MEET OUR TEAM!!
Principal Investigator, Dr. Caroline Erentzen, LLB/PhD
Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University. I study the intersection of psychology and law and the way that social identities influence the risk of violence and victimization. Prior to pursing an academic career path in psychology, I obtained a law degree and practiced as a lawyer at the Ontario bar (2007-2019).
Graduate students
Sarah Martin, BA, MA
Sarah is a PhD student working under the supervision of Dr. Erentzen. Her research interests include the stigmatizing consequences of being falsely accused of child sexual abuse, and how offence stigma may affect the presumption of innocence. She completed her BA in Psychology at York University, and her MA at TMU with Dr. Erentzen. Personal interests include the history of psychology, the history of crime, Indigenous culture, and the study of religion
Raquelle Martinez, BA
Raquelle is a Master's student working under the supervision of Dr. Erentzen. She graduated from Queen's University with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Sociology, having done her Honours thesis on cross-cultural differences in communication. her research interests include wrongful convictions, race and prejudice, and how invoking the right to silence may affect blame attributions in wrongful conviction cases. Personal interests include health, fitness, crime, and prejudice in policing.
Undergraduate thesis students
Serena Powell
Serena is a fifth-year undergraduate student pursuing a major in psychology and a minor in sociology at TMU. She is interested in how gender, race, and sexuality inform psychological phenomena. Her thesis investigates the landscape of child influencers and how we perceive the risk of harm and exploitation. She hopes to pursue postgraduate studies in the future and one day open her own practice.
Daniela Zelenkova
Daniela is a fourth year student at TMU pursuing her honours thesis with the PLJ lab. Her thesis investigates the stigma of being falsely accused of an offence vs being exonerated for the same offence and how this may affect employment. She hopes to pursue graduate studies in the future.
Lab Manager
Danielle Castelhano
Danielle is a fifth-year undergraduate student who completed a thesis in the PLJ lab last year. She won a competitive URO position to work full time with the lab over the summer and will monitor projects over the year. Her research interests involve perceptions of sexual harassment, gender and gender norms, and toxic masculinity.
Research Assistants
Ann-Marie Paris
Ann-Marie completed an independent project with the PLJ lab in the winter of 2025 and is remaining on as a research assistant. She was involved in a systematic review of adolescent male victims of dating violence and markers of risk and resilience. She is currently completing a Honours thesis with another lab at TMU.
Emma Russo
Emma is a fourth-year student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is majoring in Law, Justice, and Society and minoring in Psychology. Emma joined the PLJ lab in the summer of 2024 and assisted with compiling a database of exonerated persons. She is currently assisting on a new project pertaining to young male victimization experiences of intimate partner violence.
Keelan Hughes
Keelan is a third-year undergraduate student at TMU majoring in Psychology. He has assisted with a project examining stranger harassment and will continue working with the lab this year. His academic interests include social psychology, mental health, and the intersection of psychology and law. He hopes to pursue graduate studies in the future.
Past STudents and ALUMNI
