About

Donald Bowen, DBA
Independent Researcher · Criminology & Counseling
Oceana, West Virginia

I am an independent researcher working at the intersection of criminology and clinical practice. My work centers on the Criminogenic Embeddedness Model (CEM), a life-course theory of offending that treats strain, social control, and social learning as interacting components of a single relational structure rather than as competing explanations. I am also developing a companion framework, the Recovery Embeddedness Model (REM), that extends this logic to substance abuse recovery and relapse.

I hold a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in Criminal Justice and two master’s degrees, including an MS in Sociology, and I am currently completing a counseling degree in Walden University’s Mental Health Counseling program. Day to day, I work as a substance abuse and mental health counselor, which is where much of the clinical observation behind CEM and REM originates.

Before that, I spent 29 years in corrections, across both penal and community settings, including 19 years as a supervisor in a correctional facility and management of the McDowell County alternative sentencing program.

Research interests

Life-course and developmental criminology
Integrating strain, control, social learning, and network theories
Adult-onset offending and desistance
Substance use relapse and recovery

See my CV for full details.