Yolanda Martin

Faculty
SOC

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Criminal Justice Professor Yolanda C. Martin is an expert in critical criminology; forced migration and deportations; transnational drug research; ethnographic methodology; linkages between structural inequality and criminalization of urban communities.

Expertise

Sociology, Qualitative Research Methods, Immigration Studies, Immigrant Health, Critical Criminology

Degrees

Ph.D. Graduate Center, City University of New York, Sociology,
Queens College, City University of New York, M.A., Sociology,
B.A. Vassar College, Sociology; Chinese,

Courses Taught

3 CRS.3 HRS. CRJ 101 CRJ 101 (Introduction to Criminal Justice): Criminal Justice is the field that studies formal social control. This course covers the processing of crime by agents of formal control (police, courts, and institutional corrections). The general focus is on understanding the complex interactions of structures and agents in the system. Of particular concern are discretion and diversity in law enforcement, due process in criminal courts, and the punishment-rehabilitation dichotomy in corrections. The ultimate goal is to provide a critical foundation that prepares students for the challenges of a career in criminal justice.
3 CRS.3 HRS.NULL LAB HRS. CRJ 102 CRJ 102 (Criminology): This is an introductory and foundational course in the study of crime and justice. It is designed to introduce students to the various historical and contemporary theories and empirical research used to understand deviant and criminal behavior. This course takes a critical approach to the study of the definition and measurement of crime, as well as applications of these theories to practice and in policy. Offending and victimization, as these relate to specific crime types (i.e., white collar crime, violent crime, sex crime, drug related crimes, etc.) will be explored. Prerequisite: SOC 100
3 CRS.3 HRS. CRJ 201 CRJ 201 (Policing): This course is intended to broaden the studenta??s understanding of the origins and development of law enforcement agencies in the United States. Moreover, the course will examine the complex role of the police in a democratic society in the criminal justice system. An emphasis will be placed on recruitment, the training process and the importance of diversity, particularly among larger police departments in the U.S. The course will also examine contemporary legal issues and modern strategies such as community, evidence-based, intelligence-led and predictive policing. Prerequisite: CRJ 101
3 CRS.3 HRS.NULL LAB HRS. CRJ 202 CRJ 202 (Corrections): This course examines the history of criminal punishment in Western society, emphasizing the United States. The course highlights social forces (political, religious, economic, and technological) shaping punishment; reviews common theories (deterrence, retribution, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and restoration) and examines how theory relates to policy. The course takes a critical approach to correctional systems and policies by considering disparities and structural inequalities. Empirical evidence is used to examine contemporary crises of punishment (i.e., mass incarceration, school-to-prison pipeline) as well as prison culture, staffing, privatization, and prisoner civil rights. Alternatives to traditional punishment, especially restorative justice models, are explored. Prerequisite: CRJ 101
3 CRS.3 HRS. CRJ 204 CRJ 204 (Criminal Justice and the Urban Community): This course takes a critical approach to the study of crime and justice in urban settings. Course materials examine contemporary crime-related issues that affect urban communities within a historical and sociological context. The course highlights the intersections of deviant behavior and the criminal justice system within the structures of class, race, gender, and power inequalities. Topics explored may include racial profiling, juvenile delinquency, media representations of crime, policing, the war on drugs, and prisoner re-entry.
Prerequisite: CRJ 101 and CRJ 102

Research and Projects

Rapid Assessments Study of Homeless Encampments and Hotspots (Commissioned by Mayor DeBlasio’s Office of Criminal Justice)
This study used Rapid Assessment methods and techniques to examine “homeless encampments” and other homeless “hot spots” across NYC, to meet immediate short-term needs for comprehensive data describing the phenomenon and to help devise solutions for reducing the problems that encourage their formation. These findings are expected to better inform policy makers and practitioners about the factors that promote or discourage their formation, including particular design features of the spaces where they form. These findings helped to design evidence-based solutions to the problems that people who frequent these venues are experiencing, while also being responsive to community conditions and sensibilities in these contexts.
Manuscript on gender and ethnographic fieldwork among hidden populations
Research study on the transition from prescription medications to heroin abuse
Fear of Crime and Drugs in My Neighborhood (Longitudinal Undergraduate Research Project)
This project has undergraduate students contribute to a longitudinal project called “Fear of Crime and Drugs in My Neighborhood” and to write a paper using data that they collect over the course of the semester.
The primary research question that the paper asks is: “how have crime and drugs changed in my neighborhood over the years?” To answer this question and write the paper students (1) collect background data about their neighborhoods; (2) analyze existing data about their neighborhoods over the semester that is described in more detail below, and (3) collect original data about your neighborhood in the form of systematic observations, surveys and in-depth interviews about drugs. Students are guided throughout the collection and analysis of the various types of data, and they learn assemble those pieces into a coherent narrative that fits within a body of literature in the field.

