Patricia Murphy, EdD

Instructor of Graduate Psychology

Patricia Murphy has been a part-time professor at American International College since 1999. She works across the disciplines of Criminal Justice, Forensic Psychology and Psychology.  She holds an ED. D.  from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; an M.S. in Criminal Justice and an M.ED. in Special Education from American International College, Springfield; and B.S. in Education from the University of Massachusetts.  She has completed advanced study work at American International College in Psychology.

During a forty-eight-year career in the Massachusetts Criminal Justice system she began her work in juvenile corrections at the Teen Learning Center, followed by Westfield Detention Center and the R.F.K Action Corps for Children in Springfield, MA.  She transitioned to the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department as an Assistant Deputy Superintendent at the Western Mass Correctional Alcohol Center overseeing treatment programming, training, and unit operations.  Promoted to Assistant Superintendent she led the team who opened the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in 2007. She coordinated the Annual Women in Criminal Justice Conference for twenty-four years with a team of women representing all aspects of the criminal justice system. This conference provides opportunities for leadership development and networking for women throughout New England.  She retired from the Sheriff’s Department in 2021. She remains the representative for Sheriff Cocchi and the Mass Sheriffs’ Association on the Governor’s Criminal Justice Reform, Justice Involved Women’s Panel.

She previously taught Women’s Studies courses at the University of Massachusetts when the program was in its initial developmental stage. Since 1999 she has been a member of the American Correctional Association audit team, traveling throughout the country to evaluate and recommend accreditation for medium and minimum-security facilities. She has provided staff training through her employers as well as consulted independently with colleges, public  schools, agencies, and programs in the areas of education and criminal justice.