Intellectual Merit. This project builds on the successful collaboration of a group of scholars from diverse backgrounds (African American, Latino, White, etc.), disciplines (Criminology or Criminal Justice, Family Relations, Law, Public Policy, Political Science, Social Work, and Sociology), and stages of career (assistant-, associate-, and full-professors, and graduate students) whose work is oriented to improving the quality of research on the interlinkages among race/ethnicity, crime, and criminal justice, and on broadening perspectives and participation in research on this topic. These scholars recently published a book, The Many Colors of Crime, in which they lay out a critical new research agenda (see Peterson, Krivo and Hagan 2006). The first goal of this project is to undertake the kinds of studies called for in the volume, and thereby, begin to provide a deeper, and more nuanced, understanding of the interrelationships among race/ethnicity, crime, and criminal justice than heretofore available. The second goal of this project is to advance the research and professional development of young scholars from underrepresented groups for carrying out innovative research on crime and justice by establishing an annual Summer Research Institute as a follow up to a 2006 pilot institute. The overarching purpose of the institute is to support the advancement of ethnoracial minorities engaged in the study of crime and justice in order to further democratic inclusion in academe, and advance knowledge in this area by supporting the potentially diverse perspectives these scholars can offer. Approaches to Achieving Project Goals. To facilitate achieving the project objectives, the PIs will undertake a series of workshops that bring group members together, and hold a summer research and professional development institute for young scholars from underrepresented groups. The workshops will be both idea- and product-oriented and serve as the mechanism for planning and making progress on collaborative projects. The summer research institute will take place in a "safe" and resource-rich environment and be structured to provide the support, training, and mentorship needed by young faculty for completing a research project for journal publication or grant proposal. The institute will culminate with participants presenting their work at the RDCJ-N workshop where they will gain feedback and develop networks with other senior and junior scholars in the field.
Broader Impacts. This project is structured to have two important broader impacts on scholarship and the academy. First, it will draw on the expertise of scholars who are diverse along a number of dimensions (e.g., race and ethnicity, disciplinary training, and stage of career) to develop and carry out significant innovative crime and justice research. This work will have as its central premise the need to take into account the complexity of race/ethnicity and embed analyses in the differential positioning of groups in society. Through collaborative, multi-method, and comparative studies, the researchers will produce a body of original multidisciplinary work that emphasizes the variable significance of race for crime/criminal justice, and how racialization relates to the understanding of citizenship and democracy, nationally and around the world. Second, the project will broaden participation in crime and justice research by fostering the careers of scholars from underrepresented groups. Together the workshops and summer research institute will have a general impact in bringing diversity in perspectives and participation to research and curricula on crime and criminal justice.
