Spencer Headworth

Courses

Sociology 411: Social Stratification

Sociology 419: Sociology of Law

Sociology 686: Qualitative Research Methods

Specialization

Crime; Social Control; Inequality; Law; Professions; Organizations

Dr. Headworth's current primary project examines welfare fraud enforcement, a novel intersection between the worlds of criminal justice and poverty management. For this project, Dr. Headworth interviewed fraud control personnel in five regionally, politically, and socioeconomically diverse US states. His findings provide new insights into how social policies related to rule enforcement, accountability, and sanction are put into practice on the ground, and the implications of these processes for state agencies, their employees, and the populations with which they engage. The results of this research appear in a book manuscript under review, a new American Sociological Review article, and other articles under review and in preparation.

Dr. Headworth’s other past and current work includes projects on the political economy of prison construction, status stratification in academia, inequalities in the legal profession, and correctional health care litigation and reform. His research has appeared in Social Forces, the DuBois Review, and other venues. He is an Affiliated Scholar of the American Bar Foundation, and the lead editor of Diversity in Practice: Race, Gender, and Class in Legal and Professional Careers, published by Cambridge University Press.