Elizabeth Brown

Elizabeth Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she has served since 2014 after previously teaching in Niagara University's Criminology and Criminal Justice department. Born in Senegal, Zaire (now DRC), and Bangladesh, she attended high school in Amherst, MA and holds a B.A. in Psychology from Tufts University (2000) and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from SUNY Albany (2009).

Her educational background includes:

• B.A. in Psychology, Tufts University, 2000
• Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, State University of New York at Albany, 2009

Dr. Brown's research expertise spans law and society, moral politics, and the social determinants of public opinion regarding crime and justice. She investigates punishment mechanisms, societal precarity, and U.S. state-level penal policy evolution, with current work examining how meritocratic beliefs and personal economic insecurity shape public perceptions of social class. Her scholarship reveals deep engagement with the moral and political foundations of punitive attitudes in American society.

Analysis of her 15 publications (2009-2025) demonstrates consistent focus on criminological methodology and public opinion dynamics. She employs experimental designs and longitudinal analysis to study collateral consequences, gun ownership metrics, and political rhetoric's impact on crime control policies. Key trends include historical examination of presidential platforms (1968-2020), racial bias in punitive views (1974-2014), and economic influences on incarceration during the Great Recession.

Information regarding Dr. Brown's graduate student mentoring, grant funding, laboratory affiliations, or research teams is not documented in the available sources.