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Associate Professor
Email: jamie.livingston@smu.ca
Office: McNally South, Room 431 

 

Personal Profile

Ph.D. (Criminology) Simon Fraser University 
M.A. (Criminology) Simon Fraser University
B.A. honours (Psychology) University of Prince Edward Island

Dr. Livingston critically studies a range of issues at the intersection of the mental health, substance use, and criminal legal systems, with a specific focus on people’s experiences with stigma, criminalization, and recovery/ desistance processes. His scholarship often calls attention to the harms created by carceral and coercive interventions that target people with mental health and substance use issues.

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Research Areas

• Criminalization of mental health & substance use
• Forensic mental health
• Non-carceral mobile crisis services
• Labeling and stigma

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Recent Projects and Grants

• Evaluation of the Crisis Intervention and Outreach (CIAO) program being delivered by Peer Support Services & Outreach (POSSE) in West Hants, Nova Scotia (2025-27)
• Community-based evaluation of the Mobile Outreach Street Health Justice Project in Halifax, Nova Scotia (2022-23)

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Recent Publications

• Livingston, J., & Chambers, J. (2024). Civilian mobile crisis services. In  A. Szigeti, R. Dhand, D. Bonnet, & J. Presser. (Eds.), Canadian anthology on mental health and law. Lexis Nexis.
• Salvalaggio, G., Brooks, H., Caine, V., Gagnon, M., Godley, J., Houston, S., Kennedy, M. C., Kosteniuk, B., Livingston, J., Saah, R., Speed, K., Urbanoski, K., Werb, D., & Hyshka, E. (2023). Flawed reports can harm: The case of Supervised Consumption Services in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 114, 928-933. 
• Livingston, J., Bonn, M., Brown, P., Deveau, S., & Houston, A-M. (2022). Experiences of stigma and criminal in/justice among people who use substances. In G. Schomerus & P. Corrigan (Eds.), The stigma of substance use disorders: Explanatory models and effective interventions. Cambridge University Press.
• Livingston, J. D. (2021). Commentary on Kelly et al (2020): The struggle to define or be defined. Addiction, 116, 1768-1769.  https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15425
• Livingston, J. D. (2021). A framework for assessing structural stigma in healthcare contexts for people with mental health and substance use issues. Mental Health Commission of Canada. 
• Livingston, J. D. (2021). Criminal justice responses to people with mental illnesses. In J. V. Roberts & M. G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader. (6^th ed.). Nelson.
• Livingston, J. D. (2021). Supervised consumption sites and crime: Scrutinizing the methodological weaknesses and aberrant results of a government report in Alberta, Canada. Harm Reduction Journal, 18, 4. 

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Recent Media Engagements

• CBC News. (2025, Oct 15). Group calls for fatality inquiry in case of Halifax man who died during arrest. [Text and Radio interview].
• CBC News. (2025, Mar 8). Group calls to end deploying police for wellness checks. [Text and Radio interview].
• CBC Radio. (2025, Feb 26). Civilian alternatives to policing and mental health calls. [Radio interview]. Information Morning Nova Scotia.
• CBC News. (2024, Dec 19). Halifax hopes to launch civilian crisis response team in 2025. [Text interview].  
• CBC News. (2023, Sep 18). Criticism mounts over N.B. public safety minister’s plan to force drug users into rehab. [Text interview].
• CBC News. (2023, Apr 17). N.S. shooting report calls for police to be ‘secondary in public safety work. [Text and TV interview]. 
• Global News. (2023, Apr 3). Mass Casualty Commission recommendations focus on mental health calls. [TV interview]. 

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Current Course Offerings

• CRIM 3505: Prisons and Punishment
• CRIM 4429: Criminalization of Mental Illness