Christopher Uggen

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Christopher Uggen (pronounced You-Gun) is Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight Professor of Sociology and Law at the University of Minnesota and a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology. He studies crime, law, and justice, firm in the belief that sound research can help build a more just and peaceful world. With Jeff Manza, he wrote Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy, and his writing on felon voting, work and crime, and harassment and discrimination is frequently cited in media such as the New York Times, The Economist, and NPR. Current projects include a comparative study of reentry from different types of institutions, employment discrimination and criminal records, crime and justice after genocide, and the health effects of incarceration. His outreach and engagement projects include editing Contexts Magazine (from 2007-2011) and TheSocietyPages.Org (both with Doug Hartmann), a book series and multimedia social science hub drawing over one million readers per month.

Educational Background & Specialties

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Educational Background

Ph.D.: Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 1995 - none
M.S.: Sociology, University of Wisconsin, , 1990 - none
B.A.: Behavioral Science and Law/Criminal Justice, University of Wisconsin, , 1986 - none

Specialties

Crime, Law, Justice
Life Course
Inequality
Methods
Policy

Publications

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Publications

"Settling Down and Aging Out: Toward an Interactionist Theory of Desistance and the Transition to Adulthood,” with Michael Massoglia. 2010. American Journal of Sociology 116:543-582.
"Productive Addicts and Harm Reduction: How Work Reduces Crime – But Not Drug Use,” with Sarah Shannon. 2014. Social Problems 61:105-136.
"Piling On: Collateral Consequences and Community Supervision,” with Robert Stewart. 2015. Minnesota Law Review 99:1871-1910.
"Records, Relationships, and Reentries: How Specific Punishment Conditions Affect Family Life." 2016. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 665:142-148.
"Blended Sentencing Laws and the Punitive Turn in Juvenile Justice," with Shelley Schaefer. 2016. Law & Social Inquiry 41:435-63.
"Legal Ambiguity in Managerial Assessments of Criminal Records," with Sarah Lageson and Mike Vuolo. 2014. Law & Social Inquiry 40:175-204.
"The Edge of Stigma: An Experimental Audit of the Effects of Low-Level Criminal Records on Employment," with Mike Vuolo, Sarah Lageson, Ebony Ruhland, and Hilary Whitham. 2014. Criminology 52:627-654.
"Employment and Exile: U.S. Criminal Deportations, 1908-2005," with Ryan King and Michael Massoglia. 2012. American Journal of Sociology 117:1786-1825.
Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy, with Jeff Manza. 2006, 2008. NY: Oxford University Press.
"Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power," with Heather McLaughlin and Amy Blackstone. 2012. American Sociological Review 77:625-647.
"Why Not Minnesota? Norway, Justice Reform, and 50-Labs Federalism,” with Robert Stewart and Veronica Horowitz. 2018. Federal Sentencing Reporter 31:5-13.
"Taste Clusters of Music and Drugs: Evidence from Three Analytic Levels," with Michael Vuolo and Sarah Lageson. 2014. British Journal of Sociology, 65:520-554.
"Statistical Power in Experimental Audit Studies: Cautions and Calculations for Matched Tests with Nominal Outcomes," with Mike Vuolo and Sarah Lageson. 2016. Sociological Methods & Research 45:260-303.
"Consistency and Compensation in Mercy: Commutation in the Era of Mass Incarceration,” with Veronica Horowitz. 2019. Social Forces 97:1205-1230.
The Contexts Reader. 2012. Edited with Douglas Hartmann. NY: W.W. Norton.
Getting Culture. 2015. Edited with Douglas Hartmann. NY: W.W. Norton.
Owned. 2015. Edited with Douglas Hartmann. NY: W.W. Norton.
Color Lines and Racial Angles. 2014. Edited with Douglas Hartmann. NY: W.W. Norton.
Crime and the Punished. 2014. Edited with Douglas Hartmann. NY: W.W. Norton.
The Social Side of Politics. 2013. Edited with Douglas Hartmann. NY: W.W. Norton.
"From Daddy's Liquor Cabinet to Home Depot: Shifts in Leisure Activity in the Transition to Adulthood," with Sarah Shannon and D. Wayne Osgood. 2017. Pp. 163-189 in Crossings to Adulthood: How Diverse Young Americans Understand and Navigate their Lives. Edited by T. T. Swartz, D. Hartmann, and Rubén G. Rumbaut. The Netherlands: Brill.
Assigned: Life with Gender. 2016. Edited with Lisa Wade and Douglas Hartmann. NY: W.W. Norton.
"Incarceration and the Health of the African American Community," with Jason Schnittker and Michael Massoglia. 2011. Du Bois Review 8:133-141.
