Stacy Wittrock

I am originally from  Cherokee, IA (a small town in Northwest, IA), but I moved around a lot as a child and I have lived in several places in both Iowa and Illinois.  I began my undergraduate work at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, IA.  In 1999, I graduated with distinction from the University of Iowa with my B.A. in psychology and sociology.

I am currently a Program Specialist at the Center for Research in the Implementation of Innovative Strategies in Practice (CRIISP), Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center.  

My areas of interest include criminology, the sociology of deviance, social control and punishment, the sociology of gender, social stratification, and social welfare policies. My research broadly focuses on the role of inequality in crime and delinquency, with specific attention to differences across race, ethnicity and gender.   I received my M.A. in sociology in 2003 from the University of Iowa.  My M.A. thesis was on the variations across race and ethnicity in disadvantage and violent delinquency. I am currently working on my dissertation which examines how the concept of structural or concentrated disadvantage applies to adolescent Latino violence. Specifically, whether or not the  traditional conceptualization of structural disadvantage operates in the same way for Latino delinquency as it does for black delinquency is examined. A reconceptualization of the structural disadvantage concept for Latinos generally and specific Latino groups is undertaken.

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and reading.