Luca Berardi

Luca Berardi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at McMaster University's Faculty of Social Sciences. His academic work bridges criminology and urban ethnography, focusing on the intersections of poverty, violence, and victimization within social housing developments and criminal justice institutions including prisons and police organizations.

Dr. Berardi earned his HBA and MA in Criminology from the University of Toronto, followed by a PhD in Sociology from the University of Alberta. His educational background has provided a strong foundation for his interdisciplinary approach to studying crime and social control.

His research interests span multiple interconnected domains, with a primary focus on criminology and ethnographic methods applied to urban settings. He examines how violence manifests in marginalized communities, particularly within social housing developments, and investigates the complex relationships between poverty and crime. His work also critically analyzes criminal justice institutions, with particular attention to prison systems and police practices, especially regarding drug enforcement and harm reduction approaches.

An analysis of his recent publications reveals consistent thematic threads across his scholarly output. Berardi's work demonstrates a strong commitment to ethnographic approaches in criminological research, with particular attention to the lived experiences of incarcerated populations, their families, and law enforcement personnel. His research increasingly addresses contemporary issues like the opioid crisis, pandemic impacts on correctional systems, and the experiences of marginalized groups within carceral settings, showing an evolving focus on public health approaches to criminal justice issues.

• SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship for ethnographic study on gun violence in Toronto social housing
• SSHRC IDG grant for research on victim-offender overlap among federally incarcerated people
• Alberta OHS Futures Research Funding Program for fentanyl-related occupational health research
• McMaster Covid-19 Catalyst Grant for studying carceral relations during the pandemic
• SSHRC Partnership Grant for longitudinal research on prisoner re-entry barriers

Dr. Berardi actively mentors students through various teaching roles, offering courses including Imprisonment, Making and Breaking Rules, Deviance and Social Problems, Regimes of Social Control, and Qualitative Methods. His teaching portfolio demonstrates a commitment to both substantive criminological topics and methodological training. While specific lab affiliations aren't mentioned in the available materials, his extensive publication record and research projects suggest active collaboration with interdisciplinary teams focused on criminal justice reform, prison studies, and urban sociology.