Established in 2015

YIJ Welcome: Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality and Justice (YIJ)

Welcome to the website for the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality and Justice (YIJ).  Although this lab is physically located at Virginia Tech, we share, promote, and disseminate local, national, and global research findings conducted by scholars at Virginia Tech as well as other universities and research institutions.  

People 
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Anthony A. Peguero
Lab Research Director

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Anthony A. Peguero is an Associate Professor of Sociology and research affiliate of the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention and Director of the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality and Justice at Virginia Tech. His research interests involve youth violence, socialization and marginalization, schools, and the adaptation of the children immigrants. He serves as a consultant on the Cartoon Network’s campaign against bullying, co-editor of Sociology Compass, Crime and Deviance Section, and the editorial board for the journal of Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, and Journal of Criminal Justice. He is also a National Institute Justice W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow, 2015 Virginia Tech Institute for Society, Culture and Environment (ISCE) Fellow, 2014 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Tory J. Caeti Outstanding Young Scholar Award Winner, 2013 American Society of Criminology Coramae Richey Mann Award Winner, and member of the Racial Democracy, Crime, and Justice Network which holds the dual goals of advancing research on the intersection of race, crime and justice and of promoting racial democracy within the study of these issues by supporting junior scholars from under-represented groups.
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Address: 560 McBryde Hall, 225 Stanger Street, Blacksburg, VA, 24061
Department Phone: (540) 231-8971
Office Phone: (540) 231-2549
Fax: (540) 231-3860
Email: anthony.peguero@vt.edu
Personal website
Citations
Research Gate

Jennifer M. Bondy
Associate Director

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Jennifer M. Bondy received in her PhD in Curriculum Theory and Cultural Studies from Miami University (OH). She joined Virginia Tech in 2011 as a Visiting Assistant Professor and was appointed Assistant Professor in 2013. Dr. Bondy’s research addresses the factors that promote and impede the successful integration of adolescent Latinas and immigrant youth. Her work focuses on Latina youth citizenship formations; school socialization in the context of immigration; and, more recently, the intersections of teacher education and documentation status. Her research can be found in journals such as Race, Ethnicity and Education; Teachers College Record; Multicultural Perspectives; The High School Journal; and, Theory and Research in Social Education. In addition, Dr. Bondy serves on the Editorial Board for Race, Ethnicity and Education, the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, and Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education. She has worked with the Virginia Department of Education on the textbook adoption processes for middle school courses in Civics.

Assistant Professor, School of Education
Affiliate Faculty, Women's and Gender Studies

Address: School of Education, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Email: jmbondy@vt.edu
Office Phone: 540-231-2015
Personal Website 
Citations 
Research Gate

Jun Sung Hong
Associate Director

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Jun Sung Hong received his M.S.W. at the University of Michigan and Ph.D. in Social Work at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and joined Wayne State University School of Social Work as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in 2013. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Sungkyunkwan University (summer) in Seoul, South Korea. For the past several years, Dr. Hong has primarily conducted research on factors associated with bias-based bullying and peer victimization of racial/ethnic minority, immigrant, LGBTQ, gender non-conforming, juvenile justice involved and impoverished adolescents and young adults in the U.S. and in South Korea. He has also collaborated with researchers in South Korea, Taiwan, Sweden, and U.K. on bullying and peer victimization. His research has been published in major peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Youth & Adolescence; Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health; Child & Youth Care Forum; American Journal of Orthopsychiatry; Violence & Victims; Trauma, Violence & Abuse; and Youth & Society. In addition, he is currently co-authoring a book entitled, School Bullying, Diversity, and Disparities: Investigating Youth Vulnerability, Marginalization, and Victimization. He has also conducted interviews with several news media and consulted with school districts on bullying and school violence. He was a past recipient of Fulbright research grant. 
 
