UMass Boston

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Elizabeth Brown

Department:
Sociology
Title:
Associate Professor
Location:
Wheatley Hall Floor 04

Biography

Dr. Brown joined the Sociology Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston in the fall of 2014. Prior to coming to UMass Boston, she was a member of the faculty in the Criminology and Criminal Justice department at Niagara University. Dr. Brown grew up in Senegal, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), and Bangladesh. She went to high school in Amherst, MA. After graduating from Tufts University with a B.A. in Psychology in 2000, she went on to receive a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany, State University of New York, in 2009. Her research on the social determinants of public opinion about crime and justice, U.S. state-level penal policy, and the moral and political dimensions of public support for punitive measures has been published in Punishment & Society, the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Crime and Delinquency, and other academic journals. Her current research considers the ways in which animus towards the poor and anti-Black racial animus shape views about poverty and punishment, and the ways in which personal perceived precarity shape public views of social class.

Area of Expertise

Law and society, moral politics, determinants of public views, punishment and precarity

Degrees

PhD, State University of New York, Albany (SUNY-Albany)

Professional Publications & Contributions