CURRICULUM VITAE

SARA STEEN

Updated October 2007

Personal

Office Address: Home Address:

Department of Sociology, Campus Box 327 5131 Ellsworth Place

University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80303

Boulder, CO 80309 (303) 449-3817

(303) 735-6658

email: steen@colorado.edu

Education

Ph.D. Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 1998

M.A. Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 1993

B.A. Russian Language/Literature, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio 1990

Professional Experience

Associate Professor 2007

Department of Sociology, University of Colorado--Boulder

Assistant Professor 2001 - 2007

Department of Sociology, University of Colorado--Boulder

Assistant Professor 1998 – 2001

Department of Sociology, Vanderbilt University

Areas of Specialization

Inequalities in social control

Sentencing guidelines and reforms

Parole revocation decisions

Prosecutorial discretion

Criminal justice responses to drug offenders

Medicalization of deviance

Courses Taught

Undergraduate:

Criminal justice

Criminology

Deviance and social control

Critical thinking: Consumerism in America

Social problems

Disappearance of childhood

Methodology of sociological research

Graduate:

Institutions of social control

Inequalities and social control

Deviance and social control

Graduate teaching seminar

Journal Articles

2007. Steen, Sara and Tara Opsal. “Punishment on the Installment Plan: Parole Revocation in Four States.” The Prison Journal, 87(3): 344-366.

2007. Steen, Sara and Rachel Bandy. “When the Policy Becomes the Problem: Criminal Justice in the New Millenium.” Punishment and Society, 9(1): 5-26.

2007. Steen, Sara. “Conferring Sameness: Institutional Management of Juvenile Sex Offenders.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 36(1): 31-49.

2006. Cohen, Mark, Roland Rust, and Sara Steen. “Prevention, Crime Control or Cash? Public Preferences towards Criminal Justice Spending Priorities.” Justice Quarterly, 23: 317-335.

2005. Steen, Sara, Rodney L. Engen, and Randy R. Gainey. “Images of Danger: Racial Stereotyping, Case Processing, and Criminal Sentencing.” Criminology, 43 (2): 435-468.

2005. Gainey, Randy R., Sara Steen, and Rodney L. Engen. “Exercising Options: An Assessment of the Use of Alternative Sanctions for Drug Offenders.” Justice Quarterly, 22(4): 488-520.

2005. King, Nancy J., David A. Soule, Sara Steen, and Robert R. Weidner. “When Process Affects Punishment: Differences in Sentences After Guilty Plea, Bench Trial, and Jury Trial in Five Guideline States.” Columbia Law Review 105 (4): 959-1009.

2004. Steen, Sara and Mark Cohen. “Assessing the Public’s Demand for Hate Crime Penalties.” Justice Quarterly 21 (1): 91-124.

2004. Cohen, Mark, Roland Rust, Sara Steen, and Simon Tidd. “Willingness-to-Pay for Crime Control Programs.” Criminology 42(1): 89-110.

2002. Engen, Rodney L., Sara Steen, and George S. Bridges. “Racial Disparities in the Punishment of Youth: A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment of the Literature.” Social Problems 49(2): 194-220.

2001. Steen, Sara. “Contested Portrayals: Medical and Legal Social Control of Juvenile Sex Offenders.” Sociological Quarterly 42(3): 325-350.

2000. Engen, Rodney L. and Sara Steen. “The Power to Punish: Discretion and Sentencing Reform in the War on Drugs.” American Journal of Sociology 105(5): 1357-1395.

1999. Steen, Sara, Chris Bader, and Charis Kubrin. “Rethinking the Graduate Seminar.” Teaching Sociology 27(2): 167-173.

1998. Bridges, George S. and Sara Steen. "Racial Disparities in Official Assessments of Juvenile Offenders: Attributional Stereotypes as Mediating Mechanisms." American Sociological Review 63(4): 554-570.

Journal Articles under Review

None currently under review.

Book Chapters

2005. Sara Steen, Christine E.W. Bond, George Bridges, Charis E. Kubrin. “Explaining Assessments of Future Risk: Race and Attributions of Juvenile Offenders in Pre-Sentencing Reports.” Pp. 245-269 in Hawkins, Darnell and Kimberly Kempf-Leonard (Editors), Our Children, Their Children: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Differences in American Juvenile Justice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

2002. Sara Steen. “Drug Courts: Getting Offenders Morally Involved in Criminal Justice.” In James L. Nolan (Editor) Drug Courts: An International Movement in Therapeutic Jurisprudence.

