About
About Dr. Kotlaja
Dr. Marijana M. Kotlaja is a quantitative criminologist, researcher, and consultant whose work focuses on violence prevention and public policy, policing, cross-comparative criminology, communities and crime, and juvenile delinquency. She is a Senior Associate at Justice System Partners and the founder of MK Research LLC, an independent practice focused on international and comparative criminology, expert witness work, speaking, and quantitative methods training.
Her interest in criminology took shape during early travels to Southeastern Europe, where she saw firsthand how many theories of criminal behavior fail to translate across cultural contexts. That observation has shaped a research program built around comparative work in the Western Balkans, fieldwork conducted in Serbo-Croatian, and a methodological commitment to mixed-methods, community-based participatory, and transnational research designs.
She has more than ten years of experience conducting research and teaching in higher education, and has led several evaluation studies examining the effectiveness of violence prevention and intervention programs and the broader social impacts of criminal justice policies. Her recent research is featured in Crime & Delinquency, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, European Journal of Criminology, and Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice. She is co-author of Policing during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Perspective (Springer, 2024).
Dr. Kotlaja received her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (2019). She previously served as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City (2022–2025) and Missouri State University (2019–2022). She is fluent in Serbo-Croatian, proficient in German, and based in Kansas City, Missouri.
She is also the founder of Balkan Networking in Kansas City, a community connecting Balkan diaspora professionals across the region, and has been featured in the PBS documentary A Tale of 3 Cities.
Justice System Partners profile →Balkan Networking in KC (LinkedIn) →Watch on PBS →
In the Field
International & Comparative Work
Fieldwork, briefings, and convenings across the Western Balkans — including the United Nations Office in Belgrade and the OSCE Mission to Serbia.
Violence Prevention & Community Work
Partnerships with the Kansas City Violence Prevention Fund, KCMO City Hall, KCPD, and community organizations advancing evidence-based public safety.
