Matthew Barry Johnson is well known as scholar, activist, and expert witness. He is an associate professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY and he has mentored many young psychologists and academics. Professor Johnson is a life-time member of the Peoples’ Organization for Progress and the NAACP. He is married to Christine Baker, Ph.D. and they have two adult sons.
Matthew earned his Bachelors’ degree at Rutgers University, Newark College of Arts & Science in 1976. His interest in psychology did not emerge until after graduation when he worked in entry level mental health positions. He completed a Masters’ Degree in Psychology at Montclair State College in 1980. He was admitted to the Adelphi University, Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, where he earned the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1984.
Influenced by renown African-American psychologist Kenneth Clark, as well as, Dr. George Jackson, Dr. Johnson established his credentials as a forensic psychologist. Early in his career the New Jersey Supreme Court cited Dr. Johnson’s testimony and publications critiquing ‘Psychological Parent Theory’ in family court disputes. Dr. Johnson subsequently published a series of professional papers, law reviews, and commentaries, advocating the mandatory recording of criminal interrogations which was ultimately adopted as law in New Jersey in 2006. Dr. Johnson also served in the Executive Board of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. His testimony on ‘Secondary Trauma from State Executions’ before the New Jersey Department of Corrections and the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission was published in the Journal of Psychiatry & Law (2006). New Jersey Governor John Corzine signed the bill abolishing the New Jersey death penalty in 2007.
Later in his career, Dr. Johnson began to concentrate his research on wrongful conviction. He subsequently authored “African Americans Wrongly Convicted of Sexual Assault Against Whites…”, “Sex, Race, & Wrongful Conviction”, “Why Innocent Defendants Plead Guilty to Rape Charges”, and “Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma: Wrongful Conviction Risks…”. This line of research led to his major work titled, Wrongful Conviction in Sexual Assault: Stranger Rape, Acquaintance Rape, and Intra-familial Child Sexual Assault published by Oxford University Press (2021) Dr. Johnson received the Frantz Fanon Memorial Award in 2003. On this occasion he delivered the lecture titled, “The Central Park Jogger Case – Police Coercion and Secrecy in Interrogation” which was subsequently published in the Journal of Ethnicity and Criminal Justice. He was named the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Outstanding Teacher in 2007. He was the recipient of the National Association of Black Psychologists, Bobby Wright Award for service to the Black community in 2019. In 2020, Dr. Johnson was awarded the Elizabeth Beckman Award in recognition of his inspiring a student to make an enduring contribution to society.