"Employment Restrictions for Individuals with Felon Status and Racial Inequality in the Labor Market," with Darren Wheelock and Heather Hlavka. 2011. Pages 278-307 in Global Perspectives on Re-Entry edited by Ikponwosa O. Ekunwe and Richard S. Jones. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press.
"Incarceration and Stratification," with Sara Wakefield. 2010. Annual Review of Sociology 36:387-446.
"Public Criminologies," with Michelle Inderbitzin. 2010. Criminology and Public Policy 9:725-750.
"Legal Consciousness and Responses to Sexual Harassment," Amy Blackstone and Heather McLaughlin. 2009. Law & Society Review 43:631-668.
"The Institutional Effects of Incarceration: Spillovers From Criminal Justice to Health Care," with Jason Schnittker, Sarah Shannon, and Suzy Maves McElrath. 2015. Milbank Quarterly 93:516-560.
“The Growth, Scope, and Spatial Distribution of People with Felony Records in the United States, 1948-2010," with Sarah Shannon, Jason Schnittker, Michael Massoglia, Melissa Thompson, and Sara Wakefield. 2017. Demography 54:1795-1818.
"Techniques of Neutralization and Identity Work among Genocide Perpetrators," with Emily Bryant, Emily Schulz, and Hollie Nyseth Brehm. 2018. Social Problems 65:584-602.
"The Economic and Career Effects of Sexual Harassment on Working Women," with Heather McLaughlin and Amy Blackstone. 2017. Gender & Society 31:333-358.
"Race, Recession, and Social Closure in the Low Wage Labor Market," with Mike Vuolo and Sarah Lageson. 2017. Research in the Sociology of Work 30:141-183.
"The Increasing Stickiness of Public Labels," with Lindsay Blahnik. 2016. Pp. 222-243 in Global Perspectives on Desistance. Edited by Joanna Shapland, Stephen Farrall, and Anthony Bottoms. UK: Routledge.
"The Increasing Stickiness of Public Labels," with Lindsay Blahnik. 2016. Pp. 222-243 in Global Perspectives on Desistance. Edited by Joanna Shapland, Stephen Farrall, and Anthony Bottoms. NY: Routledge.
"Age, Gender, and the Crime of Crimes: Toward a Life-Course Theory of Genocide Participation," with Hollie Nyseth Brehm and Jean-Damascéne Gasanabo. 2016. Criminology 54:713-743.
"Parental Incarceration: What We Know and Where We Need to Go," with Suzy McElrath. 2014. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 104:597-604.
"Genocide, Justice, and Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts," with Hollie Nyseth Brehm and Jean-Damascène Gasanabo. 2014. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 30:333-52.
"'I Didn’t Recognize it as a Bad Experience until I was Much Older': Age, Experience, and Workers’ Perceptions of Sexual Harassment," with Amy Blackstone and Jason Houle. 2014. Sociological Spectrum 34:314-337.
"How Work Affects Crime-And Crime Affects Work-Over The Life Course," with Sarah Lageson. 2013. Pp. 201-212 in Handbook of Life-Course Criminology: Emerging Trends and Directions for Future Research. Edited by Chris L. Gibson and Marvin D. Krohn. NY: Springer.
"Out and Down: Incarceration and Psychiatric Disorders," with Jason Schnittker and Michael Massoglia. 2012. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 53:448-464.
"Dealers, Thieves, and the Common Determinants of Drug and Non-Drug Illegal Earnings," with Melissa Thompson. 2012. Criminology 50:1057-1087.
"Institutions, Politics, and Mental Health Parity," with Elaine Hernandez. 2012. Society and Mental Health 2:154-171.
"The Impact of Sexual Harassment on Depressive Symptoms during the Early Occupational Career," with Jason N. Houle, Jeremy Staff, Jeylan T. Mortimer, and Amy Blackstone. 2011. Society and Mental Health 1:89-105.
"Welfare and Citizenship: The Effects of Government Assistance on Voting Behavior," with Teresa Swartz, Amy Blackstone, and Heather McLaughlin. 2009. The Sociological Quarterly 50:633-665.
"Real Men Use Non-Lethals: Appeals to Masculinity in Marketing Police Weaponry," with Jesse Wozniak. 2009. Feminist Criminology 4:274-293.
"Sexual Harassment Comes of Age: A Comparative Analysis of the United States and Japan," with Chika Shinohara. 2009. The Sociological Quarterly 50:201-234.
"Editorial Introduction: The Effect of Criminal Background Checks on Hiring Ex-Offenders," 2008. Criminology and Public Policy 7:367-370.
"Criminal Record Questions in the Era of ‘Ban the Box’," with Michael Vuolo and Sarah Lageson. 2017. Criminology and Public Policy 8:139-165.
"Is the Public Getting Smarter on Crime?," with Ryan Larson. 2017. Contexts 16(4):76-78.
"A Dynamic, Life Course Approach to Genocide," with Hollie Nyseth Brehm and Suzy McElrath. 2018. Social Currents 5:107-119.
"Criminal Records and College Admissions: A National Experimental Audit," with Robert Stewart. Forthcoming 2020. Criminology. DOI 10.1111/1745-9125.12229

