Valerio Baćak joined the faculty in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University in 2015. His primary research interest is in understanding how legal systems of punishment and control shape social inequality, especially inequalities in health. In addition to academic work, Valerio has consulted internationally on public health projects for various United Nations organizations.... Learn More
Dr. Colleen M. Berryessa joined the faculty at the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice in 2018. Her research, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods, considers how psychological processes, perceptions, attitudes, and social contexts affect the criminal justice system, particularly related to courts, sentencing, and forms of punishment broadly defined. She primarily examines these issues, using... Learn More
Frank Edwards received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington in 2017 and joined the Rutgers-Newark School of Criminal Justice in 2018. Dr. Edwards is a sociologist broadly interested in social control, the welfare state, race, and applied statistics. His work explores the causes and consequences of the social distribution of state violence... Learn More
Jason R. Silver is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University-Newark. He received his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany, SUNY in 2018. Broadly, his research centers on exploring the roles of morality and ideology in shaping how people approach criminal justice and crime. His work to... Learn More
Dr. Alejandro Gimenez Santana is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, where he serves as Co-Executive Director of the Newark Public Safety Collaborative (NPSC). Before assuming the position of NPSC Co-Executive Director, he served as a consultant for the World Bank regional office in Bogotá, Colombia,... Learn More
Bill McCarthy joined Rutgers University-Newark in 2020. His early research focused on adolescent offending and relationships with parents, fictive family, peers, and romantic partners. In these studies, he and his co-authors developed ideas about criminal capital, co-offending, success, social bonds, and danger. Some of his more recent research examines overt discrimination and juvenile crime, while... Learn More
Keisha April joined the faculty at the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice in 2022. Dr. April’s research, situated at the intersection of psychology and criminal justice, examines factors that contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system. Specifically, her work seeks to promote a greater understanding of the relationships between communities of... Learn More
Dr. Ebony Ruhland received her Ph.D. from the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on how criminal justice policies and practices impact individuals, families, and communities. Dr. Ruhland is currently working on research projects in four areas: 1) examining factors that lead to probation revocations, including the use probation... Learn More
Michael Ostermann is a Professor at the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University-Newark. His research interests primarily lie within the fields of institutional and community corrections, rehabilitation and reentry, and how they intersect with public policy. His recent work investigates the impact of in-prison and post-release rehabilitative services upon outcomes throughout the life course,... Learn More
Brenden Beck is a sociologist studying policing, city budgets, and housing. A current research project of his investigates how the shift from social services toward policing has influenced long-term crime rates. His previous research examined how cities’ reliance on fine-and-fee revenue affects their frequency of police killings, how police budget size shapes police practices, and... Learn More
