Amy E. Lerman
Associate Professor of Public Policy and Political Science, Co-Director of The People Lab, and Associate Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California-Berkeley
Chapter Member: Bay Area SSN
Areas of Expertise:
Connect with Amy
About Amy
Lerman's research is focused on issues of race, public opinion, and political behavior, especially as they relate to punishment and social inequality in America.
Contributions
How Harsh Policing and Mass Imprisonment Create Second-Class American Citizens
Key Findings Brief,
In the News
Amy E. Lerman quoted , "New Study Looks at Suicide Rate of California Prison Guards" KCRA Sacramento, January 10, 2018.
Amy E. Lerman quoted by Don Thompson, "New Study Looks at California Prison Guards' Suicide Rate" SCNow, January 9, 2018.
Amy E. Lerman's research on "Why are Suicide Rates so High among Corrections Officers?," New York Post, January 9, 2018.
Amy E. Lerman quoted by Don Thompson, "California: Muchos Suicidios Entre Empleados Penitenciarios" Houston Chronicle, January 9, 2018.
Amy E. Lerman's research on alternatives to the incarceration industry discussed by , "Get Out of Jail, Inc.," The New Yorker, June 23, 2014.
Amy E. Lerman's research on intrusive policing effect on civic engagement (with Vesla M. Weaver) discussed by , "Who is Most Likely to Dial 311?," Next City, April 8, 2014.
Amy E. Lerman's research on the consequences of disenfranchisement on urban communities (with Vesla M. Weaver) discussed by , "The Political Cost of a Heavy Police Presence?," Next City, February 19, 2014.
"What Medicare Can Teach Us about the Future of Obamacare," Amy E. Lerman, Washington Post, November 26, 2013.
Amy E. Lerman's research on how incarceration affects political attitudes (with Vesla M. Weaver) discussed by , "How Prisons Make Bad Citizens," Washington Post, August 25, 2010.
Publications
"Political Ideology, Skin Tone, and the Psychology of Candidate Evaluations" (with ). Public Opinion Quarterly 79, no. 1 (2015): 53-90.
Examines the role of political ideology in shaping black voters’ evaluations of political candidates’ race and skin tone. Challenges simplistic notions of black preference for descriptive representation.
Arresting Citizenship: The Democratic Consequences of American Crime Control (with ) (University of Chicago Press, 2014).
Presents a host of evidence that the growth and culture of the American criminal justice system has important consequences for democratic life.
"Staying out of Sight? Concentrated Policing and Local Political Action" (with ). The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 651, no. 1 (2014): 202-219.
Shows that the concentration and character of police stops in New York City is highly predictive of patterns of local political engagement.
The Modern Prison Paradox: Politics, Punishment, and American Community (Cambridge University Press, 2013).
Argues that the modern move toward more punitive prison culture has had deleterious consequences for the social communities of both inmates and correctional officers.
"The State of the Job: An Embedded Work Role Perspective on Prison Officer Attitudes" (with ). Punishment and Society 14, no. 5 (2012): 503-529.
Uses original surveys from California and Minnesota to analyze whether differences in the orientations of state correctional systems are reflected in the attitudes of workers who are tasked with the day-to-day oversight of state prisons.
"Political Consequences of the Carceral State" (with ). American Political Science Review 104, no. 4 (2010): 817-833.
Examines the effects of contact with police, courts, prisons and jails on Americans’ political attitudes and behavior.