Salih Hakan Can, Ph.D.

Professor, Criminal Justice
Administration Building, 204
Preferred method of contact is email.

S. Hakan Can began his career in law enforcement in 1984. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Law from the Police University in Ankara, Turkey and another in Political Science (International Politics) from Ankara University. During his 18 years in the police force, he worked with Interpol, Turkish National Central Bureau, Central Anti-Smuggling Department, Drugs sub-division, and Fiscal Crimes sub-division. As part of police collaboration, he also worked for or joined the operations in Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania either under Interpol’s or the United Nations’ umbrella.

Dr. Can received his master's in criminology from the University of North Texas and his Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology from Sam Houston State University. During his Ph.D. studies in Texas, Dr. Can worked as research associate at Law Enforcement Management of Texas (LEMIT), the primary law enforcement training institute of the state of Texas. While he worked at LEMIT, he established a program called “Incident Command Simulation,” which received great recognition from the Department of Homeland Security. He and his program also received high appreciation from the Texas National Guard while responding Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

After serving in all ranks of police forces and working with 21 different national police forces around the globe, Dr. Can retired after 18 years of service. He directly experienced the challenges of today’s police work and also experienced the constant risk that compels many officers to make the decision to leave the law enforcement profession. Therefore, his primary research investigations aim to understand these risks by examining predictors of officer perceptions and well-being. Examples of the perceptions and well-being Can investigates include police workplace stressors, police-community conflict, police confidence in lie detection, patrol officer job satisfaction, components of transformative leadership, and risk for police officer obesity, officer-to-officer aggression, and officer-to-romantic-partner aggression. Psychometrically-tested scales were often unavailable for variables, so his research teams developed new measures to evaluate them.

Dr. Can has published five books and over 59 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Criminal Psychology; Deviant Behavior; Police Science and Management; Policing: International Journal of Police Strategies and Management; Policing: Journal of Police and Practice; Family Violence; Interpersonal Violence; Industrial Health; Police Journal:, Police and Criminal Psychology and many more. Additionally, his research has been presented at 41 conferences for professional organizations.

Dr. Can also serves in leadership positions in the American Criminal Justice Society and the North Eastern Criminal Justice Sciences Association, and also served as VP and President of Pennsylvania Criminal Justice Educators Association. Currently, Dr. Can is actively providing training activities for International Association of Chiefs of Police and National Sheriff Association.

Examining predictors of police officer perceptions and well-being.

Psychosocial predictors of some of the most common types of criminal activity that police officers encounter.

The benefits of extensive collaboration, both international and interdisciplinary.

Investigate underlying reasons of inmate violence (impulsivity).

Hendy, M.H., S.H. Can, P.J. Black, A. Fleischut & D. Aksen. (2018). Opioid Abuse as Maladaptive Coping to Life Stressors in U.S. Journal of Drug Issues. V: 48 (4), p. 560-571. DOI: 10.1177/0022042618783454

Can S.H. & G. Ikitemur (2018) Measurement of organizational variables associated with cyber- crime preparedness in Turkey. International Journal of Cybersecurity. V: 2 (2), p. 146-159.

Hendy, H. M., S. H. Can, & P. Black. (2018). Workplace deviance as a possible maladaptive coping behavior displayed in association with workplace stressors. Deviant Behavior. DOI: 10.1080/01639625.2018.1441684.

Can, S. H., H. M. Hendy & D.A. Camlibel. (2017). Comparison of police stressors and negative psychosocial outcomes for officers in departments with and without community conflict directed toward them. Policing Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. V: 10 (1), pp. 44-58. doi.org/10.1177/0032258X17710892

Can, S. H., H. M. Hendy & M.B. Can (2017). A Pilot Study to Develop the Police Transformational Leadership Scale (PTLS) and Examine Its Associations with Psychosocial Well-Being of Officers. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. V: 32 (3), pp. 105-113. DOI: 10.1007/s11896-016-9204-y

Can, S. H., H. Hendy & W. Holt. (2016). Patrol Officer Job Satisfaction Scale (POJSS), Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, V: 39 (4), pp. 710 – 722.

Hendy, H. M., S. H. Can, & L. L. Joseph. (2016). Repressed anger mediates associations between sexual minority stressors and negative psychological outcomes in gay men and lesbian women. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health. V: 20 (3), pp. 147- 164.

Robert T. K., H. M. Hendy & S. H. Can. (2016). Demographic and psychosocial variables associated with good and bad perceptions of social media use. Journal of Computers in Human Behavior. V: 57 (2), pp. 93–98. Doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.002.

Hendy, H. M., S. H. Can, A. Akin & M. J. Terorio. (2016). Parental models for romantic partner violence received by young college women from three counties. Journal of Family Violence. V: 31 (6), pp. 689–695. Doi.10.1007/s10896-015-9792-9

Can, S. H., H. M. Hendy & T. Karagoz. (2015). Models for violence by Turkish police officers toward romantic partners and police partners. Int'l J. Police Sci. & Mgmt., V: 17 (2), pp. 77-98. Doi: 10.1177/1461355715580917

Can, S. H., T. Karagoz & H. M. Hendy. (2015). LEOSS-R: four types of police stressors and negative psychosocial outcomes associated with them. Policing: A Journal of Policing and Practice, V: 45 (2), pp. 1-13. Doi.10.1093/police/pav011.

Can S. H. & H. M. Hendy (2014) Police Stressors, Negative Outcomes Associated with Them and Coping Mechanisms that May Reduce These Associations. The Police Journal. V: 87 (3), pp. 167-177.

Can, S. H., & H. M. Hendy, (2014). Prevalence and predictors of overweight in police officers. Industrial Health. V: 52 (4), pp. 240-247. Reprinted by US Department of Health on January 2015.

Can, S. H., H. M. Hendy, & M. Imbody. (2013). Models for aggression by police officers to romantic partners and police partners. International Journal of Police Science and Management. V: 15 (4), pp. 273-280.

B.S. in Policing and Law, Turkish National Police University

B.S. in Political Science (International Politics) Ankara University

M.A. in Criminology, University of North Texas

Ph.D. in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Sam Houston State University