(on sabbatical)

Dr. Jordan Fairbairn

Program Coordinator/Associate Professor

Phone: 4376
Email: jfairba4@uwo.ca

Dr. Jordan Fairbairn’s research focuses broadly on gender, feminist criminology, violence, and media, with a focus on intimate femicide and the role of media in gender-based violence prevention. Dr. Fairbairn is a member of the expert panel of the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA) and was previously Co-Investigator with the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative with Vulnerable Populations (CDHPIVP). Previous and ongoing work explores Canadian news portrayals of femicide, including a current SSHRC Insight Grant Project (2021-2025) titled “Representing intimate femicide in Canada: Understanding media framing of gender-related killings of women and girls, 2010-2024,” in collaboration with Dr. Myrna Dawson (co-applicant) and Dr. Yasmin Jiwani (collaborator). Her recent publications have focused on changing news media representation of intimate partner femicide as prevention work; feminist criminology, intersectionality, and intimate partner violence; preventing domestic homicides among vulnerable populations, the role of social media in VAW prevention, and developing stronger social responses to youth dating violence.

Current Grants

• Representing intimate femicide in Canada: Understanding media framing of gender-related killings of women and girls, 2010-2024. Principal Investigator: Jordan Fairbairn. Co-Investigators: Myrna Dawson. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant, $191,096
• Service provider conceptualizations of intimate partner violence and trauma: A critical discourse analysis. Principal Investigator: Stephanie Baird. Co-Investigator: Jordan Fairbairn. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant, $55,310.

Academic Appointments

• Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, King’s University College at Western University
• Affiliate Faculty Member, Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Faculty of Social Science, Western University
• Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence (CSSLRV), University of Guelph
• Research Associate, Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children (CREVAWC), Western University

Education

• Ph.D. in Sociology – Carleton University 
• M.A. in Sociology – University of Guelph 
• B.A. with Honours in Criminology – Carleton University 

Teaching

Sociology 2266 – Crime & Society (formerly Introduction to Criminology)
Sociology 3358 – Women in Crime 
Sociology 3359 – Gender, Violence, and Digital Media 
Sociology 4439 – Domestic Violence 

Research

Feminist criminology, gender, violence, domestic homicide, media

Selected Publications

Fairbairn, J., Boyd, C., Jiwani, Y., & M. Dawson. (2023). Changing media representations of femicide as primary prevention. Chapter 50 in M. Dawson & Saide Mobayed (Eds.). The Routledge International Handbook of Femicide/Feminicide.

Fairbairn, J. (2022). The nature and necessity of intersectionality to feminist criminological work on intimate partner violence. In D. Silva and M. Deflem (Eds.) Pp. 135–150, “Diversity in Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies”, Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance, Volume 27, Emerald Publishing Limited. ISSN: 1521-6136/doi:10.1108/S1521-613620220000027009.

Fairbairn, J. (2020). Before# MeToo: Violence against women social media work, bystander intervention, and social change. Societies, 10(3), 51.

Fairbairn, J., Jaffe, P, & C. Queshi. (2020). “Domestic homicides in teens and young adult dating relationships: Ignoring the dangers of dangerous relationships.” In P. Jaffe, A. Straatman, and K. Scott (Eds.) Pp. 87-109 in Preventing Domestic Homicides: Lessons Learned from Tragedies. Elsevier Academic Press. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819463-8.00005-8

Fairbairn, J., Sutton, D., Dawson, M., & P. Jaffe. (2019). “Putting definitions to work: Reflections from the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative with Vulnerable Populations.” In L. Alberth and D. Bühler-Niederberger (Eds.) “Victim, Perpetrator, or What Else? Generational and Gender Perspectives on Children, Youth, and Violence”. Sociological Studies of Children and Youth. Volume 27, 67-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-46612019000002500

Fairbairn, J. (2019). The public sociologist as a university-community hybrid: Lessons from feminism. Critical Sociology, 45(2), pp. 285–304. (First Published November 10, 2017 https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920517737142)

Fairbairn, J. and D. Spencer. (2018). Virtualized violence and anonymous juries: Unpacking Steubenville’s ‘Big Red’ sexual assault case and the role of social media. Feminist Criminology, 13(5), pp. 477–497 (First Published January 20, 2017 https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085116687032)

Fairbairn, J., Jaffe, P., & M. Dawson. (2017). “Challenges in defining domestic homicide: Considerations for research & practice.” In M. Dawson (Ed.) Domestic Homicides and Death Reviews: An International Perspective. Palgrave McMillan.

Fairbairn, J. (2015). “Rape threats and revenge porn: Defining sexual violence in the digital age.” Pp. 229-251 in J. Bailey & V. Steeves (Eds.) E-Girls, E-Citizens: Putting Technology Theory, Policy, & Education into Dialogue with Girls’ and Young Women’s Voices. Ottawa: uOttawa Press. Available at: http://www.ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/32376

Fairbairn, J. and M. Dawson. (2013). Canadian news coverage of intimate partner homicide: Analyzing changes over time. Feminist Criminology, 8(3): 147-176.