Key Research Areas: Urban Gun Violence & Trauma • Women & Crime • Race, Class & Gender Disparities in Victimization • Street Culture • Hard-to-Reach Populations • Participatory Action Research (PAR) • Qualitative & Mixed Methods

Brooklynn Hitchens, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. She is a sociologist who critically investigates how street-identified and justice-involved Black populations navigate 1) participation in crime, 2) risks for victimization, and 3) involvement with police. Hitchens often examines the experiences of Black women in urban and street contexts, offering a much-needed expansion of scholarship that traditionally centers men. Her work problematizes our understandings of urban violence, and explores how experiences of victimization and violent loss affect individuals' cultural behaviors, attitudes, and worldviews.

She employs Street Participatory Action Research (Street PAR) methods, partnering with low-income Black communities as co-researchers, while emphasizing community-driven solutions to address violence and inequality. Her methodological expertise is qualitative, through the use of ethnography, interviews, and focus groups – and she also utilizes quantitative and mixed methods.

Hitchens is the co-author of the book Murdertown USA: Homicide, Structural Violence, and Activism in Wilmington (2023). Her scholarship has appeared in journals across multiple disciplines, including criminology, sociology, public health, and psychology.