Established in 2014

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 Arizona State University as well as other universities and research institutions.  

People 
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Anthony A. Peguero
Lab Research Director

Dr. Peguero's CV
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Anthony A. Peguero is a Professor of Criminology and Sociology in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. His research interests involve youth violence, socialization and marginalization, schools, and the adaptation of the children immigrants. He currently serves as Deputy Editor for Sociology of Education, Associate Editor for Race and Justice and editorial board member for Social Currents, Social Problems, and Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice. He is also currently the President of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Vice President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, incoming Vice President of the Southern Sociological Society, Executive Counselor for the American Society of Criminology, and Council Member for the American Sociological Association, and Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities. Dr. Peguero is also a member of the Racial Democracy, Crime, and Justice Network (RDCJN) and Latina/o/x Criminology(LC) which hold the 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. ​

Address: T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (SSFD) 951 Cady Mall Tempe, AZ 85287
Email: anthony.peguero@asu.edu
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Jennifer M. Bondy
Associate Director

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Dr. Jennifer M. Bondy is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Transformation and an Affiliate Faculty Member in the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at Arizona State University. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum Theory and Cultural Studies from Miami University (OH) in 2011. Dr. Bondy’s research focuses on three inter-related lines of inquiry: (i) Latina youth citizenship formations; (ii) school socialization of the children of immigrants; and, more recently, (iii) immigration and teacher education. She has served as Co-Chair for Division K, Section 4: The Racial and Sociocultural Foundations of Teaching and Teacher Education for the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Bondy also currently serves on the Editorial Board for the American Educational Research Journal; Race, Ethnicity and Education; Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy; and, Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education. Her research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals in education. Prior to becoming an academic, Dr. Bondy taught high school in South Florida. 
Address:  Arizona State University, School of Social Transformation, Tempe, AZ, 85281 
Email:  jmbondy@asu.edu​
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Jun Sung Hong
Associate Director

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Jun Sung Hong received his Ph.D. in Social Work at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He joined Wayne State University School of Social Work as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in 2013 and was promoted to Associate Professor (tenure) in 2019. He is a Visiting Professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. also been an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Sungkyunkwan University (summer) in Seoul, South Korea from 2015 to 2019.  For the past several years, Hong has primarily researched factors associated with bias-based bullying and peer victimization (both face-to-face and cyberbullying) of racial/ethnic minority, immigrant, LGBTQ, juvenile justice-involved, and economically disenfranchised adolescents and young adults in the United States. He has also collaborated with scholars in South Korea, Taiwan, Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland, Spain, Brazil, Germany, China, Hong Kong, and Ukraine on research projects. His research has been published in several major peer-reviewed journals.
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Address: School of Social Work, Wayne State University, 4756 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI  48202
Email: fl4684@wayne.edu
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Lindsay Semprevivo
Assistant Professor

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Dr. Lindsay Semprevivo (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Radford University. She is also affiliate faculty of the WVU Research Center on Violence, and the Laboratory for Youth Inequality and Justice. Dr. Semprevivo received her BA in Psychology and her MA in Sociology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, before pursuing her PhD in Sociology at Virginia Tech. Her preliminary areas of specialization are in criminology and women’s gender studies. Thus, her areas of teaching include: criminal justice, diversities in criminal justice, gender and crime, and victimology. Her research interests focus primarily on the intersections of gender, sexual orientation, and race and ethnicity in youth victimization and system involvement. Dr. Semprevivo has chapters in various edited volumes, and published papers in peer-reviewed journals such as: Violence and Gender, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Journal of School Violence, Criminal Justice Studies, Journal of Child and Family Studies, Victims & Offenders, Sociological Spectrum, Violence and Victims, Gender, Place & Culture, Journal of Criminology, Sociology Compass, and chapters in various edited volumes. 

​Address: CHBS Building, Room 5403
Phone: 540-831-6148​
Email: lsemprevivo@radford.edu
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Joong Won Kim
Research Assistant Professor and Communications Director

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Joong Won Kim (he/him/his) Ph.D. is a Sociologist of Race and Ethnicity. He is currently a Lecturer of Sociology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. J.W. Kim earned his Ph.D. in Sociology at Virginia Tech and his M.A. in Sociology at DePaul University. His first education and realization to the possibilities of Sociology as a scholar-activist practice began during his training as a B.A. in Sociology at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. His research is concerned with the ways that transnational racial actors accomplish race globally. Dr. Kim's research explores how a racialized economy of language mirrors the global and transnational racial dynamics with Korea as an extension of the United States empire. His work also deals with whiteness in spatiality and culture as well as gender. Dr. Kim’s work can be found in academic peer-reviewed journals such as Ethnic and Racial Studies, American Behavioral Scientist, Sociation, Sociological Inquiry, and Sustainability.

Address: 906 McClung Tower Knoxville TN 37996-0490
Email: ​jkim182@utk.edu
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Kay S. Varela
Postdoctoral Scholar ​

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Dr. Kay S. Varela is a Presidential Postdoctoral Scholar in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Dr. Varela received her PhD in Sociology from Texas A&M University in 2020. Dr. Varela's research focuses on Critical Race Theory; critical race criminology and punishment; risk assessment; and qualitative methods. Specifically, Dr. Varela's research focuses on the ways in which race, class, and gender impact perceptions of and experiences with public and personal safety. Her research can be found published in journals such as Critical Criminology; Urban Education; Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice; and Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. Prior to joining ASU, Dr. Varela was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the School of Social Work at the University of Southern California.
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Email: Kay.Varela@asu.edu

Melissa Blythe Ripepi
Graduate Research Associate ​

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Melissa Ripepi is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology at Virginia Tech. Prior to that, she earned her B.A. from Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture in Urban Affairs and Planning with a concentration in public policy. Her research interests are in: social stratification and inequality; race, ethnicity, and immigration; education; and youth violence. In addition to her role as a graduate research associate for the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality and Justice, Melissa serves as web designer and administrator of Latina/o/x Criminology’s website. 
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Email: mblythe@vt.edu

Amy M. Ernstes
Graduate Research Associate ​

Amy M. Ernstes is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at Virginia Tech and a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Her research interests involve social inequalities, race and racism, pedagogy, and Black feminisms. In addition to her role as graduate research associate for the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality and Justice, she is also the assistant managing editor for the Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. She received her Bachelor of Science in Social Work and Master of Social Work from Loyola University Chicago and Master of Arts in Sociology from UNCG. 
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Email: ernstes@vt.edu

Morelia Maravilla
Graduate Research Associate ​

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Morelia Maravilla is a graduate student at Arizona State University’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. In 2019, she received her B.S in Criminology with minors in Psychology and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies from Washington State University. Morelia’s research interests and career goals center on diversifying research within the fields of Criminology and Criminal Justice by elevating the collective voices and experiences of minoritized populations who are involved in sex work, and individuals who have been harmed by exposure to domestic and sexual violence. Her work to date has primarily been in researching the sex entertainment industry. Morelia’s current work is on understanding the discrepancies between perceptions around the legalization of prostitution and current laws and policies. Morelia will graduate in Spring of 2021 from ASU with an M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
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Email: mmmaravi@asu.edu
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