Overview
Christopher Wildeman is a Professor of Policy Analysis and Management (PAM) and Sociology (by courtesy) in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, where he is also co-director of the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) and associate director of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR). Since 2015, he has also been a Senior Researcher at the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit in Copehagen, Denmark.
Prior to joining Cornell’s faculty in 2014, Christopher was an Associate Professor of Sociology, a faculty fellow at the Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course (CIQLE), and a faculty fellow at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) at Yale University, as well as the co-director of the New Haven Branch of the Scholars Strategy Network (SSN). He received his Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography from Princeton University in 2008. From 2008-2010, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar and postdoctoral affiliate in the Population Studies Center (PSC) at the University of Michigan.
His research and teaching interests revolve around the consequences of mass imprisonment for inequality, with emphasis on families, health, and children. He is also interested in child welfare, especially as relates to child maltreatment and the foster care system. He is the 2013 recipient of the Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology.
Research Focus
My current research emphasizes the prevalences, causes, and consequences of parental incarceration and child welfare contact for families in Denmark and the United States.