Biography
Katherine Beckett is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Law, Societies, and Justice Program at the University of Washington. Her research analyzes the causes and consequences of legal changes and penal practices. Some of her recent research projects have explored the consequences of criminal justice expansion for social inequality, the role of race in drug law enforcement, and the transformation of urban social control practices in the United States. She is the author of numerous articles and three books on these topics, including, most recently, Banished: The New Social Control in Urban America, published in 2010 by Oxford University Press and a finalist for the C. Wright Mills Book Award. Professor Beckett works closely with a number of civic organizations, including the Racial Disparity Project, Columbia Legal Services and the Concerned Lifer’s Organization.