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Photograph of Janice Iwama

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Janice Iwama Assoc Professor Department of Justice, Law and Criminology

Degrees
PhD, Northeastern University
MS, American University
BA, American University

Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Bio
Professor Iwama’s research primarily focuses on examining local conditions and social processes that influence hate crimes and racial profiling, particularly against Latino and immigrant populations. Her work applies a theoretical framework to improving our understanding on hate crimes and racial profiling across communities while considering demographic, economic, and political, as well as spatial and temporal changes in the United States. Previously, she worked on an assessment study examining the 2014 Massachusetts Gun Violence Reduction Act funded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) to examine the impact of the new gun legislation across the state. She has also served as a co-principal investigator and lead researcher in projects funded by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Unit, the National Institute of Justice, and other state and local agencies on hate crimes and racial profiling such as in Kansas, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington state. Additionally, Dr. Iwama has presented and testified on racial profiling at traffic stops before the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration and the Rhode Island State Senate and has been interviewed on the Spanish language television network, Univision, regarding the concerns surrounding hate crimes against Latinos following the outcome of the U.S. presidential election of 2016.
See Also
SPA Department of Justice, Law and Criminology
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Teaching

Spring 2023

  • JLC-104 Intro to Systems of Justice

  • JLC-210 Policing in America: Intro

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Selected Publications

Iwama, J. (2023). “Advancing Latina/o/x Diversity in Academia and Why it Matters.” Journal of Criminal Justice Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2023.2186452.

Iwama, J., Peguero, A., Eason, J. M., Marchbanks, M. P., Zhang, J., & J. Blake. (2022). “Immigration and School Threat?: Exploring the Significance of the Border.” Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, https://doi.org/10.1177/00224278221100124.

Iwama, J., Ernstes, A., Ripepi, M., Irizarry, Y., Bondy, J. M. & Peguero, A. (2022). “Segregation, Securitization, and Bullying: Investigating the Connections between Policing, Surveillance, Punishment, and Violence.” Race & Justice, https://doi.org/10.1177/21533687221105906.

Research Interests

Bias/Hate Crimes; Communities and Crime; Gun Legislation and Violence; Policing; Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration; Victimization