Department of Sociology

Robert Crutchfield, an emeritus professor of sociology and co-author of a new study has found that Black youth who have police contact at a young age may be more likely to have more contacts with police later in life.

In honor of MLK Day, the UW asked Black students, staff, and faculty to respond to the prompt, “What does MLK Day mean to you in 2021?”

School of Art + Art History + Design teaching professor Timea Tihanyi and Victoria Aukland, a senior majoring in sociology and dance explain how art can be beneficial in the cold winter months.

Activist and educator Jesse Hagopian and several other Black Washingtonians who witnessed the day’s events through computer or TV screens described frustration, hurt and anger at the contrast in police response to a mob overtaking the Capitol compared to their own and other Black Americans’ experiences with police. Alexes Harris, professor of sociology at the UW, is quoted.

Tinder, Grindr and other dating apps have a reputation for encouraging casual hookups, but a new study suggests app users may be looking for — and finding — love in all the right places after all. Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the UW, is quoted.

College of Arts & Sciences Dean Stacey explains that there is an important civic, political, social, and cultural element to an education and that you can get that in a wide variety of majors.

Department of Statistics faculty are featured in this article about their COVID-19 research.

Through hours of Zoom meetings, University of Washington vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs Ed Taylor found himself nervously folding paper off screen. As he helped the university make high-stakes decisions about its pandemic future, his fingers kept busy shaping origami cranes. Taylor's collection of about 300 cranes tells the story of how he coped with this year, and they will constitute his entry to a virtual time capsule, the culmination of a class he led called "2020: The Course." Taylor; Kate Starbird, UW associate professor of human centered design and engineering; Theodore Myhre, UW assistant teaching professor of law; and Iisaaksiichaa Ross Braine, the UW’s tribal liaison, are quoted. Hilary Godwin, dean of the UW School of Public Health; Dr. Benjamin Danielson, UW clinical professor of pediatrics; Robert Stacey, dean of the UW College of Arts and Sciences; Alexes Harris, UW professor of sociology; Carolyn West, professor of social, behavioral and human sciences at UW Tacoma; and Megan Ming Francis, UW associate professor of political science, are mentioned.

UW researchers found a run-in with police is much more devastating for Black children than it is for white kids. Annie McGlynn-Wright, who did the research while pursuing her doctorate in sociology at the UW, is interviewed.

UW researchers found a run-in with police is much more devastating for Black children than it is for white kids. Annie McGlynn-Wright, who did the research while pursuing her doctorate in sociology at the UW, is interviewed.

Politicians have long used earmarks for police budgets as a way to make cannabis legalization more digestible to opponents. New Jersey's attempt to legalize in 2020 shows that is no longer working. Michele Cadigan, a doctoral student in sociology at the UW, is quoted.

Michele Cadigan, sociology graduate student, explains how to create a legal market for cannabis without increasing police budgets.

Oregon has decriminalized the possession of small amounts of any drug, and there’s a push in Washington to do the same. But what effect will that really have on arrests, prosecution and the War on Drugs? Temper your expectations, says Katherine Beckett, professor of sociology and of law, societies and justice at the UW. [This is the third segment of the Dec. 15 episode of “The Record.”]

Katherine Beckett, Professor of sociology and law, societies and justice, explains Oregon's decriminalization of drugs, and whether Washington will be next.

New research from the University of Washington shows that for Black youth, having an encounter with police in middle school means a higher likelihood of being arrested by age 20. Annie McGlynn-Wright, who led the study while a doctoral student in sociology at the UW, is quoted.