Dr. Sandra Smith, Professor and Chair of the UC Berkeley Department of Sociology, visited UC Merced on Thursday, February 7. Professor Smith was hosted by the UC Merced Sociology Department and gave a talk entitled "The Overrepresentation of Persons with Co-Occurring Disorders in the Criminal Justice System: Exploring the Role of Procedural Injustices."
Persons with co-occurring disorders (COD) are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Not only are they at greater risk of arrest, they are also disproportionately represented among state prisoners and jail inmates.
Professor Smith’s research interests include urban poverty, joblessness, race and ethnicity, social networks and social capital, and trust. She has recently expanded her research to include criminal justice issues focused on front-end case processing and the influence of pretrial detention and diversion on justice-involved individuals’ future criminal justice involvement.
