Melissa Barragan
Biographic Data
| ID | 4267346 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Melissa Barragan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Melissa |
| FAMILY NAME | Barragan |
| SIGNATURE | BARRAGAN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | California State Polytechnic University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Getting boxed in
Restrictive housing imposes isolation in austere conditions on people who commit serious rule violations or are too dangerous (or endangered) to house in the general prison population. We contribute to a growing body of scholarship analyzing restrictive housing placements, asking how gang membership, race/ethnicity, and misconduct interact to predict placement and lengths of stay. We integrate analysis of qualitative interviews with a random samp…
Unexceptional Patterns of Solitary Confinement
Combining analysis of 186 longitudinal interviews with robust administrative data, we document how people in prison in Washington state experience solitary confinement not once over one long period, but repeatedly over an average of 6.3 shorter ‘spells’ during their incarceration, followed by periods of adjustment as people re-enter the less restrictive general prison population. We identify three categories of shocks people experience across rep…
Against optimization
Deconstructing the Power Dynamics of Prison Research
This article examines methodological dilemmas surrounding entrée, emotion, and epistemology that can arise when conducting qualitative research in carceral settings. We address how our research team navigated consent and presentations of self for maintaining access; how they managed empathy and the emotional toll of conducting research in adversarial settings; and how conflicting narratives raised questions about data validity and knowledge const…
Policing and Punishing Illegal Gun Behavior
Drawing upon 140 interviews with individuals detained on gun-related charges, this article examines how participants' experiences with gun-related policing and punishment shaped their beliefs and behaviors surrounding guns and gun violence. Findings suggest that respondents characterized many of their gun-related experiences as unjust. They argue that their policing encounters reinforced discriminatory practices and stereotypes, undermining a key…
Window dressing
Psychological Distress in Solitary Confinement
Objectives. To specify symptoms and measure prevalence of psychological distress among incarcerated people in long-term solitary confinement. Methods. We gathered data via semistructured, in-depth interviews; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) assessments; and systematic reviews of medical and disciplinary files for 106 randomly selected people in solitary confinement in the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2017. We performed 1-ye…
Firearm and Nonfirearm Violence After Operation Peacemaker Fellowship in Richmond, California, 1996–2016
Objectives. To evaluate whether the Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, an innovative firearm violence-prevention program implemented in Richmond, California, was associated with reductions in firearm and nonfirearm violence. Methods. We compiled city- and jurisdiction-level quarterly counts of violent firearm and nonfirearm incidents from statewide records of deaths from and hospital visits for homicide and assault (2005–2016) and from nationwide c…
Prohibited Possessors and the Law
Melissa Barragan, Kelsie Y. Chesnut, Jason Gravel, Natalie A. Pifer, Keramet Reiter, Nicole Sherman, George Tita, Prohibited Possessors and the Law: How Inmates in Los Angeles Jails Understand Firearm and Ammunition Regulations, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 5, The Underground Gun Market: Implications for Regulation and Enforcement (October 2017), pp. 141-163
Psychological Distress in Solitary Confinement
Objectives. To specify symptoms and measure prevalence of psychological distress among incarcerated people in long-term solitary confinement. Methods. We gathered data via semistructured, in-depth interviews; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) assessments; and systematic reviews of medical and disciplinary files for 106 randomly selected people in solitary confinement in the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2017. We performed 1-ye…
Firearm and Nonfirearm Violence After Operation Peacemaker Fellowship in Richmond, California, 1996–2016
Objectives. To evaluate whether the Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, an innovative firearm violence-prevention program implemented in Richmond, California, was associated with reductions in firearm and nonfirearm violence. Methods. We compiled city- and jurisdiction-level quarterly counts of violent firearm and nonfirearm incidents from statewide records of deaths from and hospital visits for homicide and assault (2005–2016) and from nationwide c…
Policing and Punishing Illegal Gun Behavior
Drawing upon 140 interviews with individuals detained on gun-related charges, this article examines how participants' experiences with gun-related policing and punishment shaped their beliefs and behaviors surrounding guns and gun violence. Findings suggest that respondents characterized many of their gun-related experiences as unjust. They argue that their policing encounters reinforced discriminatory practices and stereotypes, undermining a key…
Prohibited Possessors and the Law
Melissa Barragan, Kelsie Y. Chesnut, Jason Gravel, Natalie A. Pifer, Keramet Reiter, Nicole Sherman, George Tita, Prohibited Possessors and the Law: How Inmates in Los Angeles Jails Understand Firearm and Ammunition Regulations, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 5, The Underground Gun Market: Implications for Regulation and Enforcement (October 2017), pp. 141-163
Prohibited Possessors and the Law
Melissa Barragan, Kelsie Y. Chesnut, Jason Gravel, Natalie A. Pifer, Keramet Reiter, Nicole Sherman, George Tita, Prohibited Possessors and the Law: How Inmates in Los Angeles Jails Understand Firearm and Ammunition Regulations, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 5, The Underground Gun Market: Implications for Regulation and Enforcement (October 2017), pp. 141-163
Firearm and Nonfirearm Violence After Operation Peacemaker Fellowship in Richmond, California, 1996–2016
Objectives. To evaluate whether the Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, an innovative firearm violence-prevention program implemented in Richmond, California, was associated with reductions in firearm and nonfirearm violence. Methods. We compiled city- and jurisdiction-level quarterly counts of violent firearm and nonfirearm incidents from statewide records of deaths from and hospital visits for homicide and assault (2005–2016) and from nationwide c…
Psychological Distress in Solitary Confinement
Objectives. To specify symptoms and measure prevalence of psychological distress among incarcerated people in long-term solitary confinement. Methods. We gathered data via semistructured, in-depth interviews; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) assessments; and systematic reviews of medical and disciplinary files for 106 randomly selected people in solitary confinement in the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2017. We performed 1-ye…
Window dressing
Policing and Punishing Illegal Gun Behavior
Drawing upon 140 interviews with individuals detained on gun-related charges, this article examines how participants' experiences with gun-related policing and punishment shaped their beliefs and behaviors surrounding guns and gun violence. Findings suggest that respondents characterized many of their gun-related experiences as unjust. They argue that their policing encounters reinforced discriminatory practices and stereotypes, undermining a key…
Deconstructing the Power Dynamics of Prison Research
This article examines methodological dilemmas surrounding entrée, emotion, and epistemology that can arise when conducting qualitative research in carceral settings. We address how our research team navigated consent and presentations of self for maintaining access; how they managed empathy and the emotional toll of conducting research in adversarial settings; and how conflicting narratives raised questions about data validity and knowledge const…
Getting boxed in
Restrictive housing imposes isolation in austere conditions on people who commit serious rule violations or are too dangerous (or endangered) to house in the general prison population. We contribute to a growing body of scholarship analyzing restrictive housing placements, asking how gang membership, race/ethnicity, and misconduct interact to predict placement and lengths of stay. We integrate analysis of qualitative interviews with a random samp…
Unexceptional Patterns of Solitary Confinement
Combining analysis of 186 longitudinal interviews with robust administrative data, we document how people in prison in Washington state experience solitary confinement not once over one long period, but repeatedly over an average of 6.3 shorter ‘spells’ during their incarceration, followed by periods of adjustment as people re-enter the less restrictive general prison population. We identify three categories of shocks people experience across rep…
Against optimization
Psychology (7 works) · Criminology (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Law (5 works) · Solitary confinement (5 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (4 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (4 works) · Prison (4 works) · Gun Ownership and Violence Research (3 works)