Totten and Associates

Dr. Mark Totten works with groups across Canada and in other countries on evidence-based practices in the areas of gangs, sexual exploitation and trafficking, crime prevention, mental health, child maltreatment and family violence, bullying and harassment, corrections and policing, and gender identity.  Along with his partner Sharon Dunn, he is President of Totten and Associates, a consulting company with the mission of “doing social justice science that makes a real difference in the lives of complex need people and their communities”.  He is currently collaborating with groups in Ontario and Western Canada in the development and evaluation of multi-year gang prevention, intervention and suppression strategies.  He is also involved in long-term projects with First Nations groups in remote northern communities focused on ending cycles of violence.  Mark is past Director of Research at the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa (1987-2007) and has worked with high-risk children, youth, adults and families for over thirty years.  His career started in 1980 coordinating recreation programs in Ottawa social housing communities, continuing on with work in Kingston Penitentiary and the child welfare and youth justice fields.  He has a Master of Social Work and a Ph.D. in Sociology.  He is a well-known expert witness for both Crown and Defence Counsel on gangs, prison subculture, and street crimes.  He is also a certified social worker.  He has authored over 60 books, academic articles and government reports, including Guys, Gangs and Girlfriend Abuse (2000), When Children Kill: A Social- Psychological Study on Youth Homicide (2002), and Promising Practices for Addressing Youth Involvement in Gangs (2008).  His latest book, Nasty, Brutish and Short: The Lives of Gang Members in Canada, will be published in March 2012.  He is a frequent media commentator and keynote speaker at provincial, national and international conferences.