Kris Rosentel is a PhD candidate in Sociology and an MS candidate in Statistics at Northwestern University. His research examines the causes and consequences of LGBTQ inequalities in the criminal legal system, with a particular focus on how neighborhoods, mobility, and social networks shape these disparities.
His dissertation, entitled “Locating the New Lavender Scare: The Socio-Spatial Structure of LGBTQ Disparities in Arrest,” investigates why disparities in arrest, incarceration, and community supervision have persisted despite three decades of growing social acceptance and legal reforms in the United States. Rosentel argues that understanding these durable inequalities requires paying closer attention to the places where LGBTQ people live, spend time, and encounter the police. Taking up this structural lens, he assesses the extent to which neighborhood attainment, spatial stigma, and minority threat contribute to higher arrest rates among LGBTQ people. The project employs a multi-method approach, including decomposition analysis, survey experiments, and multilevel modeling.
Rosentel holds an MA in Sociology from Northwestern University; an MA in Social Administration from the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago; and a BA in Gender & Sexuality Studies from the University of Chicago. His research has been published in Sexuality Research & Social Policy, Archives of Sexual Behavior, and the Journal of Urban Health. He has also been awarded the National Science Foundation’s Law & Science Dissertation Grant and the Law & Society Association’s Graduate Student Paper Prize.