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The burden of the opioid epidemic demands further efforts to facilitate recovery, particularly for disadvantaged populations and those recently released from prison. After community reentry, individuals face a period of vulnerability as they adjust to new roles and responsibilities to meet their basic needs. Prison-based substance use disorder treatment (SUD Tx) programs provide support to help prepare individuals with SUD for their release and facilitate successful recovery goals after community reentry. This dissertation has three aims: (1) further the understanding of potential barriers and facilitators of recovery after community reentry, (2) assess how prison-levels of recovery capital influence recovery outcomes post-release from prison, and (3) model personal, social/family, and community factors associated with recovery capital levels after community reentry. This project utilizes data from the ongoing longitudinal National Institute on Drug-Abuse-funded study called the Geographic Variation in Addiction Treatment Experiences (GATE) study. This study aims to assess multi-level factors influencing prison-based initiation of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), predictors of MOUD utilization post-release, and adverse outcomes among rural and urban persons with opioid use disorder. Qualitative analysis is used to understand what barriers or facilitators individuals experience after community reentry in aim 1. Analyses for aim 2 and 3 utilize quantitative modeling informed by the recovery capital framework to predict recovery outcomes and identify factors associated with levels of recovery capital post-release from prison. Findings indicate the importance of asset-building during the period of incarceration to better facilitate the transition from prison to the community. Further, results identify factors in the community associated with recovery capital levels post-release from prison. The findings from this dissertation can be used to develop informed interventions for the carceral setting as well as in the community to better support individuals in recovery during the vulnerable transitionary period during community reentry.

Purpose: Substance use is prevalent in U.S. criminal legal system (CLS) cases, yet court-ordered treatments rarely recommend effective treatments such as medications for addiction treatment (MAT). The stressful work coupled with lack of preparation among CLS professionals to support various pathways to recovery is theorized to drive and facilitate high rates of burnout, leading to stigma towards defendants with substance use disorder (DWSUD). This study aims to enhance our understanding of the connection between CLS occupational stress, substance use disorder (SUD) stigma, and to evaluate the impact of a tailored training on attitudes and practices concerning DWSUD within the CLS. Methodology: Using a mixed methods approach, we collected primary data. Qualitative data explored possible drivers, facilitators, and practices of substance use-related stigma among CLS professionals. We utilized various national trainings to collect pre-post-training survey data. Pre-training data assessed the relationship of burnout and attitudes towards DWSUD. Pre-post-training data assessed changes in behavioral intentions to refer to MAT for SUD-related cases, intentions to engage in self-care for managing occupational stress, and attitudes toward DWSUD. Findings: CLS professionals experience complex and intense occupational stress, leading to manifestations of emotional, mental, and physical symptoms; driving and facilitating SUD stigma. There was a significant relationship between 2 of the 3 occupational burnout dimensions and attitudes towards DWSUD. The adapted SHIELD training significantly improved attitudes and behavioral intentions related to SUD cases and promoting well-being behaviors among CLS professionals. Implications: These results highlight the urgent need for targeted interventions that provide resources increasing efficacy regarding SUD-related cases and addressing the demanding and stress-inducing nature of CLS professionals' work, as occupational stress contributes to SUD stigma. The adapted SHIELD training demonstrates the positive impact intervention has on attitudes and behavioral intentions, ultimately promoting well-being within the CLS profession. By identifying the nuanced relationships between burnout dimensions and attitudes, as well as the impact of an adapted training intervention, the study contributes valuable insights into improving the well-being of CLS professionals and promoting fair treatment for individuals with SUD. The study's findings advocate for enhanced curriculum, intervention strategies, and more resources to create a more empathetic and effective legal environment.

Childhood trauma constitutes a major public health crisis in the United States, with an estimated two thirds of children experiencing at least one traumatic event by the age of 16. Despite the prevalence of childhood trauma, there has been very little sociological research on this subject. Using rich data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the current dissertation project offers important new insights on the contours and consequences of childhood trauma. The first analytic chapter shows how neighborhood racial segregation is an important determinant for exposure to multiple types of violence. The findings suggest that adolescents living in more racially segregated communities are more likely to report exposure to violence. The second analytic chapter examines whether exposure to multiple traumas or “complex trauma” mediates the association between family structure and various “markers” of life chances in adulthood. The analysis shows that children born to single mother families, relative to children who are born to two biological or adoptive parent families, are more likely to experience complex trauma in childhood, which accounts for a significant portion of the association between family structure, adult incarceration, and college completion. Finally, the third analytic chapter examines the relationship between witnessing community violence and criminal legal system involvement in young adulthood. This analysis shows that adolescents who witness community violence are significantly more likely to become incarcerated in young adulthood. The analysis also finds significant racial disparities in witnessing violence, suggesting that exposure to community violence is a potentially important mechanism in the production of racial inequalities in criminal legal system involvement.

ABSTRACT This dissertation focuses on the criminalization and victimization of transgender people, broadly defined as people whose gender identity does not align with their assigned birth sex, using a queer criminological and intersectional lens. The introduction offers background and context for this examination, and includes the purpose, theoretical approach, methodology, research questions, contributions, and overviews of the substantive chapters. Chapter two explores what we know and what we do not know about transgender people’s pathways into the criminal legal system, how they experience state surveillance, and how they navigate the system. Chapter three explores violence against transgender people in various forms, offering an introductory look at this epidemic. Chapter four examines the literature on intimate violence against transgender people, with a focus on trans survivors, trans-specific barriers to escaping abuse, and strategies of resistance. The conclusion summarizes the substantive chapters and offers new directions for future research.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of phenotypic variation on criminal judgment. This study had two phases. In the first phase, participants rated multiple headshot photographs on the degree to which African American men possess pronounced Afrocentric features (fuller lips, broader nose, curlier hair, darker skin, etc.). The race of the participants predicted 34.2% of the variance in average skin color ratings above all other variables. White participants rated the Black faces as darker than any other participants rated the same faces. Researchers used the faces rated least, average, and most prototypical of Blacks as the targets for a criminal vignette in phase two. Controlling for participant political ideology and race, target Black prototypicality had a main effect on recommended years for the defendant to serve (Ruby & Brigham, 1996). The most prototypical defendant was more likely sentenced to prison time followed by a period of probation and to serve approximately six more years in the adult correction system than the least or average prototypical defendants. Phenotypic variation was a leading factor in the criminal judgment of African American men along with perceptions of the defendant, attitudes towards the legal system and Black people, and social Black 2 contact. These results have implications for understanding the saliency of phenotypic variation on target judgment and reevaluating the criminal legal process.