Erica Banks

Erica Banks is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Smith College, focusing on race and ethnicity, gender, feminist theory, inequality, criminal justice, and qualitative research methods. Her work intersects criminology, Africana studies, women and gender studies, and legal studies, with a specific emphasis on Black women's experiences in the criminal legal system.

• Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Northwestern University
• M.A. in Sociology from New York University
• B.A. in Sociology from University of Texas at Austin
• A.A. from Navarro College

Banks employs life history interviews to investigate how incarceration impacts Black women's economic mobility, motherhood, and physical/mental health. Her recent publications in Feminist Criminology and RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of Social Sciences explore themes of motherhood redefinition and housing instability caused by monetary sanctions.

Her research bridges interdisciplinary perspectives from sociology, criminology, and legal studies to analyze systemic inequities within the criminal legal system. Banks currently teaches courses examining mass incarceration while contributing to broader academic conversations about poverty and inequality through qualitative methodologies.