1995. Steen, Sara and Pepper Schwartz. "Communication, Gender, and Power: Homosexual Couples as a Case Study." Pp. 310-343 in Fitzpatrick, Mary Anne and Anita L. Vangelisti (Eds.) Explaining Family Interactions. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

1995. Schwartz, Pepper, Davis Patterson, and Sara Steen. "The Dynamics of Power: Money and Sex in Intimate Relationships." Pp. 253-276 in Kalbfleisch, Pamela J. and Michael J. Cody (Eds.) Gender, Power, and Communication in Human Relationships. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Research Reports

2001. Cohen, Mark, Roland Rust and Sara Steen. “Measuring Public Perceptions of Appropriate Prison Sentences.” Final Report to the National Institute of Justice.

2000. Engen, Rodney L. and Sara Steen. “The Implementation and Impact of Drug Sentencing Reform in Washington State.” Final Report to the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission.

1999. Engen, Rodney L., Randy Gainey, and Sara Steen. “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Sentencing Outcomes for Drug Offenders in Washington State: FY1996 to FY1999.” Final Report to the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission.

1999. Steen, Sara, Rodney Engen, and Randy Gainey. “The Impact of Race and Ethnicity on Charging and Sentencing Processes for Drug Offenders in Three Counties of Washington State.” Final Report to the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission.

1997. Bridges, George, Kristin Bates, and Sara Steen. “Racial Disproportionality in County Juvenile Facilities: 1990-1996.” Final Report to the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration.

Other Publications

2002. Steen, Sara. “Determinate Sentences.” Pp. 509-512 in Levinson, David (Editor) Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment. Sage Publications.

Works in Progress

Steen, Sara, Tara Opsal, and Peter Lovegrove. “Predictors of Parole Revocation Decisions.”

Steen, Sara and Leith Lombas. “Paperwork and Power: The Role of Documents in Parole Revocation Decisions.”

Engen, Rodney, Sara Steen, and Randy Gainey. “The Role of Race/Ethnicity in Prosecutorial Decisions about Drug Offenders.”

Steen, Sara. “Theorizing Discretion in Criminal Justice Decision Making.”

Steen, Sara. “Sentencing of Drug Offenders: Legislative Reforms and Organizational Imperatives.”

Steen, Sara. “The Impact of Sentencing Guidelines on Decision Making throughout Case Processing.”

Dissertation

1998. Professions in Conflict: Legal and Medical Social Control of Juvenile Sex Offenders.

Grants Received

CARTSS. $3900. Grant to support one student to do summer work on parole revocation project. Summer, 2006.

Service Learning Grant. $1800. Grant to support an independent study with four graduate students to develop a graduate seminar on Public Sociology.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Grant. $2,400. University of Colorado. Grant to pay two undergraduate students to work on parole revocation research project. Fall, 2005.

Council on Research and Creative Work. $5,300. University of Colorado Graduate School. Grant to pay two graduate students to work on parole revocation research project. Summer, 2005.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Grant. $1,500. University of Colorado. Grant to pay three undergraduate students to work on parole revocation research project. Spring, 2004.

Service Learning Course Development Grant. With Kris DeWelde. $2,000. University of Colorado. Grant to incorporate service learning into the Department of Sociology. January, 2003.

Service Learning Course Development Grant. $1,000. University of Colorado. Grant to incorporate service learning into Sociology 2031, Social Problems. Fall, 2001.

Kenan Venture Fund. $4,155. Vanderbilt University. Grant to prepare a freshman seminar course entitled “The Disappearance of Childhood.” Summer, 1999.

Research Contracts Received

Consultant for grant from National Institute of Justice. “Measuring Public Perceptions of Appropriate Prison Sentences.” Mark Cohen, Principal Investigator. June, 1999-2003.

Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission. $15,000. “The Implementation and Impact of Sentencing Reform in Washington State.” Co-investigator with Rodney Engen. February, 2000.

Washington State Minority and Justice Commission. $10,000. “The Impact of Race and Ethnicity on Charging and Sentencing Processes for Drug Offenders in Washington State.” Co-investigator with Rodney Engen and Randy Gainey. July, 1999.

Washington State Minority and Justice Commission. $10,000. “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Sentencing Outcomes for Drug Offenders in Washington State.” Co-investigator with Rodney Engen and Randy Gainey. June, 1999.

Honors and Awards

AKD Award for Excellence in Teaching and Outstanding Service to the Students of Sociology at CU—Boulder, 2005.

AKD Award for Outstanding Advisor. 2003-04.

Invited Lectures

2000. With George Bridges. “Criminal Justice Data: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Studies.” Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, Ann Arbor, MI.

1999. “Using Research on Racial Disparities to Affect Public Policy.” American Bar Association Conference for Juvenile Public Defenders, Washington, D.C.

Conference Presentations

2007. Steen, Sara. “Discretion and Risk Assessment in Parole Revocation Decisions.” Law and Society Association, Berlin, Germany.

