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This study draws on document analysis and in-depth interviews to explore California’s Transgender Respect Agency and Dignity Act—a pathbreaking policy that creates legal and administrative pathways for transgender prisoners to be housed with the gender of their preference. I examine the policy as it emerged—the ways in which it understands and rhetorizes gender and safety and strategizes to resolve the crises facing incarcerated transgender people—and its implementation—and the strategies and logics used to do so—and identify common elements across these domains. I identify four reoccurring methods used to contest transness and gender-nonconformity—the superimposing of gender-nonconformity and criminality, discursive laundering, recentering the needs of other populations, and mythmaking—that ultimately serve as a form of institutional social control which I refer to as categorical precarity. In conclude with what categorical precarity implies about prison reform and transgender futurity.

This dissertation examines the role of correctional officers in impeding the translation of policy reform into practice in the most restrictive prison setting, solitary confinement units, in order to identify mechanisms and barriers to reform. This work utilizes survey data (n=60) and qualitative interview data (n=45) from front-line custody staff working in maximum-custody solitary confinement units in five different Washington State prisons. Findings from this study suggest that 1) while maximum custody solitary confinement units are stressful work environments, they are also desirable to correctional officers; 2) the interpersonal relationship between supervisory personnel and correctional officers’ plays an important role in shaping correctional officers’ perceptions of policy reform; and 3) the heightened adversarial work climate of the IMU shapes the lens through which correctional officers viewed reforms and these perceptions filtered beyond, contributing to correctional officers’ perceptions of reforms as inherent safety risks. These findings lay the groundwork to better understand how policy reform plays out in correctional spaces, via policy introduction, implementation, and sustainability.

Up until the late 2000s, Richmond was considered one of the most violent cities in the nation. However, over the last ten years, the city has reduced its homicide rate by nearly seventy percent. Integrating ethnography and historical description with longitudinal crime analysis, this dissertation traces Richmond’s transformation by examining the local-level conditions and processes have shaped violence dynamics in the city since the turn of the century.Considering first the role of community structure, quantitative analyses suggest that racial/ethnic change, and Black population loss in particular, was the strongest predictor of gun violence patterns in the city pre-homicide decline (2003-2009), whereas young adult population change was the strongest predictor of gun violence patterns in the city post-decline (2009-2017). Given that Black population loss also emerged as a leading explanation within my interviews, I leveraged my qualitative data to unpack why this specific form of racial/ethnic transition is related to gun violence patterns in the city. In addition to identifying three sources for displacement that have unduly impacted Richmond’s Black community – including housing access and affordability, intensified law enforcement pressure, and exposure to gun victimization – my findings indicate that these processes matter for gun violence insofar as they reconfigure the group-based, place-based, and/or kinship-based networks that can either trigger or prevent gun violence. However, contrary to theoretical assumptions, further analyses reveal that these social and demographic shifts have not entirely undermined informal social control processes. Since the mid-2000s, the city has built a robust network of community-based strategies that aim to reduce gun violence via social service provision and community capacity-building. By documenting the nature and development of this network, I argue that the city may have minimized the crime-inducing consequences of contin

This dissertation examines the process of translating policy reform into practice in the most restrictive prison setting, solitary confinement units, in order to identify mechanisms and barriers to reform. This work utilizes survey data (n=60) and qualitative interview data (n=45) from front-line custody staff working in maximum-custody solitary confinement units in five different Washington State prisons. Findings from this study suggest that 1) while maximum custody solitary confinement units are stressful work environments, they are also desirable to correctional officers; 2) the interpersonal relationship between supervisory personnel and correctional officers’ plays an important role in shaping correctional officers’ perceptions of policy reform; and 3) the heightened adversarial work climate of the IMU shapes the lens through which correctional officers viewed reforms and these perceptions filtered beyond, contributing to correctional officers’ perceptions of reforms as inherent safety risks. These findings lay the groundwork to better understand how policy reform plays out in correctional spaces, via policy introduction, implementation, and sustainability.

