Mark G. Schultz

I received my bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University Mankato in 2003.  After a breathtaking 6 months working at a junk yard, I gained employment with the Minnesota Department of Corrections at the Stillwater Prison, a closed-security facility for male offenders.  During my tenure there, I witnessed a variety of things that made me decide to try my skills in graduate school.  To be honest, the thing I miss most is working with the inmates, which never provided a dull moment. 

 I began my work here at the University of Iowa in 2005 with an interest in interaction and cooperation among inmates and staff in prisons.  While this is still an interest, my main focus now involves communities and crime.  Specifically, I am most interested in the effects of criminal sanctions on individuals within communities and broader mechanisms of informal social control. I am further interested in aspects of criminal sanctions and gender disparities, specifically pertaining to the gender wage gap.  Additionally, I focus some attention to the sociology of sport as it pertains to the culture of bodybuilding and powerlifting, the paradox of extreme involvement and making work for intrinsic rewards, motivations for participation, and experiences with stigmatization from society.

So here I am, a sensitive guy from Minnesota trying to make his way through the perils of graduate school, currently overly-anxious over the upcoming area exams.  In my spare time, as limited as it is, I enjoy lifting weights, which has been a blessing in easing my current anxiety!!!!!