Michael Sierra-Arévalo

Interests

Policing, Gangs, Firearms, Violence Prevention

Biography

Michael Sierra-Arévalo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Sierra-Arévalo's research employs quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate police culture, behavior, and legitimacy. His first book, Peril on Patrol: Danger, Death, and U.S. Policing, is under advance contract at Columbia University Press. Drawing on ethnographic field work and interviews with police officers in three U.S. police departments, Peril on Patrol shows how policing's cultural preoccupation with danger and death shapes police training, practice, and policy. 

His other research interests include gangs, gun violence, social networks, and violence prevention. Sierra-Arévalo's research has appeared in a variety of social science publications, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Criminology, Law & Society Review, and the Annual Review of Law and Social Science. His writing and research can also be found in a range of popular outlets, including The Washington Post, Times Higher Education, Vox, GQ, and NPR.  

Before joining the faculty at UT Austin, Sierra-Arévalo was an Assistant Professor in the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice. Michael received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Yale University and his B.A. in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. \m/ Hook 'em! \m/