2006. Steen, Sara, Tara Opsal, and Peter Lovegrove. “The Case for Studying Parole Revocation: Why Sentencing Researchers Should Care.” American Society of Criminology, Los Angeles, California.

2005. Steen, Sara and Rachel Bandy. “When the Policy Becomes the Problem: Criminal Justice Policy in the New Millenium.“ American Society of Criminology, Toronto, Canada.

2004. Steen, Sara and Tara Opsal. “The Impact of Race on Parole Revocation in Four States, 1990-2000.“ American Society of Criminology, Nashville, TN.

2003. Steen, Sara. “Controlling Discretion in Criminal Justice Systems.” American Society of Criminology, Denver, CO.

2002. Steen, Sara and Mark Cohen. “Public perceptions of fair punishment for hate crimes.” American Society of Criminology, Chicago, IL.

2002. Steen, Sara and George S. Bridges. “Racial Stereotypes, Patterns of Offending, and Attributional Processes in Juvenile Justice.” American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL.

2001. Steen, Sara and Rodney Engen. “Sentencing of Drug Offenders: Legislative Reforms and Organizational Imperatives.” American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA.

2001. Engen, Rodney and Sara Steen. “Implementing Sentencing Reform Under Guidelines: A Test of the Hydraulic Displacement Thesis.” American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA.

2001. “Making Dangerous Decisions: The Conditioning Effects of Race in Criminal Justice Decision-Making.” American Sociological Association, Anaheim, CA.

1999. “The Impact of Sentencing Guidelines on Decision-Making throughout Case Processing.” American Society of Criminology, Toronto, Ontario.

1999. Engen, Rodney and Sara Steen. “Discretion and the Implementation of Sentencing Reforms Under Guidelines.” American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL.

1999. Steen, Sara and Rodney Engen. “Sentencing Outcomes Under Sentencing Reforms: The Role of Human Agency.” Law and Society Association, Chicago, IL.

1999. “Drug Courts: Choosing Treatment over Punishment.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Orlando, FL.

1998. “Social Organization of a Drug Court.” American Society of Criminology, Washington, D.C.

1998. “Professions in Conflict: Legal and Medical Control of Juvenile Sex Offenders.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Albuquerque, NM.

1997. Bridges, George and Sara Steen. “Human Agency and the Legal Process:

Race, Officials’ Beliefs About the Causes of Crime, and Sentencing Disparity.” American Society of Criminology, San Diego, CA.

1996. “Intersections: Legal and Medical Control of Juvenile Sex Offenders.” American Society of Criminology, Chicago, IL.

1996. "Creating Knowledge: The Case of the Juvenile Sex Offender." American Sociological Association, New York, NY.

1996. Howard, Judith, George Bridges, Sara Steen, and Kristin Bates. "Preparing Future Faculty: The Challenge of Training the Next Generation of College Teachers for the Undergraduate Classroom." American Sociological Association, New York, NY.

1996. "Preparing Future Faculty: Program Introduction for New Graduate Deans." Council of Graduate Schools, Denver, CO.

1995. Karp, David, Tom Linneman, Kristin Bates, and Sara Steen. "Contrasting Disciplinary Missions Between Research and Teaching Institutions." Fifth National Conference on the Education and Employment of Graduate Teaching Assistants, Denver, CO.

1995. Bridges, George and Sara Steen. "Social Status, Offender Typifications and the Punishment of Deviants." American Society of Criminology, Boston, MA.

1994. Bridges, George and Sara Steen. "Racial Typification, Crime and Disparity in Criminal Punishment for Juveniles." American Society of Criminology, Miami, FL.

Professional Service

Professional Organizations

Member. Program committee. Section Chair, Sentencing Policies. American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA, 2007.

Elected member. Nominations Committee. Pacific Sociological Association. 2006-08.

Member. Program committee. American Society of Criminology, Toronto, Canada, 2005.

Panel chair. “Consequences of State and Federal Criminal Justice Policies.” American Society of Criminology, Nashville, TN, 2004.

Division chair for section on Deviance and Social Control. American Sociological Association, Atlanta, GA, 2003.

Member. Awards Committee for Section on Corrections and Sentencing. American Society of Criminology. John Kramer, Chair. 2002.

Panel chair. “Attitudes, Organizational Pressures, and Prosecutorial Outcomes.” American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA, 2001.

Member. Program Committee of the American Society of Criminology’s Division on People of Color and Crime, 2000, 2001.

Division chair for section on Qualitative Methodology. American Society of Criminology, San Francisco, CA, 2000.

Panel discussant. “Qualitative Research in the Study of Crime, Law and Deviance.” American Sociological Association, Washington, D.C., 2000.

Member. ASA Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance Student Paper Competition Committee. 2000.

Panel chair. “Criminal Court Actors and Decision-Making Processes.” American Society of Criminology, Toronto, Ontario, 1999.