Up until the late 2000s, Richmond was considered one of the most violent cities in the nation. However, over the last ten years, the city has reduced its homicide rate by nearly seventy percent. Integrating ethnography and historical description with longitudinal crime analysis, this dissertation traces Richmond’s transformation by examining the local-level conditions and processes have shaped violence dynamics in the city since the turn of the century.Considering first the role of community structure, quantitative analyses suggest that racial/ethnic change, and Black population loss in particular, was the strongest predictor of gun violence patterns in the city pre-homicide decline (2003-2009), whereas young adult population change was the strongest predictor of gun violence patterns in the city post-decline (2009-2017). Given that Black population loss also emerged as a leading explanation within my interviews, I leveraged my qualitative data to unpack why this specific form of racial/ethnic transition is related to gun violence patterns in the city. In addition to identifying three sources for displacement that have unduly impacted Richmond’s Black community – including housing access and affordability, intensified law enforcement pressure, and exposure to gun victimization – my findings indicate that these processes matter for gun violence insofar as they reconfigure the group-based, place-based, and/or kinship-based networks that can either trigger or prevent gun violence. However, contrary to theoretical assumptions, further analyses reveal that these social and demographic shifts have not entirely undermined informal social control processes. Since the mid-2000s, the city has built a robust network of community-based strategies that aim to reduce gun violence via social service provision and community capacity-building. By documenting the nature and development of this network, I argue that the city may have minimized the crime-inducing consequences of contin

This dissertation examines the role of correctional officers in impeding the translation of policy reform into practice in the most restrictive prison setting, solitary confinement units, in order to identify mechanisms and barriers to reform. This work utilizes survey data (n=60) and qualitative interview data (n=45) from front-line custody staff working in maximum-custody solitary confinement units in five different Washington State prisons. Findings from this study suggest that 1) while maximum custody solitary confinement units are stressful work environments, they are also desirable to correctional officers; 2) the interpersonal relationship between supervisory personnel and correctional officers’ plays an important role in shaping correctional officers’ perceptions of policy reform; and 3) the heightened adversarial work climate of the IMU shapes the lens through which correctional officers viewed reforms and these perceptions filtered beyond, contributing to correctional officers’ perceptions of reforms as inherent safety risks. These findings lay the groundwork to better understand how policy reform plays out in correctional spaces, via policy introduction, implementation, and sustainability.

This dissertation examines the process of translating policy reform into practice in the most restrictive prison setting, solitary confinement units, in order to identify mechanisms and barriers to reform. This work utilizes survey data (n=60) and qualitative interview data (n=45) from front-line custody staff working in maximum-custody solitary confinement units in five different Washington State prisons. Findings from this study suggest that 1) while maximum custody solitary confinement units are stressful work environments, they are also desirable to correctional officers; 2) the interpersonal relationship between supervisory personnel and correctional officers’ plays an important role in shaping correctional officers’ perceptions of policy reform; and 3) the heightened adversarial work climate of the IMU shapes the lens through which correctional officers viewed reforms and these perceptions filtered beyond, contributing to correctional officers’ perceptions of reforms as inherent safety risks. These findings lay the groundwork to better understand how policy reform plays out in correctional spaces, via policy introduction, implementation, and sustainability.

Recognizing that criminal behavior stems from multiple loci, Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) utilize a therapeutic jurisprudential approach to simultaneously treat PTSD from combat trauma, substance abuse issues, and criminality. VTCs are especially important to examine because of their potential success in curbing recidivism for their clients. For example, the Orange County Veterans Treatment Court (OC VTC) that is the site for this dissertation has maintained a recidivism rate of 10.4% for their 87 graduates since its formation in 2009 (Superior Court of California, County of Orange, 2016). This research constitutes an in-depth institutional ethnography of one Southern California VTC, the Orange County VTC. I draw on over three years of nonparticipant observation at 117 court sessions in the OC VTC, and more 23 in-depth interviews with both current court participants and graduates and a judge, exploring participants' experiences with and perceptions of the OC VTC. Chapter 1 explores how the court functions, providing a detailed account of the court process. I also analyze how participants become involved with the court and what contributes to their decision to enter the court program. Chapter 2 examines the legalization of treatment in VTCs vis-à-vis the role of and deference to the court treatment team. In this chapter I show how the treatment process provides accountability to participants to their treatment, but also has coercive elements in its application. Chapter 3 focuses on the procedural justice-related elements of the court and analyzes participant perceptions of the court. This chapter illuminates the importance of emphasizing outcomes of rehabilitation and how this context filters perceptions of procedural justice for participants. Finally, Chapter 4 analyzes the utilization of identity in the court process, which provides the framework and narrative of participant identity transformations in the court. This theory-driven explanation of programmatic p

