Alicia Wilson’s research at Adelphi University focuses on the relationship between urban high school students who are truant from school and their involvement in criminal activity during school hours.

Her work is influenced by her eight years as a mental health clinician inside of a New York City juvenile detention center, where she provided direct counseling to incarcerated youth and their families. After those years of helping young people create their own narratives and reintegrate back into society through restorative practices and a trauma-informed lens, Wilson decided to leave the detention center in hopes of reaching young people before they had an opportunity to experience the criminal justice system.

Wilson’s interest in the field of juvenile delinquency was further influenced by her last 15 years providing direct practice as a school social worker in several New York City K-12 settings to students who suffered from various social, psychological or biological factors that have caused their academics to suffer. As a result of her work, Wilson became the director of Student Support Services for one of New York City’s first charter schools to enroll students who identified as runaway or homeless youth, currently involved in foster care or court-involved and decided they wanted a second chance at achieving their high school diploma. In this role, she developed the socio-emotional program and trained school staff on effective ways to deal with such a special population.

Her model is to teach those who stand on the front lines to remember, “that before you view ‘them’ as gang-involved youth or aggressive children, please remember that they are still someone’s son or daughter and they need our support in helping them to find their own voice.” Wilson’s passion for working with these youth has afforded her the opportunity to teach a juvenile delinquency course at Adelphi University.