Ph.D. Sociology, Columbia University
Race & Ethnic Relations (undergraduate level); Introduction to Sociology (undergraduate level); Research Design & Methods in the Social Sciences (MA level); Race & Crime (MA level); Survey of Research Methods (Ph.D. level); Race and Ethnicity in American Society (Ph.D. level)
Selected publications:
Rajah, V., Thomas*, C., Shlosberg, A, Chu*, S. (2021). Enhancing the Tellability of Death-Row Exoneree Narratives: Exploring the Role of Rhetoric. Punishment & Society: 10.1177/14624745211016304.
Rajah, V., and M. Osborn. (2020). Understanding Women’s Resistance to Intimate Partner Violence: A Scoping Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse: 1524838019897345.
Rajah, Valli, Ronald Kramer, and Hung-En Sung. 2015. "The Mis-synchronization of Juvenile Reform Competing Constructions of Temporality and Risk Among Rehabilitation Programs and Young Offenders." British Journal of Criminology 55.1: 184-202.
Rajah, Valli, Ronald Kramer, and Hung-En Sung. 2014. "Changing narrative accounts: How young men tell different stories when arrested, enduring jail time and navigating community reentry." Punishment & Society 16.3: 285-304.
Rajah, Valli. 2007. “Resistance as edgework in violent intimate relationships of drug-involved women.” The British Journal of Criminology, 47, 196-213.
Rajah, Valli, Victoria Frye & Mary Haviland, M. 2006. "Aren't I a victim?" notes on identity challenges relating to police action in a mandatory arrest jurisdiction. Violence Against Women, 12, 897-916.
I'm a New Yorker who joined the faculty at John Jay College after earning my Ph.D. in Sociology at Columbia University. My research focuses on gender-based violence, the unintended consequences of crime control policies, and community-engaged and anti-racist criminology.
While at John Jay, I served as one of the directors of the Criminal Justice Ph.D. program. I also engaged in various forms of professional service to advance diversity and inclusion in criminal justice. In 2021, my professional contributions to feminist criminology were recognized with the Sarah Hall Award. Additionally, I have worked on several applied research projects, including evaluation studies in New York City.
My research has been published in scholarly journals, such as The British Journal of Criminology, The Journal of Trauma, Violence & Abuse, and Violence Against Women. I am grateful for the financial support of organizations like the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and the American Association of University Women.