Gabriela Gonzalez, Ph.D.

Headshot of Dr. Gabriela Gonzalez. Assistant Professor,         Legal Studies Coordinator, Human Rights Coordinator

Ph.D., University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA

 

 

 

Contact Information:

Email: [email protected]

Office: MH 525B

Fall 2026 Office Hours:  Mondays 12pm-1pm in person in room MH252B or on Zoom by appointment.

 

About Dr. Gabriela Gonzalez:

Gabriela Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor of Justice Studies at San José State University. She received her PhD in Criminology, Law & Society from the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Gonzalez’s research broadly focuses on the nature and impact of punishment and inequality in the United States. She uses qualitative methodologies to analyze experiences of confinement, both physical forms (such as incarceration and immigration detention), and non-physical forms (including checkpoints and legal barriers), with a particular lens on the consequences for the family. Dr. Gonzalez’s current research examines the layered and varied ways by which immigration enforcement laws and practices influence the lived experiences of US-citizens in mixed-immigration-status families, specifically children with undocumented parents. Her ongoing collaborative projects examine parental immigration detention and the use and reliance on long-term solitary confinement.

Areas of Interest:

  • Punishment
  • Prisons
  • Immigration enforcement
  • Racial inequality

Recent Publications:

Augustine, D., Pifer, N., Tublitz, R., Gonzalez, G., Strong, J., Barragan, M., Reiter, K., and Chesnut, K. (2025). Unexceptional Patterns of Solitary Confinement: Cycling and Reentry Shocks within the Prison. British Journal of Criminology  

Gonzalez, G. (2024). “Immigration Enforcement: The Impact of Crimmigration on Mixed-Immigration-Status Families in the U.S.” In Budd, K.M., Dillaway, H., Muschert, G., Nair, M., Lane, D.C., and Smith, J. (Eds.), Agenda for Social Justice: Solutions for 2024, Policy Press 

Patler, C., and Gonzalez, G. (2023). Wellbeing, Changes to Academic Behavior, and Resilience among Families Experiencing Parental Immigration Imprisonment. American Behavioral Scientist. 1-18

Gonzalez, G. (2023). Undocumented Consciousness: Citizenship and Illegality in the Lives of US Citizen Youth. Law & Policy. 1-21 

Barragan M., Gonzalez, G., Strong, J., Augustine, D., Chesnut, K., Reiter, K., and Piffer, N. (2022). Triaged Out of Care: How Carceral Logics Complicate a ‘Course of Care’ in Solitary Confinement. Healthcare, 10(2), 28 

*Patler, C., & Gonzalez, G. (2021). Compounded Vulnerability: The Consequences of Immigration Detention for Institutional Attachment and System Avoidance in Mixed-Immigration-Status Families. Social Problems, 68(4), 1-17 

*Cited in Amicus Brief: Bonta v. ICE, No. 5:26 (2026)