Dr. Stephens has been at the College of Criminal Justice at The University of South Carolina (USC) since 1976 and has taught a course in "The Future of Criminal Justice" since arriving at USC. He also teaches the undergraduate and graduate courses examining the criminal justice system, along with a number of specialty courses, including one in which he examines the impact of popular movies on the public and on criminal justice practitioners.

He received his Ph.D. in Criminology and Public Policy from Emory University in 1976 and also has degrees from Georgia State University (M.S. in Urban Studies - Criminal Justice, 1974) and the University of Tennessee (B.S. in Journalism, 1961).

From 1972-76, he served as assistant to the dean in the College of Urban Studies at Georgia State University, directing projects such as an LEAA-funded study of the causes of campus riots. From 1960-72, he was a working journalist on newspapers - The Knoxville Journal, The Atlanta Times, The Cincinnati Enquirer, and The Atlanta Constitution and for United Press International. His specialty was police and investigative reporting and coverage of politics.

For more than two decades, he has specialized in research, writing, and consulting on the future; developing and presenting programs to such groups as The Office of Technological Assessment of the U.S. Congress, The Center for Improvement of Public Management, The International Association of Chiefs of Corrections, The Criminal Justice Institute, The California Command College, The Florida Criminal Justice Executive Institute. The Canadian Police College, The Minnesota Police Training Council, The National Association of Pretrial Service Agencies, The Commission on the Future of Virginia's Judicial System, The U.S. Army Transportation Safety Institute, The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, The North Carolina Governor's Crime Commission, and so forth.

A former editor of the Criminal Justice Review and the Southern Journal of Criminal Justice, he is currently criminal justice editor of the Futurist, the Journal of the World Future Society, and author of numerous articles on criminal justice and the future, as well as books including The Future of Criminal Justice, and co-author of Foundations of Criminal Justice.