UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 8, Page 11
October 24, 1991
Sociology stars; Two graduate students win prestigious fellowships

     Two University of Delaware doctoral students in sociology have
received prestigious research fellowships after national
competition.
     Patricia Jenkins of Newark has received one of four
dissertation fellowships from the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, a part of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Tonya Williams of Newport News, Va., has received the only graduate
fellowship awarded this year by the American Society of
Criminology, the national 5,000-member professional society for
criminologists in academia.
     Jenkins has bachelor's and master's degrees from Pennsylvania
State University and a law degree from Delaware Law School. She is
writing a dissertation on "Delinquency and the School Bond,"
focusing on young adolescents from 11 to 15. She is observing and
interviewing students in a middle school.
     "What I am discovering is that the weaker the social ties and
involvement are with the school, the higher the risk for delinquent
or deviant behavior," Jenkins said.
     The mother of four with two sons in college, she has taught at
Lincoln University and hopes to complete her Ph.D. by May and to
resume teaching at the college level.
     With a bachelor's degree from Spelman College and a master's
from Yale University, both in sociology, Williams previously held
a Ford Foundation fellowship for three years.
     She is preparing to carry out research on violent and
delinquent female offenders from ages 25-29 in the Newport News and
Richmond areas of Virginia.
     This summer, she worked for the FBI as an analyst/intern,
evaluating the bureau's legal adviser program, maintained by the
FBI for their agents. She hopes to conduct government research
after her degree.
     The sociology graduate program at the University has
approximately 50 graduate students enrolled. Of these, 80 percent
are in sociology and 20 percent are in criminology, Frank
Scarpitti, chairperson of the Department of Sociology, said.
     "These highly competitive and prestigious fellowships awarded
to two of our students are indicative of the quality of the
students we attract and speak well for the program," Scarpitti
said.
                                        - Sue Swyers Moncure