Name: Alexandra Cox
Title: Assistant Professor
Academic Rank: Assistant Professor
Department: Sociology
Expertise Keywords: desistance, forensic social work, imprisonment, juvenile justice, prisons, rural imprisonment
Available For: interviews, essays, speaking
Expertise: I have my Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Cambridge. I was selected for a prestigious Soros Justice Fellowship, in which I did an action research project about prison staff resistance to reform and prison closures. Prior to obtaining my Ph.D., I did work as a researcher in the field of drug policy reform, and then I worked as a social worker and mitigation specialist at a public defender's office in Harlem (New York City).
Currrent Research: I am completing a research study of staff resistance to reform in the juvenile justice system, which focuses in particular on the effects of prison closures on rural communities.
Contact Information
E-mail Address: coxa@newpaltz.edu
Communication & Marketing: 845-257-3245
Other Information
Positions held prior to joining SUNY New Paltz:
Mitigation Specialist, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
Soros Justice Fellow
Gates Cambridge Scholar
Senior Research Associate, Drug Policy Alliance
Education
| Colleges/ Universities Attended |
Dates Attended |
Degree Conferred |
Year Conferred |
Major Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Cambridge | 2006-2007 | MPhil | 2007 | Criminological Research |
| University of Cambridge | 2007-2012 | Ph.D. | 2012 | Criminology |
| Yale University | 1997-2001 | BA | 2001 | American Studies |
Awards/Grants/Honors
Gates Cambridge Scholarship, awarded to outstanding students who exhibit leadership potential and an ability to positively affect the lives of others (2007)
Overseas Research Scholarship, awarded by the British government to students at the top of their class (2007)
Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship, awarded to outstanding individuals in the field of criminal justice reform (2010)
Other professional activities
Member, New York conditions of confinement workgroup, New York Juvenile Justice Coalition
Organizational Memberships
Board Member, Literacy for Incarcerated Teens (2010-present)
Co-Chair, Conditions of confinement workgroup, New York Juvenile Justice Coalition (2010-2011)
American Sociological Association
American Society of Criminology
Law and Society Association
Publications
Article, 2013, 'New Visions of Social Control? Young People's Perceptions of Community Penalties,' Journal of Youth Studies
Book chapter, 2012, ‘Anchoring Identity: The Construction of Self For and By Young Offenders in England and the USA’ Youth Matters: Critical Geographies of Childhood and Youth: Policy and Practice, Cambridge: Policy Press.
Book chapter (with Loraine Gelsthorpe) (2012) ‘Creative Encounters in Prisons’ in Cheliotis, L. (editor) The Arts of Imprisonment: Essays on Control, Resistance and Empowerment, Aldershot: Ashgate.
Article (2011) ‘Doing the Programme or Doing Me? The Pains of Youth Imprisonment,‘ Punishment & Society, 13(5)
Article (2009) Rooting Respect: Young People’s Perspectives on Respect, Responsibility and Government in the Criminal Courts,’ Childhoods Today, 3(1)
