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About

Mission

The mission of the Center on Crime, Race, and Justice (CRJ) at Northeastern is to make the criminal justice system more equitable and just for all. The five labs of CRJ position race and diversity at the forefront of research to understand how diverse communities are differentially impacted by crime, violence, and responses to crime. Our work aims to provide evidence-based reforms to address these disparities in the system. 

Guiding Principles

The CRJ’s work is guided by three key principles that transcend the work of all CRJ labs and initiatives.

  1. Promotion of Transdisciplinary Research and Engaged Local Partnerships: CRJ will establish research partnerships within and beyond Northeastern University in all of our research engagements. These include some relationships that are already informally occurring, including community based-collaborations and intra-University collaboration such as the interdisciplinary collaboration Partnership on Immigrant Rights, which is primarily led by the Law School. 
  2. Connection and Engagement with a Robust Community Advisory Board: The CRJ Community Advisory Board (CAB) convenes a group of community practitioners who have expertise in various areas of community practice, including criminal justice, education, workforce development, advocacy, and youth development. The CRJ CAB will meet monthly with members of the CRJ leadership and research labs, providing advisory input on creating a research agenda that is relevant and useful to local communities.
  3. Cultivation of Multigenerational Research Experiences: The Center is a critical resource for the cultivation of multigenerational research opportunities for students across CSSH. CRJ will utilize a structured mentoring system to prepare undergraduate and graduate student researchers in a variety of techniques and methodological approaches. 

The Center on Crime, Race, and Justice is co-directed by Director of the Violence and Justice Research Lab, Carlos Cuevas, and Director of the Corrections and Reentry Lab, Natasha Frost, in collaboration with Director of Community Engagement, Lisa Bailey-Laguerre.

Research Labs

The Center on Crime, Race, and Justice is comprised of five labs that represent distinct but interconnected areas of research. A dynamic lab model allows CRJ to be flexible in focus as faculty research areas develop and grow.