Visiting Scholar, Center for Restorative Justice
Sheila M. McMahon, Ph.D., M.Div., MSW, LCSW (she/her/hers) is currently a visiting scholar and director for the Restorative Justice and Catholic Social Thought program at the Center for Restorative Justice, University of San Diego. Her research and practice interests revolve around anti-oppressive campus-based and community-level interventions to prevent and address sexualized violence, build a sense of community, and strengthen individual and collective well-being.
Dr. McMahon is engaged in collaborative research locally and nationally which focuses on the role of trauma-informed restorative justice (RJ) responses to sexual harm. Her current research includes authoring the first study in the U.S. of early adopters of restorative justice and transformative justice for campus sexual misconduct. She is a research team member for the Restorative Justice Research Community (RJRC), an interdisciplinary academic community that supports research on restorative justice to improve outcomes and address inequities in the U.S. criminal legal system. Dr. McMahon is a Co-PI for a pilot study on restorative justice responses to military sexual trauma (MST) with Dr. Alissa Ackerman. As a program evaluator, she is the PI for an empowerment evaluation process for the Restorative Justice Network of Catholic Campuses (RJNCC).
Prior to completing her Ph.D., Dr. McMahon worked as a practitioner in the field of campus sexual violence prevention and response for over a decade, often under the umbrella of Student Affairs, and always with the wisdom shared by the survivors whom she was privileged to accompany.
She holds a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from Harvard University. She earned her MSW and Ph.D. at the Rutgers University School of Social Work. Dr. McMahon is a licensed clinical social worker in Florida. In her free time, she enjoys chatting with friends over espresso drinks at her local coffee shop, salsa dancing, and taking walks (preferably at the beach).