Isabel Arriagada
I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota with research interests in the sociology of punishment, criminal justice, access to justice, and Latin America.
My interdisciplinary graduate training at the UMN is grounded in a critical perspective on law, crime, and justice. Broadly, as a criminal justice and sociolegal scholar I have researched several aspects of the criminal justice system both from a US and an international perspective. I am particularly interested in how people interact with and inhabit criminal justice institutions, how criminal justice agents deploy and exert state power, and how social groups develop collective ideas about justice.
My primary focus is on studying how penal practitioners develop their professional commitment to criminal justice institutions. In my dissertation research, I explore the life narratives of public servants working in the criminal justice system, through a case study of Defensores, a group of state agents that provide legal aid services to convicted prisoners in Chile. The first chapter of my dissertation is now published in the criminological journal Law, Crime, and Social Change.
Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about my research. I am always happy to discuss my research or similar topics with anyone that might have overlapping interests. You can also follow me on X @arriagadaisabe.
Educational Background
- J.D. : Law, Universidad de Chile, 2012
- M.S. : Sociology, Universidad Católica de Chile, 2015
- M.S. : Sociology, University of Minnesota, 2018
Specialties
- Latin America
- Law, Crime, and Deviance
- Law and Society
- Economic Sociology
- Theories of Punishment