Assistant Professor
Lisa Whittingham (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Disability Studies. She completed her PhD in Child and Youth Studies and MA in Applied Disability Studies at Brock University. Dr. Whittingham is also the Co-Lead of the Mental Health Crisis Response Education and Applied Training Program, a scenario-based, community co-designed curriculum that provides de-escalation, crisis communication, and relational policing training to police officers. She is also a Collaborative Scientist with the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH.
Dr. Whittingham’s research interests centre around disability, the law, and crisis responses. This includes:
a) The interactions of persons labelled with intellectual/developmental disabilities (e.g., autism, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder) with the criminal justice system and the inequalities contributing to their involvement.
b) Helping justice professionals and first responders respond to persons in crisis and involved in the legal system, including those labelled with mental illness and/or intellectual or developmental disabilities.
c) Exploring the construction of vulnerability and risk in the lives of persons labelled with intellectual/developmental disabilities and how these constructions can shape the responses of those around them, and
d) Understanding the construction of disability and embodiment in police professionals and other first responders, and their responses to workplace injuries.
Dr. Whittingham’s areas of research are inspired by her past clinical work and opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration. She is an Ontario-based Registered Behaviour Analyst (RBA(Ont.)) and Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) with over 15 years of experience working with adults labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including those with involvement in criminal justice, forensic, and acute mental health systems.
Dr. Whittingham’s primary research interests include disability studies, criminal justice and policing studies, socio-cultural approaches to risk and responsibilisation, and qualitative and community-based research (particularly inclusive research methodologies). Her secondary research interests include human rights and persons labelled with intellectual/developmental disabilities, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), and media analysis.
The Mental Health Crisis Response Education and Applied Training Program (Ministry of the Solicitor General)
Co-leads: Jennifer Lavoie (Wilfrid Laurier University) & Lisa Whittingham (Brock University)
The Mental Health Crisis Response (MHCR) program is a scenario-based, community co-designed curriculum that provides police officers with evidence-informed and research-validated training in de-escalation, crisis communication, and relational policing. Anchored in the DePICT™ framework (Lavoie et al., 2025), which emphasises dignity, procedural justice, and trauma-informed practices, this program teaches public safety professionals the knowledge and skills to respond effectively, empathetically, and safely to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. Research and development will continue to work with communities to build teaching and evaluation scenarios that support officer learning and demonstrate the effects of this training as it rolls out across the province.
First Contact: Supporting Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence and Brain Injury (SSHRC Connection Grant; FOSS CRISS Grant)
Investigators: Flora Matheson (Unity Health Toronto), Arthur McLuhan (Unity Health Toronto), Catherine A. Wiseman-Hakes (McMaster University), Halina L. Haag (Wilfrid Laurier University), Lisa M. Whittingham (Brock University), Michelle McDonald (Brain Injury Canada), & Stan Gilmour (University of Exeter)
Based on a one-day workshop at the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health (GLEPHA) conference, this project seeks to build a toolkit to support police professionals in Canada and internationally, responding to situations involving intimate partner violence and traumatic brain injury. The workshop brought together stakeholders, including individuals with lived experience, police and public health professionals, and cultural safety specialists, to talk about brain injury in situations involving intimate partner violence and police responses. The toolkit resulting from this workshop will address how police can recognise and respond to potential brain injuries in situations of intimate partner violence, the role of cultural safety, and lived accounts from survivors of intimate partner violence.
Characteristics and Antecedent Events Resulting in Individuals with Developmental Disabilities Being Brought to an Emergency Department by Police
Investigators: Lisa Whittingham, Natasha Fernandes (CAMH), Yona Lunsky (CAMH), & Juveria Zaheer (CAMH)
This study will address the existing research gaps regarding what happens when police bring PWDD to the ED. Using a retrospective chart review of ED health records, this study will (a) explore and describe the information gathered about PWDD brought to ED by police and (b) compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of PWDD identified by police to those identified by ED professionals. Specifically, this study will provide insight into their demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as the antecedent events resulting in police bringing PWDD to the ED and their outcomes. As a secondary objective, this study will also compare PWDD brought to the ED by police to PWDD not brought in by police on demographic and clinical characteristics, antecedent events, and clinical outcomes to determine if there are group differences.
