Spencer Headworth

Spencer Headworth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Purdue University, where he joined the faculty in 2016 and was promoted to his current rank. His expertise spans law, social control, inequality, organizations, and occupations, with research critically examining contemporary legal and bureaucratic systems.

Education

• Ph.D. and Master's in Sociology, Northwestern University
• Bachelor's in Sociology and Psychology, Bowling Green State University

Research Focus

Headworth's scholarship centers on formal social control processes and the policing of illegal behavior, notably through his welfare fraud investigation project. His work reveals how legal organizations operate and their societal effects, contributing significantly to sociological understandings of inequality within institutional frameworks.

Recognition

• Affiliated Scholar of the American Bar Foundation

Teaching and Service

He teaches courses in law, inequality, criminal justice, and qualitative methods, and contributes to Purdue's Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program. Headworth also serves as lead editor of "Diversity in Practice: Race, Gender, and Class in Legal and Professional Careers".