Department of Sociology-Masters

My published research covers a wide variety of issues including self-determination and local control in American Indian education, America Indian justice, attitudes towards AIDs policies, and incarcerated women and their children. My research over the last 10 years has focused exclusively on the relationships between incarcerated mothers and their children, primarily how these connections impact the institutional and post-release behavior of the women offenders. My means of data collection have been in-depth interviews with women incarcerated in the states of Michigan and Nebraska. I have used both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the data. I am transitioning away from research on incarcerated women to a study about the representation of women and women’s issues in media, crime, and violence textbooks. I am also working on a collaborative article about the organization and teaching of sociology capstone courses for undergraduate students.