User Experience and Physiological Responses in Virtual Reality (VR) Training for Police Officers
Investigators: John Munoz (Wilfrid Laurier University), Jennifer Lavoie (Wilfrid Laurier University), Lisa Whittingham (Brock University), & Ifigeneia Mavridou (Tilburg University)
The ability to regulate emotional responses is critical for police officers engaged in mental health crisis interventions. This study combines one of the scenarios from the Mental Health Crisis Response program with physiological sensing to offer new insight into officer experiences when de-escalating persons in mental health crisis. This transdisciplinary study combines physiological measures, like heart rate monitors, galvanic skin response, and facial electromyography (fEMG), with data from questionnaires and interviews using video elicitation to examine the feasibility of using VR to assess officer arousal, self-awareness, and decision-making during mental health crises.
I am willing to supervise MA students from both the ABA and LDCC specialisations who are interested in completing a thesis using qualitative methods. Other methodologies will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Students interested in applying to work with me are encouraged to email me in the Fall prior to the application deadline to discuss their research interests.
Current MA Students
2025 – present: Margo Hinchberger (ABA Specialisation)
2025 – present: Mike Lovelay (LDCC Specialisation; co-supervised with J. Cauchi)
Whittingham, L. (2025). Programmes promoted on police service websites to safeguard autistic individuals in Ontario, Canada: An inductive content analysis. Policing: An International Journal, 48(1), 157 – 174. DOI 10.1108/PIJPSM-06-2024-0096
Lunsky, Y., Matheson, F., Kouyoumdjian, F., Whittingham, L., Lin, E., Durbin, A., Calzavara, A , Moser, A., Dastoori, P., Sirotich, F., & Volpe. (2024). Intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ontario’s criminal justice and forensic mental health systems: Using data to tell the story. Criminal Justice and Mental Health. DOI: 10.1002/cbm.2331
Marinos, V., Whittingham, L., Jones, J., & Schneider, R. D. (2023). Forensic neurodevelopmental disabilities: A North American perspective on pathways and services. In, J. McCarthy, R. Alexander, & E. Chaplin (Eds.), Forensic aspects of neurodevelopmental disorders: A clinician guide. Cambridge University Press.
Cooper, S., & Whittingham, L. (2022). Victimisation experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorders and restorative practice approaches to repairing harm. In N. Tyler & A. Sheeran (Eds.), Working with autistic people in the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems: A handbook for practitioners (pp. 163 – 176). Routledge.
Whittingham, L., Cauduro, E., Laplante, J., & Bishop, C. (2022). Interventions for persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities involved with the criminal justice system: A scoping review. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 9, 235–251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-022-00265-1
Matheson, F., Dastoori, P., Whittingham, L., Calzavara, A., Keown, L.A., Durbin, A., Kouyoumdjian, F., Lin, E., Volpe, T., & Lunsky, Y. (2022). Intellectual/developmental disabilities among people incarcerated in federal correctional facilities in Ontario, Canada: Examining prevalence, health and correctional characteristics. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 35(3), 900 – 909. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12995
Lin, E., Whittingham, L., Busch, L., Calzavara, A., Kouyoumdjian, F., Durbin, A., Matheson, F., Dastoori, P., & Lunsky, Y. (2022). Intensive use of forensic inpatient services by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ontario, Canada: Prevalence and associated characteristics. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/14999013.2022.2027047
Marinos, V., & Whittingham, L. (2020). The complexities of criminal responsibility and persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities: How can therapeutic jurisprudence help? American Behavioral Scientist, 64(12), 1715 – 1732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764220956698.
Whittingham, L., Durbin A., Lin, E., Matheson, F., Volpe, T. Dastoori, P., Calzavara, A., Lunsky, Y., & Kouyoumdjian, K. (2020). The representation and characteristics of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in provincial prisons in Ontario, Canada: A population-based retrospective cohort study. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33, 1368-1379. doi: 10.1111/jar.12757
Marinos, V., Stromski, S., Whittingham, L. & Griffiths, D. (2020). Intellectual and developmental disabilities and the criminal justice system. NADD Press.