Activities

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Activities

Professional

Vice President: American Sociological Association. 2017 - 2018
Chair: ASA Crime, Law, Deviance Section. 2014 - 2015
Vice Chair: University of Minnesota Faculty Consultative Committee. 2014 - 2015
Editor & Publisher, TheSocietyPages.org: The Society Pages (TSP) is an open-access social science project headquartered in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota and supported by individual donors and publishing partner W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. TSP consists of in-house “TSP HQ” articles, blogs, and podcasts; our “Community Pages”; and content produced by our partners.. 2010 - 2017
Chair: College of Liberal Arts Council of Chairs (28 departments). 2010 - 2011
Chair, College Plan Committee (with Gary Oehlert) 2009 - 2011
Editor, Contexts (with Doug Hartmann) 2007 - 2011
Department Chair, Department of Sociology 2006 - 2012
American Society of Criminology Executive Board 2002 - 2009
Editorial Boards: American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency,Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. 1996 - 2020

Research

Grand Challenge Interdisciplinary Work Group Collaboration. ($249,000): "Assessing Interventions for Justice and Equity." [co-PI with Myron Orfield]. 9/1/16 - 9/1/18
PENDING. National Science Foundation ($487,822): Collaborative Research: Genocide and Transitional Justice in Rwanda [co-PI with Hollie Nyseth Brehm]. 8/1/16 - 7/31/19
Spencer Foundation ($49,975): Criminal Records, Race, and College Admission.” [co-PI with Robert Stewart]. 10/15/15 - 10/14/16
Laura and John Arnold Foundation ($3,506,048): Multi-state Study of Monetary Sanctions [co-I with Alexes Harris (PI), Beth Huebner, Karin Martin, Mary Pattillo, Becky Pettit, Bryan Sykes, and Sarah Shannon]. 7/1/15 - 6/30/20
American Sociological Association Fund for Advancement of the Discipline ($6,960): “Genocide, Justice, and Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts [co-PI with Hollie Nyseth Brehm].. 7/1/14 - 6/30/15
RWJF Investigator Award ($415,216): Incarceration and Health, with Jason Schnittker. 6/1/10 - 5/30/14
National Science Foundation. “Political Consequences of Felon Disenfranchisement.” [with Jeff Manza, Northwestern] 6/1/99-12/31/02. $210,000 ($101,570 at Minnesota).
JEHT Foundation. “The Effects of Low-Level Offense Records and Race on Employability” [PI with The Council on Crime and Justice]. [PI with The Council on Crime and Justice]. 5/1/07- 10/31/08. $265,300 ($80,000 at Minnesota).
NIH - National Institute of Mental Health. “Work Experience and Mental Health: A Panel Study of Youth.” [Co-Investigator with Jeylan Mortimer (PI) and Michael Finch]. 3/1/97- 2/28/02. $845,304.
The Sentencing Project. “Voting and Civic Reintegration in Oregon.” [Co-PI with Michelle Inderbitzin]. 6/1/06-12/31/08. $5,500.
National Institute of Justice. “Careers in Crime and Substance Use.” $45,903.
NIH - National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. “Work Experience and Mental Health: A Panel Study of Youth” [Co-Investigator with Jeylan Mortimer (PI) et al.]. 8/12/02-8/11/07. $1,557,287.
NIH - National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. “Work Experience and Mental Health: A Panel Study of Youth.” [Co-Investigator with Jeylan Mortimer (PI) et al.]. 4/1/08-3/31/13. $1,250,000.
National Institute of Mental Health, Institutional Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA). “Mental Health and Adjustment in the Life Course.” [Core Faculty Member and Co-Investigator on this training grant with Jeylan Mortimer (PI) ...
National Science Foundation. “Gender Differences in the Causes and Consequences of Drug Use.” [Co-PI with Melissa Thompson]. 5/13/07-4/29/09. $108,074 ($24,700 at Minnesota).
: TheSocietyPages.org, editor and publisher, with Doug Hartmann. .
Soros Foundation. Open Society Institute Individual Project Fellowship [with Jeff Manza, Northwestern]. 7/1/00-12/31/02. $101,164 ($50,602 at Minnesota).
National Institute of Justice. “The Effects of Low-Level Offense Records and Race on Employability” [PI with The Council on Crime and Justice]. 5/1/07-10/31/08. $35,000.

