Joshua Page
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. 2007 University of California Berkeley
Room 935 Social Sciences
tel.: 612-624-9333
email: page@umn.edu
Interest Areas
Crime, Law, Deviance, and Punishment; Labor and Unionization; Political Sociology; Qualitative Research Methods; Social Theory
Current Research
The Minnesota Juvenile Justice Transitions Project: This study analyzes the transition of young offenders from Minnesota juvenile justice institutions back into their communities. It investigates the following question: What factors impede or facilitate the "reentry" process for juvenile offenders after release? Research on prisoner reentry concentrates almost exclusively on offenders' post-incarceration experiences, thereby limiting our understanding of the diverse factors that affect the reentry process. This study investigates pre-incarceration, incarceration, and post-incarceration experiences, by conducting successive interviews with research subjects. In addition to advancing knowledge about the struggles young people face as they leave juvenile justice facilities and attempt to live crime-free, conventional lives, this longitudinal study will pinpoint experiences, opportunities, and services that help these young people achieve their post-incarceration aspirations.
Minnesota Correctional Officer Survey Project: This research analyzes the living and working conditions in adult state prisons. It also examines correctional officers’ attitudes and beliefs about correctional policies and practices. Amy Lerman, a political scientist in California, conducted a similar survey of correctional officers in that state (I adapted Ms. Lerman’s survey instrument for the Minnesota study). Based on our respective research, Ms. Lerman and I will compare the experiences and dispositions of correctional officers in California and Minnesota.
The Toughest Beat-Prison Officers, Crime Victims, and the Penal Field in California: This study explains how and why the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), the prison officers union in the Golden State, became a politically powerful and organizationally strong agency during the last three decades just when most other American labor unions lost members and political clout. In addition to explaining the CCPOA's rise to power, this study elucidates the concrete and subtle ways that the union has shaped priorities and policies regarding crime and punishment in California and, by extension, in other states.
Recent Publications
“Manufacturing Affinity: The Fortification and Expression of Ties between Prison Officers and Crime Victims.” Forthcoming. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.
“Felonious Education: Edward Bunker and the Fabrication of the Criminal Habitus.” In preparation for Theoretical Criminology.
“Mr. Blue and the Fatal Circle: A Tribute to Edward Bunker.” 2005. The Chronicle of Higher Education Review, September, 52(3): B19.
“Eliminating the Enemy: The Import of Denying Prisoners Access to Higher Education in Clinton’s America.” 2004. Punishment and Society. 6(4): 357-378.