Solitary confinement typically involves incarcerating people in a prison cell for 23 hours each day, often for months at a time, with strict limits on visits, phone calls, rehabilitative programming, and physical activity. These conditions are psychologically painful, can damage mental health, and increase recidivism, the likelihood of poor labor market outcomes, and elevate mortality risks. Sociologists Bruce Western and Jessica Simes will examine the inequalities and harms of solitary confinement in a Pennsylvania state prison.
To reduce the social and financial costs of incarceration, many criminal jurisdictions are mandating justice-involved individuals to substance and mental health treatment, electronic monitoring, community service, and educational programming. Sociologists Mary Ellen Stitt and Gabriela Kirk will will examine the impacts of mandatory alternative-to-incarceration interventions on well-being and on social inequality. They will conduct in-depth interviews for their study.
The modern economy is highly segmented by class and race, but little research examines how class and race segmentation in employment operate together. Sociologist Zawadi Rucks-Ahidiana will create a new categorization system to better understand how race and class define employment opportunities across the United States. She will analyze data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey, the Census County Business Patterns, and the Census for her study.
In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, roughly two-thirds of Asian Americans voted for Hillary Clinton and 19% voted for Donald Trump. In 2020, support for Trump among Asian Americans increased to 28%, with Filipinos registering the highest amount of support, at 38 percent. Sociologist Sharon M. Quinsaat and political scientist Nico Ravanilla will examine the role of pre-migration political experiences and social relationships in the U.S. in the formation of conservative attitudes and beliefs among Filipino immigrants.
Through a history of urban renewal projects to expand its campus, influence on zoning laws, and its tax-exempt status, Yale University has helped to entrench patterns of racial segregation and inequality between downtown New Haven and surrounding neighborhoods. Sociologists Adam Pittman and Cassi Meyerhoffer will examine how living in poor, segregated neighborhoods close to Yale University affects residents’ daily lives. They will conduct interviews and participant observation for their study.
Childcare responsibilities are essential for child development and the future of our society. Yet unevenly shared childcare duties can stall the mobility trajectories of those disproportionately providing childcare. Sociologist Juan Pedroza will examine how childcare arrangements among mixed-status immigrant households differ from U.S.-born households and how these arrangements affect their social and economic mobility. He will analyze data from the American Time Use Survey for his study.
Research has found the belief that racial inequality is due to cultural or personal differences, as opposed to systemic barriers, is growing amongst Black Americans. Sociologist Jasmine Hill will study the impact of political education (e.g., critical race theory) on Black Americans’ inequality beliefs and susceptibility to predatory inclusion schemes like cryptocurrency. She will conduct a series of survey experiments for her study.
Although most prisoners work behind bars, they are not classified as employees and are thus denied many rights and protections. This workforce suffers sparse wages and harsh treatment without the ability to organize against underregulated conditions. Sociologist Michael Gibson-Light will examine attempts by incarcerated people to unionize in the 1970s to better understand the challenges that today’s imprisoned workers encounter. He will conduct a historical analysis of three labor organizations that were at the center of the 1970s prison labor movement for his study.
Previous scholarship on homelessness has focused on single, street-homeless, adult men and has largely neglected to examine the experiences of homeless families and children. Sociologist Sean Drake will explore how homelessness impacts children’s experiences with school, including how homelessness makes schooling unpredictable, inconsistent, and challenging. He will conduct participant observation, in-depth interviews, and diary interviews for his study.
A landmark series of studies found that the preferences of average citizens have no significant impact on the passage of public policy. Using the War on Poverty in the 1960s as a case study, sociologist Tarun Banerjee will investigate what factors best explain the implementation of federal policy. He will analyze the distribution of Community Action Program grants, county-level administrative data, and data from the Dynamics of Contentious Action dataset for his study.