Recognizing that criminal behavior stems from multiple loci, Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) utilize a therapeutic jurisprudential approach to simultaneously treat PTSD from combat trauma, substance abuse issues, and criminality. VTCs are especially important to examine because of their potential success in curbing recidivism for their clients. For example, the Orange County Veterans Treatment Court (OC VTC) that is the site for this dissertation has maintained a recidivism rate of 10.4% for their 87 graduates since its formation in 2009 (Superior Court of California, County of Orange, 2016). This research constitutes an in-depth institutional ethnography of one Southern California VTC, the Orange County VTC. I draw on over three years of nonparticipant observation at 117 court sessions in the OC VTC, and more 23 in-depth interviews with both current court participants and graduates and a judge, exploring participants’ experiences with and perceptions of the OC VTC. Chapter 1 explores how the court functions, providing a detailed account of the court process. I also analyze how participants become involved with the court and what contributes to their decision to enter the court program. Chapter 2 examines the legalization of treatment in VTCs vis-à-vis the role of and deference to the court treatment team. In this chapter I show how the treatment process provides accountability to participants to their treatment, but also has coercive elements in its application. Chapter 3 focuses on the procedural justice-related elements of the court and analyzes participant perceptions of the court. This chapter illuminates the importance of emphasizing outcomes of rehabilitation and how this context filters perceptions of procedural justice for participants. Finally, Chapter 4 analyzes the utilization of identity in the court process, which provides the framework and narrative of participant identity transformations in the court. This theory-driven explanation of programmatic p

This paper examines how the LGBT Veteran organization, Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of America, has framed their advocacy for LGBT veterans’ rights, including their unique deployment of joint LGBT and military/veteran identities to strengthen their cause. Specifically, this research explores the way that the positive veteran/military identity that intersects with the less positively viewed LGBT identity facilitates both the cause and potential outcomes of their advocacy. While many social movements mobilize around a primary identity, LGBT veterans use their status as “protected veterans” to pursue rights for the LGBT community, both in the military and out. I argue that recognition of the elevated status enjoyed by military veterans is seen in the framing techniques of the LGBT veteran social movement and what I am calling “positive intersectionality”. Theories of intersectionality typically regard intersecting identities as limiting in an individual’s ability to fight discrimination, but this addendum to intersectional theory that I am proposing encompasses the full spectrum of identity, examining positive outcomes of intersectional identities rather than only negative outcomes.

This paper examines how the LGBT Veteran organization, Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of America, has framed their advocacy for LGBT veterans’ rights, including their unique deployment of joint LGBT and military/veteran identities to strengthen their cause. Specifically, this research explores the way that the positive veteran/military identity that intersects with the less positively viewed LGBT identity facilitates both the cause and potential outcomes of their advocacy. While many social movements mobilize around a primary identity, LGBT veterans use their status as “protected veterans” to pursue rights for the LGBT community, both in the military and out. I argue that recognition of the elevated status enjoyed by military veterans is seen in the framing techniques of the LGBT veteran social movement and what I am calling “positive intersectionality”. Theories of intersectionality typically regard intersecting identities as limiting in an individual’s ability to fight discrimination, but this addendum to intersectional theory that I am proposing encompasses the full spectrum of identity, examining positive outcomes of intersectional identities rather than only negative outcomes.