Devon Polaschek


Devon Leigh Logan Polaschek is a New Zealand professor of psychology and of Crime Science at the University of Waikato in New Zealand who studies high-risk violent offenders in prisons and on parole.
In 2011, she spoke at the University of Otago about recidivism and about the myth that offenders cannot be treated. She also said that psychopaths who had many previous convictions became worse after poorly implemented treatment. However, in 2014 she published an article dispelling the myths about psychopathy and argues that they can be successfully treated using the same methods that are used in the treatment of high risk, high need, and high responsivity offenders. Currently she continues her research at the Violence Prevention Unit Te Whare Manaakitanga, in Wellington's Rimutaka Prison.
In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Polaschek was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to criminal psychology.

Selected Works