NCID-1220
Rita Shah
Associate Professor of Criminology
Eastern Michigan University
Education/Degree:
1 Criminology, Law, and Society (University of California, Irvine)
About
Rita is a a Fulbright Scholar and cultural criminologist who combines textual analysis with qualitative and visual methods to understand the ways in which correctional systems are socially and legally constructed. Her work has been published in the British Journal of Criminology and Contemporary Justice Review and is supported by National Endowment for the Humanities and National Science Foundation grants. Her most recent book, The Meaning of Rehabilitation and its Impact on Parole: There and Back Again in California (2017), queries the concept of "rehabilitation" to determine how, on a legislative and policy level, the term is defined as a goal of correctional systems. She received her BA in communications, legal institutions, economics and government from American University and her MA in social ecology and PhD in criminology, law and society from the University of California, Irvine. She is also an amateur photographer. You can learn more about her academic and photographic work at her website: ritashahphd.com.
Current Work
Dr. Rita Shah’s work argues that correctional systems and structures do not exist in a vacuum. Rather, they are justified and reframed through criminal justice policy and reflect society’s view towards those who break the law. Her main line of inquiry questions the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which correctional spaces are located and the architectural aspects of these spaces. The second line of inquiry examines how the concept of rehabilitation is conceived by various actors in the criminal legal system. Finally, she conducts research on criminological methods and pedagogy. Currently, Dr. Shah is in Australia working on her Fulbright project, which aims to understand whether the implementation of human rights principles within a prison can lead to change or if the ideals legitimize existing practices.
Research Area Keyword(s)
community corrections, parole, rehabilitation, visual methods, social construction of corrections