Research

Publications

DeCaro, J. B., Straka, K., Malek, N., & Zalta, A. K. (2024). Sentenced to shame: Moral injury exposure in former lifers. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 16(5), 722-730. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001400

DeCaro, J.B. (forthcoming) How Do Ethnographers Survive Methodological, Ethical, and Practical Challenges in the Field? Adaption Through Deepening and Expanding Connections. In Making Ethnography Work for You: Learning through a Supportive Community of Practice. Routledge.

Arroyo-Ramirez, E., DeCaro, J.B., Reiter, K., Rowland, A., and Wood, L. (forthcoming) PrisonPandemic Procedures of Care: Case study of Letter 154. Abolition and Archives. Council On Library and Information Resources.

Fellowships & Grants

2024    $28,000. Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship administered by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. 1-year fellowship.

2024    $25,000. American Association of University Women (AAUW) American Dissertation Fellowship. 1-year fellowship.

2021    $125,000. Co-PI. Mellon Foundation. Capacity Building Grant. With Mourning Our Losses.

2021    $10,000. PI. California Humanities. Recovery Grant. With Restorative Justice Fund.

2020    $81,000. Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship administered by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.  3-year fellowship.

2020    $1,770. Co-PI. Council on Research, Computing, and Libraries research grant.

2018    $50,000. Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship. University of California. 2-year fellowship.

Recent Invited Talks

2023    “Moral Injury and Long-term Confinement” Long-term and Life Imprisonment Conference. Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. June 2023.

2023    “PrisonPandemic: The Isolation Within Isolation of Carceral COVID Confinement” Reclaim Mental Health Conference. May 2023. 

2022    Closing Plenary Speaker. “Real World Ripples: Current Events & Digitizing Collections” Digital Library Federation Forum. October 2022.

2022    “PrisonPandemic: Digital Archives and Incarcerated People” Chiang Mai University. January 2022.

2021    “PrisonPandemic Project” NJIT Digital Humanities. April 2021.

Recent Presentations

2024    “Beyond Masking in Prison: A Deadening” Law and Society Association. June 2024.

2024    “Carceral Trauma: The Ongoing, Underlying Traumas of Long-term Confinement” Conference of Ford Fellows. June 2024.

2024    “Unveiling hidden scars: Vicarious trauma among non-law enforcement professionals” Western Society of Criminology Conference. Feb. 2024.

2023    “The Denial of Communal Grief in Prison: Shared Knowledge and Decision Making” Law and Society Association. June 2023.

2022    “Experiences of Moral Injury Exposure Among Former Lifers” Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. November 2022.

2022    “PrisonPandemic: Navigating the Ethics of a Prison Collection” Digitizing Hidden Special   Collections and Archives Symposium. October 2022.

2022    “Lifer Records: Stories of Long-Term Incarceration” Oral History Association Annual Meeting. October 2022.

2022    “The Everyday Traumas of Incarceration: Decades on the Battlefield” Law and Society New Directions Conference. October 2022.

2022    “Punishment and Shame: Moral Injury Exposure and Well-being in Prison and Reentry” Law and Society Association Annual Meeting. July 2022.

2022    “Shame and Guilt: Moral Injury Exposure in Former Lifers” Western Society of Criminology Conference. Feb. 2022.

2021    “Stories From the Inside: Documenting Incarcerated People’s Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic” Digital Library Federation Forum. November 2021.

2021    “PrisonPandemic: Collecting Testimonies from Incarcerated People During COVID” Conference of Ford Fellows. October 2021.