat on several panels and presented her research at numerous conferences and symposiums, including a JMU Board of Visitors meeting. This past summer, she spoke at the Transformation of Youth Justice Symposium in San Diego, California.