Address: School of Social Work, Wayne State University, 4756 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI  48202
Email: fl4684@wayne.edu
Personal Website 
Citation
LinkedIn 

Lindsay L. Kahle
Research Fellow

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Lindsay L. Kahle received her BA in Psychology and her MA in Sociology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, before pursuing her Ph.D. in Sociology from Virginia Tech. Dr. Kahle's research interests include: inequality among youth, particularly within the intersections of gender, sexual orientation, and race and ethnicity, youth violence and victimization, and feminist and queer criminology. In May 2017, Dr. Kahle finished her degree at Virginia Tech and now serves as a fellow for YIJ, as well as an instructor at Virginia Tech. Her courses stretch across interdisciplinary boundaries and cover topics such as, social problems, criminology, and LGBTQ issues. Her publications center victimization among youth, with particular focus on bullying, homophobic bullying, dating violence, and sexual assault among queer youth. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as, Criminal Justice Studies, Journal of Child and Family Studies, Victims and Offenders, Sociological Spectrum, Violence and Victims, Gender, Place, and Culture, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Journal of Criminology. Most recently, Dr. Kahle has been awarded the 2017 Outstanding Graduate Student Award for The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences: Victimology’s Section.

​Address: 560 McBryde Hall, 225 Stanger Street, Blacksburg, VA, 24061
Department Phone: (540) 231-8971
Fax: (540) 231-3860
Email: lindsk87@vt.edu
​Research Gate

Joong Won "James" Kim
Graduate Research Associate and Webmaster

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Joong Won "James" Kim received his BA in Sociology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and MA in Sociology from DePaul University with distinction. As a second-year PhD student in the Department of Sociology at Virginia Tech, his research interest lies at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, immigration, and identities. Overall, James' research is greatly influenced by his perspective as a 1.5 generation immigrant. In addition to serving as a graduate research associate for the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality Justice, James also serves as a webmaster for the YIJ Virtual Laboratory. 

Address: 555 McBryde Hall, 225 Stanger Street, Blacksburg, VA, 24061
Department Phone: (540) 231-8971
Fax: (540) 231-3860
Email: jkimsy@vt.edu
Linkedin

Stephanie Quiles-Ramos
Graduate Research Associate

Stephanie Quiles-Ramos is a Graduate Researcher in the Department of Sociology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. During her undergraduate tenure, Stephanie was a Ronald. E. McNair Scholar, and has a BA in Sociology, a BS in Psychology, and a Certificate in Women and Gender Studies, all from the University of Central Florida. Since at Virginia Tech, Stephanie has been awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, McNair Graduate Assistantship, and the Pratt Fellowship. Being a first-generation student deeply contributes to Stephanie's research passions of equity and social justice through Higher Education, focusing particularly on STEM Education, race and gender.
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Email: smatos@vt.edu

Kay S. Valera
Graduate Research Associate 

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Kay S. Varela is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on theories of race and ethnicity, crime and
punishment; the intersections of race, class, and gender and their impact on public and personal safety and risk assessment; and juvenile justice.
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Email: kay.s.varela@gmail.com​

Allyson Miller
Undergraduate Research Associate

Allyson Miller is a Senior at Virginia Tech. She is majoring in International Studies with a concentration in Security and Foreign Policy and minoring in Arabic and Psychology. She has interned with the Department of Justice for the past two years and is planning on continuing to work for the federal government following graduation while pursuing a graduate degree in Forensic Psychology.
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Email: allym@vt.edu

Katherine Kolton
Undergraduate Research Associate

Katherine Kolton is a Senior at Virginia Tech from Fairfax Station, Virginia, majoring in Human Development and minoring in Spanish and Leadership & Social Change. Her experiences serving in the Class Office position of Female Member at Large of the Class of 2018 has allowed her to work with people of different backgrounds and world views, propelling her desire to understand how people interact with and relate to others. Over the past year, she has volunteered regularly with the Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley, working closely families in crisis. She hopes to apply these experiences in her future professional pursuits.
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Email: kaykoltt@vt.edu