Publications

Y Ahora, Que? Coping Mechanisms of Formerly Incarcerated Latinos in New York City. An Ethnographic Account2008, Latino Studies Journal, (Fall)
The Syndemics of Removal-Trauma and Substance Abuse; in Outside Justice; Brotherton, D.; Stageman, D.; Leyro, S., Eds. (2013)2013, Springer
“Latinos and the US Prison Industrial System”, in Latinos and the Criminal Justice System; Jose Luis Morin, Ed. 2016, Greenwood
Transnational Hispaniola: Towards New Paradigms in Haitian and Dominican Studies2013, Radical History Review
The War on Drugs and the Case of Dominican Deportees2009, Journal of Crime and Justice
The War Machines: Young Men and Violence in Sierra Leone and Liberia (The Cultures and Practice of Violence) (Book Review)2012, Journal of Visual Studies
Strength in Numbers: A New Model for Undergraduate Research Training and Education in The Social and Behavioral Sciences, Journal of Criminal Justice Education
Nations of Emigrants. Shifting Boundaries of Citizenship in el Salvador and the United States (Book Review)2009, Latino Studies Journal
The ‘Queen of Heroin’ and Zero Tolerance Policies in the Dominican Republic2015, Dialectic Anthropology
“Machismo”, in The Encyclopedia of Gangs; Lou Kontos, Ed. 2007, Greenwood Press
Kitchens, 2nd Ed., by Gary Alan Fine (Book Review)2009, Journal of Food and Society
“Hate Groups”, in The Encyclopedia of Gangs; Lou Kontos, Ed. 2007, Greenwood Press

Honors, Awards and Affiliations

U.S. Fulbright Scholarship 2009-10. Western Hemisphere. Institute of International Education, U.S. Department of State
Writing Fellow, 2008-2009. Graduate Center, CUNY (Writing Across the Curriculum/Writing in the Disciplines Program), New York, NY
Cultural Affairs Office, US Embassy in the Dominican Republic. International Conference Funding, 2010, $27,000
National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse (NHSN) 2009 Scientific Development Travel Program Fellowship, Miami, FL
National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse (NHSN) 2008 Scientific Development Travel Program Fellowship, Washington, D.C. (October 1-3)
National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse (NHSN) ? Summer Research Training Institute Fellowship, 2008. (June 10-21). University of Houston, TX
Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR), Summer Research Fellowship on Latino Health, 2008. (July 14-18). University of Notre Dame, IN
Vassar College Graduate Studies Fellowship: Margaret B. Peabody Award (2006/07 & 2007/08
Vassar College, Ford Scholar Fellowship (2004)
Vassar College, Norman Hinerfeld Annual Award for Excellence in Sociology, 2005
Vassar College, The Man-Sheng Chen Award for Excellence in Chinese Studies, 2005
LaGuardia C.C., CUNY, Raymond Bowen Scholarship for Academic Excellence 2002
Vassar College/ LaGuardia C.C., CUNY, Exploring Transfer Fellowship, 2002
Presidential Scholars Program, 2013; BMCC, CUNY
PSC CUNY Trad B Award # 68696-00 46, Cycle 46, 2015-16; $6,000
Gendered Deportations: Differential Outcomes, Stigma, and Substance Abuse among Dominican Deportees.

Additional Information

Professor Martin’s doctoral research, Wasting Away: Substance Abuse and Health Risk Outcomes among Dominican Deportees, is an ethnographic study that explores the collateral damage of mass deportations of Dominicans in the United States.

A former WAC fellow at John Jay College and WIC/eLearning-certified at BMCC, Yolanda likes to emphasize writing as a learning and thinking tool, student research, and teaches writing intensive F2F and hybrid courses.

Professor Martin has presented her scholarly work at professional meetings including the American Sociological Association (ASA); the American Society of Criminology (ASC); the European Congress of Psychiatry (ECP); the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP); the National Institutes of Health (NIH); the Latino Studies Association (LASA); and the Eastern Sociological Society (ESS).

Outside CUNY, Martin has held international affiliation to the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) and, in Summer 2014 and Summer 2015, she served as guest faculty at Vassar College and Otisville Correctional Facility, as part of the John Jay College Prison to College Learning Exchanges Program. Also, she is currently member of the Editorial Board of the American Sociological Association journal, Contexts.

Originally from Spain and a first-generation college graduate, Yolanda enjoys hiking, learning foreign languages, and conducting fieldwork throughout New York City ??A?A???A?A? the world’s most exciting social lab.