Outreach

Executive Advisory Board: University Research Outreach Center. 2015 - 2018
Invited Speaker, White House parental incarceration forum 2013 -
Human Subjects Committee: Minnesota Department of Corrections. 2009 - 2016
Minnesota legislature reentry working group: Employment and Crime. Oct. 27, 2007 -
Minnesota Supreme Court Racial Fairness Committee: Felon disenfranchisement. Nov. 29, 2006 -
Minnesota Senate Crime and Prevention and Public Safety Committee: Convicted felons civil rights and voting eligibility restoration. March 28, 2006 -
Minesota Senate Elections Committee March 20, 2006 -
Expert Testimony: Johnson v. Bush. 2000 - 2004
Consultant: Sentencing Project, Safer Foundation, Council on Crime and Justice. 2000 - -
Invited Speaker: National Coalition on Violence Research, Urban Institute, Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, Minnesota Elder Learning Center, US-Japan Foundation, Economic Policy Institute. 1999 - - none
Mexican American Legal Defense Fund: Los Angeles.
Council on Crime and Justice: Minneapolis.
Wilhelm and Conlon/Safer Foundation (reentry program): Chicago.
: Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Demos: New York.
Hennepin County Attorney's Office: Minneapolis, MN.
: Volunteers in Probation.
Sentencing Project: Washington D.C..

Awards

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Awards

American Society of Criminology Cavan Award (outstanding scholarly contributions to the field of criminology), 2000 - none

Junior Scholar Award, International Society of Criminology, 1998 - none

Mortar Board National Honor Society Outstanding Faculty Award, 2001 - none

Soros Foundation Open Society Institute Fellow, 2000 - 2002

New York Times Magazine, "Idea of the Year", 2004

National Science Foundation grantee, 1999 - 2002

National Institute of Justice grantee, 1998 - 1999

Distinguished McKnight University Professorship, 2006

Public Sociology Award, U of M Department of Sociology, 2005

Sociological Education Award, Sociologists of Minnesota, 2004

Executive Board, American Society of Criminology, 2003 - 2009

Certificate of Appreciation, TRIO Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, 2007

MERLOT Award (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) for outstanding, peer-reviewed online resource, 2013

Named Fellow of the American Society of Criminology, 2013

Equal Justice Award for Research, Council on Crime and Justice, 2011

SUNY Albany Hindelang Speaker Award, career contributions to criminology, 2016

Peterson-Krivo Mentoring Award, American Sociological Assn. (CLD Section), 2014

Courses Taught

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Courses Taught

Soc 8111: Criminology

Soc 8090: Topics in Soc: Workshop: Journal Editing Seminar

Soc 4141: Juvenile Delinquency

Soc 4977V/Soc 4978V: Senior Honors Seminars

Soc 4966W: Major-Project Seminar

Soc 4111: Sociology of Deviance

Soc 8001 Sociology as a Profession

Soc 8890: Event History and Panel Data Models