Paul Hirschfield

Paul Hirschfield is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Criminal Justice Program at Rutgers University. He holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University (2003) and focuses on criminology, punishment, policing, and inequality. His research examines social control mechanisms in schools, policing practices, and racial disparities in discipline and juvenile justice. He investigates therapeutic alternatives to exclusionary discipline and international variations in police use of deadly force, particularly in the U.S. and Latin America. Recent work emphasizes firearms prevalence, legal standards, and police governance as drivers of lethal outcomes.

Dr. Hirschfield has conducted evaluations of programs like Moving to Opportunity and the Comer School Development Program, assessing their impacts on juvenile justice involvement. His research has been published in top journals such as *Criminology* and *Sociology of Education*, and he has contributed to public discourse via *Foreign Affairs* and *Huffington Post*, addressing topics like U.S. gun violence and police lethality.

His academic contributions bridge criminological theory and policy analysis, with a focus on equity in education and criminal justice systems. He has advised on reentry programs for ex-offenders and explored the 'school-to-prison pipeline' metaphor’s validity. Current projects include studies on school safety policies and restorative justice alternatives.