Katherine Beckett
· Professor, LSJ/SociologyVerifiedUniversity of Washington · Law, Societies & Justice
Active 1994–2026
About
Katherine Beckett is a Professor in the Department of Law, Societies, and Justice and the S. Frank Miyamoto Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington. She is also a faculty associate and steering committee member of the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights. Her research analyzes the causes and consequences of criminal legal changes and penal practices, exploring topics such as the impact of criminal justice expansion on social inequality, the role of race in drug law enforcement and the administration of the death penalty in Washington State, the assessment of fees and fines, urban social control practices, the proliferation of long and life sentences, and the politics of urban disorder. She has authored numerous articles and four books on these topics, with her most recent book titled 'Ending Mass Incarceration' published by Oxford University Press in 2021. Beckett has worked closely with civic organizations including the Public Defender Association, the Concerned Lifer's Organization, the Racial Disparity Project, and Columbia Legal Services. Her work has been supported by various foundations and agencies, and she has received multiple awards for her research, teaching, and service, including the University of Washington’s Public Service Award. She was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2016.
Research topics
- Sociology
- Political Science
- Criminology
- Law
- Social psychology
- Psychology
- Geography
- Computer Science
- Social Science
- Biology
- Political economy
- Psychoanalysis
Selected publications
The politics of sentencing reform in the context of U.S. mass incarceration
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2026-04-21
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingReflections on the shadow carceral state
Theoretical Criminology · 2024 · 3 citations
Senior authorCorresponding- Sociology
- Political Science
- Criminology
In 2012 we urged scholars to explore the extension of penal power through the “shadow carceral state.” The shadow carceral state operates through legally hybrid and institutionally serpentine forms that stretch beyond the criminal legal system. Theoretical Criminology's special issue invited us to reflect on the issues we raised in that piece. We are impressed by the transformation of punishment and society scholarship, which has grown deeper and more sophisticated with each wave of activism. Yet it will take more than a thriving subfield to confront the present and likely future: tenacious and expansive carceral and shadow carceral states that are continually deployed to address the compounding global crises of climate change, mass displacement, and structural poverty.
2022-01-01 · 3 citations
book-chapterSenior authorViolence and Restorative Justice
2022-02-16
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingAbstract Existing criminal justice and sentencing policies do not serve survivors of violence well, particularly those who are of color and from disadvantaged communities. Policies that allow for the imposition of long and life sentences are often said to reflect victims’ preferences, but this is misleading. Long prison sentences also consume significant public dollars that could be reallocated to improve victim services and enhance crime prevention efforts. Increased investment in restorative justice alternatives would also provide a more effective, humane, and racially equitable way of responding to the problem of violence. While important questions about scalability remain unresolved, developing the institutional capacity to operate restorative justice-inspired interventions that target violence and survivors of color is an important component of the effort to ameliorate the harm associated with both violence and mass incarceration.
Criminal Case Processing: Data and Methods
2022-03-17
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingSubject Criminology and Criminal Justice Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online
Legislative Reforms: Data and Methods
2022-03-17
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingSubject Criminology and Criminal Justice Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online
2022-02-16 · 2 citations
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingAbstract Chapter 1 explains why mass incarceration has failed to improve public safety and makes the case for expanding our understanding of public safety and how it can be achieved. The chapter also shows that the criminal legal system response to lawbreaking has continued to intensify in recent years even as many states have enacted reforms aimed at reducing prison populations and incarceration rates have declined modestly. And although the policies and practices that have fueled the expansion of the justice system are routinely justified as crime-fighting measures, research shows that mass incarceration is a short-sighted, ineffective, costly, inhumane, and overly narrow approach to public safety. The remainder of the chapter provides an overview of the book. Part I explores three underrecognized dynamics that are working to bolster mass incarceration. Part II identifies three broad policy and political changes that would notably reduce the scale and power of the criminal legal system and racial inequities in it while also addressing the social problems to which it is a failed response.
2022-02-16 · 2 citations
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingAbstract The ascendance of a narrow definition of public safety that recognizes just one threat to public safety, the risk of interpersonal violence, was the result of an eminently useful political strategy employed by conservative (and, increasingly, liberal) political actors in recent decades. Yet the institutional expression of this political strategy—mass incarceration—has been a colossal policy failure. Mass incarceration does not make us safer. In fact, by consuming scarce public resources, substituting for meaningful assistance for people who have experienced crime and violence, and reinforcing poverty and racial inequality, mass incarceration has failed us all. It has particularly failed communities of color and low-income families by ensnaring, traumatizing, and stigmatizing millions. In seeking to end mass incarceration, our efforts to reduce the state’s power to punish must be tethered to policies and practices that reduce and ameliorate all forms of harm and suffering. True public safety requires no less.
Beyond harm reduction policing
2022-11-24 · 2 citations
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingIn this chapter, the authors evaluate the current state of the drug war in the United States and describe emerging interest in community-based alternative responses. Their contention regarding the former is that although the drug war has attenuated somewhat, the degree to which the criminal legal system is used to respond to drug use and drug markets remains quite high when judged by historical standards. The authors briefly describe recent trends in drug arrests and prison admissions to flesh this out; these data also show some important geographic shifts in the war on drugs. The remainder of the chapter describes the emergence of an alternative diversion framework rooted in harm reduction principles (i.e. Let Everyone Advance With Dignity [LEAD]) in Seattle that now serves as an alternative model in nearly 100 jurisdictions across the country. It also provides an account of how this framework was adapted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to continue to reduce the harm associated with drug use, drug markets, and unmanaged addiction.
2022-03-17
other1st authorCorrespondingSubject Criminology and Criminal Justice Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online
Recent grants
The End of Mass Incarceration? Exploring the Contradictions of Criminal Justice Reform
NSF · $230k · 2015–2018
Frequent coauthors
- 17 shared
Steve Herbert
- 10 shared
Bruce Western
Columbia University
- 9 shared
Theodore Sasson
- 6 shared
Alexes Harris
University of Washington
- 5 shared
Heather Evans
University of Washington
- 4 shared
Forrest Stuart
Stanford University
- 4 shared
Angelina Snodgrass Godoy
- 3 shared
Naomi Murakawa
Princeton University
Labs
Katherine BeckettPI
Awards & honors
- University of Washington’s Public Service Award
- Elected to membership in the Washington State Academy of Sci…
- Galaxy Leadership Fellow (2026-2028)
- Resume-aware match score
- Save to shortlist
- AI-drafted outreach
See your match with Katherine Beckett
PhdFit ranks faculty by your research interests, methods, and publications — grounded in their actual work, not templates.
- Free to start
- No credit card
- 30-second signup