Anneliese Ward

Assistant Professor

I am a sociologist interested in the way categorical distinctions intersect with sources of status disadvantage to produce disparate penal outcomes and constrain approaches to criminal-legal reform. I am especially interested in the way cultural understandings of violence and nonviolence shape perceptions of deservingness of incarceration. I am also interested in the way discretionary legal decision-making is shaped by individuals' demographic traits and broader socioeconomic forces.

Contact Information

Research Interests

Sociology of Punishment
Legal decision-making
Cultural criminology
Stratification

Affiliations

Sociology

Research

My research falls within criminology, the sociology of law and punishment, and stratification. My current research uses a mixed-method approach to examine (1) the way individuals distinguish between violent and nonviolent offenses and (2) how that distinction is used to determine whether someone deserves to be incarcerated. My current research also examines the factors shaping pretrial discretionary decision-making, using COVID-related decarceration as a case study.

Selected Publications

Selected Publications:

Nyseth Nzitatira, Hollie, Jared Edgerton, and Anneliese Ward. "Determinants of case outcomes in Rwanda's postgenocide gacaca courts." Criminology (2026).

Ward, Anneliese, Anneliese Schenk-Day, Mo Woods, and Dana L. Haynie. "Moral panic and the legislative attack on transgender rights: state-level pathways to anti-trans Lawmaking in the US." Social Problems (2025): spaf076.

Vuolo, Mike, Anneliese Ward, and Lesley E. Schneider. "Navigating the Labor Market among People Who Use Drugs: Qualitative Evidence from a Justice-Involved Sample." Socius 11 (2025): 23780231251362896.