Panel chair. “New Perspectives on Courtroom Workgroups.” American Society of Criminology, Washington, D.C., 1998.

Panel discussant. “Social Control Systems: Hospitals, Courtrooms, and Police Departments." Southern Sociological Society, Nashville, TN, 1999.

Regular manuscript referee for:

Social Problems

Justice Quarterly

Occasional manuscript referee for:

American Journal of Criminal Justice

American Sociological Review

Criminology

Criminology and Public Policy

International Criminal Justice Review

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

Law and Society Review

Signs

Social Psychology Quarterly

Sociological Forum

Sociological Perspectives

Sociological Quarterly

Teaching Sociology

Occasional grant proposal referee for:

National Science Foundation

Book manuscript reviewed for:

Lynne Riener Publishers

Professional memberships:

American Sociological Association

American Society of Criminology

Pacific Sociological Society

Law and Society Association

Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences

Department of Sociology, University of Colorado—Boulder

Co-chair. Hiring Committee for Search in Theory, 2006.

Member. Hiring Committee for Junior Search in Criminology, 2006.

Member. Hiring Committee for Junior Search in Criminology, 2005.

Member. Graduate Committee, 2005-06.

Member. Undergraduate Committee, 2001-2005.

Member. Standing Rules Committee, 2004-2005.

Faculty advisor. Sociology Honors Program, 2004-present.

Faculty advisor. Sociology Internship Program. Fall, 2004-present.

Faculty representative. Alpha Kappa Delta, 2001-2005 (with Len Pinto 02-03).

Member. Hiring Committee for Senior Search in Criminology, Fall, 2003.

Member. Hiring (Vision) Committee, 2002.

Member. Merit Evaluation Grievance Committee, Fall, 2002.

Faculty organizer. Sociology Club, 2001-02.

University of Colorado—Boulder

Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement steering committee, 2006-07.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program advisory committee, 2005-07.

Paper award committee Hardy Long Frank Prize, Program on Writing and Rhetoric, 2006.

Honors Council, 2004-06.

Faculty advisor (with Peter Park), INVST, 2003-04.

PhD Committees—Chair

Tara Opsal

Dan Haught

Stacy Mallicoat, Co-chair with Joanne Belknap, PhD 2002, Assistant Professor, CSU—Fullerton

Rachel Bandy, PhD awarded 2007, Assistant Professor, Simpson College

PhD Committees—Member

Emmanuel David

Allison Foley

Paul Harvey

Alison Hatch

Allison Hicks

Sally Lasko

Kathy Lineberger

Jadi Morrow

Jacklyn Raska

Katy Sirles

Jennifer (Skadi) Snook

Dawn Stanley

Dorian Wilson

Jeff London, 2003-2005

Tracy Crosby, 2004-2006

Beverly Kingston, PhD 2005

Suzanne Leahy, PhD 2004

Masters committees

Jennie Bennett, Chair, MA 2005

Timothy Carpenter, Member, MA 2006

Dawn Stanley, Member, MA 2006

Graduate Student Teaching Mentees

Rachel Bandy (2005)

Paul Harvey (2004-05)

Kathy Lineberger (2004-05)

Dawn Stanley (2004)

Tracy Crosby (2004)

Jaclyn Raska (2004-06)

Megan Murphy (2004)

Other Graduate Committee Work

Teruo Utsumi (read specialty area paper, Fred Pampel chair)

Undergraduate Honors Students

Jacoba Rock (Chair, 2006-07)

Maren Gauldin (Chair, 2005-06)

Emily Sawyer (Member, 2005-06)

Devon Thacker (Member, 2005-06)

Megan Harris (Member, 2005-06)

Laura VanderDrift (Member, 2005-06)

Jeffery Webre (Member, 2005)

Heidi Brevik (Chair, 2004-05)

Rachel Klein (Member, 2004)

Paula Pant (Member, 2004-05)

Erin Emmer (Member, 2004-05)

Miranda Dettmann (Member, 2004-05)

Stefanie Vincent (Member, 2004-05)

Juliana Roste (Member, 2004-05, Journalism)

Michael Schultz (Member, 2004-05, Psychology)

Amy Weiner (Co-chair with Lori Hunter, 2003-04)

Lesley Horton (Chair, 2003-04)

RachAel Ahrens (Chair, Fall, 2002)

Ian Robbins (Member, 2001-02)

Layne Potvin (Chair, 2001-02)

Mary Barham (Member, 2001-02)

Joy Knox (Member, 2001-02)

Julie Master (Member, 2001-02, English)

Undergraduate Internship Students

Jacoba Rock (Summer, Fall 2006)

Erin Emmer (Fall 2005)

Stephanie Kirkwood (Fall 2004)