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Curriculum Vitae

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Biography

Dr. Vivian Aranda-Hughes is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on correctional experiences, particularly the well-being, stress, and organizational contexts of correctional staff, as well as the broader institutional environments that shape life inside prisons and jails. She also examines how criminal justice policies affect both staff and system functioning, with a goal of informing evidence-based approaches to improve correctional practice and staff retention.

Beyond her work on corrections, Dr. Aranda-Hughes’s scholarship spans victimization and offending across the life course, family violence, and the intergenerational transmission of crime and victimization. She is also interested in mental health and trauma responses, particularly how individuals and families navigate the long-term effects of harm and involvement with the justice system. Currently, she is the principal investigator on a grant-funded project that examines the implementation and effects of “clean slate” policies in Colorado, which aim to increase reintegration by automatically sealing eligible criminal records.

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Current Research

Evaluating the Impact of the Clean Slate Act on Socio-Economic Equity and Recidivism

This project investigates the effects of Colorado’s Clean Slate Act, which automates the sealing of certain criminal records. The study examines how the policy influences employment, housing access, and socio-economic equity, while also assessing whether record clearance reduces recidivism and improves community reintegration.

Examining Deaths in Custody

This project analyzes patterns and circumstances surrounding deaths that occur in correctional facilities. By focusing on institutional conditions, individual characteristics, and staffing, the study seeks to identify preventable factors and inform policies that improve safety and oversight within custodial environments.

Victimization and Help-Seeking among the Latina/o Population in the U.S.

This study explores experiences of victimization within Latino communities, with particular attention to cultural and structural barriers that affect disclosure and access to services. The project aims to improve understanding of help-seeking behaviors and inform the development of culturally responsive victim services and policies.

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Areas of Expertise

• Criminal justice policy
• Corrections
• Family and intergenerational violence
• Victimization
• Mental health and trauma response
• Gender and crime
• Race, ethnicity, and crime

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Selected Publications

Aranda-Hughes, V., & Mears, D. P. (2025). Prison personnel views of the effects of solitary confinement on the mental health of incarcerated persons. Criminal Justice and Behavior.

Torres-Rivera, V., Aranda-Hughes, V., & Zavala, E. (2025). On the Relationship Between Cyber Abuse Perpetration and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization: A Social Interactionist Approach. Victims & Offenders.

Lim, S., Allen, M., Aranda-Hughes, V., Edwards, K. M., & Wilson, T. (2024). “We’re Going to Start Healing”: Perceptions of Sexual Violence on a Rural Indian Reservation in the Northern Great Plains. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Aranda-Hughes, V., & Mears, D. P. (2023). Stressed Out in Lock Down: The Impacts of Extended Restrictive Housing on Prison Personnel. Justice Quarterly.

Aranda-Hughes, V., Turanovic, J. J., Mears, D. P., and Pesta, G. B. (2021). Women in solitary confinement: Relationships, pseudofamilies, and the limits of control. Feminist Criminology.

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