UMass Boston

Research & Impact

Full-time Sociology faculty members have earned doctorates from major universities and are active researchers in their fields of study. Our lecturers are active in urban affairs, clinical settings, and criminal justice administration, and many conduct research as well. 

Faculty Research Specializations

Globalization, Immigration and Migration:
Capetillo, Montalva Barba, Okigbo, Solari

Criminology, Law and Punishment: 
Brown, Contreras, Galleguillos, Gascón, Miller,  Zaykowski

Race/Ethnicity and Urban/Community: 
Contreras, Gascón, Miller, Morales, Okigbo

Critical Race Theory: 
Montalva Barba

Gender: 
Montalva Barba, Okigbo, Solari
Bobel

Culture, Group Processes, and Identity:  
Capetillo, Miller, Okigbo, Rodriquez, Solari, Stewart, Youngreen

Mental Health, Health and Aging:  
Contreras, Morales, Rodriquez
Burr, Mutchler, Stokes, Sprague

Political Sociology and Public Policy: 
Brown, Stewart
Kallman, MacIndoe, Warren

Research Methods:  

Current Funded Projects

Professor Miguel Montalva Barba: 2024-2025 Principal Investigator, Witnessing the Emplacement of Whiteness: Gentrification through the Experience of Black and Latine Folks. Russell Sage Foundation, $35,000. This research focus on whether Black and Latine folks' narratives about the emplacement of Whiteness focus on the loss of community and the literal and figurative frequency of cultural displacement of people of color.

Professor Danielle Morales: 2025 Principal Investigator, Collaborative Research: Effects of Mentoring Relationship Heterogeneity on Student Outcomes among NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program Participants. National Science Foundation, $98,489. The purpose of this research project is to advance knowledge of how mentoring relationship heterogeneity influences the developmental outcomes of undergraduate students.

Professor Heather Zaykowski: 2024-2025 Principal Investigator, When the Victim is Not a Victim: An Analysis of Motions to Exclude the Term in Criminal Trials. UMass Boston Proposal Development Grant, $20,000. 

 

Recent Publications

Wozniak, K. H., Pickett, J. T., & Brown, E. K. (2025). Public opinion about the shadow carceral state: A study of support for criminal justice fees. Punishment & Society, Online first, 1-21. DOI: 10.1177/14624745251336392

Wozniak, K. H., Pickett, J. T., & Brown, E. K. (2025). Dangerous or lazy: An experimental analysis of defendant characteristics and public support for collateral consequence restrictions. American Journal of Criminal Justice, Online first.

Kazemian, L., & Galleguillos, S. (2025). A global comparison of long prison sentences. Journal of Criminal Justice, 96.

Montalva Barba, Miguel. (In production). “Questioning the Foundations: The Embedded Racism in Urban Sociology Theorization.” Book chapter for Research Handbook on Urban Sociology, edited by Miguel Martinez (Uppsala University, Sweden). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Montalva Barba, Miguel. (In production). White Supremacy and Racism in Progressive America: Race, Place, and Space. Bristol: Bristol University Press.

Morales, D. X. (2025). Mental health impact of natural disasters on people with disabilities: Insights from the 2024 Household Pulse Survey. Disability and Health Journal, 18(2), 101763.

Frederick, A., Monarrez, A., & Morales, D. X. (2025). Strategic familismo: How Hispanic/Latinx students negotiate family values and their STEM careers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 38(2), 180–196.

Grineski, S. E., Avondet, C., Morales, D. X., Collins, T. W., Chavez, Y., & Armendariz, S. (2025). The Gendered Impact of Depression on Undergraduate Students’ Research Gains: Can More Competent Mentors Help? CBE—Life Sciences Education, 24(1), ar7

Chavez, Y., Grineski, S.E., Adkins, D., Avondet, C., Collins, T.W., Morales, D.X. (2025). The Impact of Postgraduate Mentors on Undergraduate Researcher Gains. CBE-Life Sciences Education.

Rodriquez, Jason. 2025. On the Frontlines of Crisis: Intensive Care and the Challenge of COVID-19. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Series on Critical Issues in Health and Medicine.

Rodriquez, Jason, Nathan Barrett, Abigail Dwyer, and Gary Siperstein. 2025. “From the Coach’s Perspective: Making Interscholastic Sports Inclusive for Students with and without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities” Journal of Teaching in Physical Education.

Radhakrishnan, Smitha and Cinzia D. Solari (equal coauthors).2025. "Beyond #Girlboss and #Tradwife: Reclaiming Joy from our Feminist Imaginaries." Contexts 24(1):28-33.

Evan Stewart and Elena van Stee. "Racialized Religion & Vaccine Hesitancy: Evidence from the General Social Survey." Accepted at Sociology of Religion.