curriculum vitae
Summary
Megan Comfort is a senior research sociologist in RTI’s Transformative Research Unit for Equity (TRUE) and affiliated faculty in the Division of Prevention Science at the University of California, San Francisco. Her work centers on understanding pathways to promote equity, justice, and wellbeing for people involved with the criminal legal system and their loved ones. Dr. Comfort has extensive experience conducting qualitative research on topics such as the repercussive effects of incarceration on family relationships, healthcare needs of women navigating intersectional disadvantage, and how systems perpetuate and intensify structural racism. She has been principal investigator, multiple principal investigator, or co-investigator on numerous studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that combine qualitative and quantitative methods. She also has been a qualitative task lead on projects evaluating innovative approaches to decreasing the use of incarceration.
Dr. Comfort is strongly invested in mentoring early-career researchers, including first-generation college students, family members of incarcerated people, and scholars who have been involved with the criminal legal system. She is the author of Doing Time Together: Love and Family in the Shadow of the Prison (University of Chicago Press, 2008) and a coauthor with RTI colleagues Tasseli McKay, Christine Lindquist, and Anupa Bir of Holding On: Family and Fatherhood During Incarceration and Reentry (University of California Press, 2019). Her work has been published in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Criminology & Public Policy, RSF: The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences, and Journal of Poverty, among other journals, and has been translated into four languages.
Education
PhD, Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, England, 2003.
MSc, Criminology with Honors of distinction, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, England, 1998.
BA, Black Studies, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 1992. Graduated magna cum laude.
Junior Year Abroad Study Program, Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland, 1990 to 1991.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2011 to date: RTI International, San Francisco, CA, Senior Research Sociologist
2007 to 2011: University of California, San Francisco, CA, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine.
2002 to 2007: University of California, San Francisco, CA, Specialist, Department of Medicine.
1998 to 2000: London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK, Research Assistant, Department of Sociology.
1995 to 1997: Centerforce, San Quentin, CA, Director of Women’s Services, The House at San Quentin.
1995 to 1997: Marin AIDS Project, San Rafael, CA, Project Coordinator, Love Your Man Love Yourself Project.
bookS
McKay, T., Comfort, M., Lindquist, C., & Bir, A. (2019). Holding on: Family and Fatherhood during Incarceration and Reentry. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Comfort, M. (2008). Doing time together: Love and family in the shadow of the prison. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Lorvick, J., Hemberg, J., Browne, E.N., Alter, H., Comfort, M. (in press) Decreased Homelessness among Women Involved in the Criminal Legal System after a COVID-19 Housing Intervention. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness.
Emerson, A., Lipnicky, A., Comfort, M., Lorvick, J., Cropsey, K., Smith, S., and Ramaswamy, M. (2022) Health and health service needs: comparison of older and younger women with criminal− legal involvement in three cities. Journal of Aging and Health, 34(1): 60-70. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/08982643211025443
Lorvick, J., Hemberg, J., Browne, E.N., and Comfort, M. (2022) Routine and preventative health care use in the community among women sentenced to probation. Health & Justice, 10(5). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-022-00167-9
Salyer, C., Lee, J., Lorvick, J., Comfort, M., Cropsey, K., Smith, S., Emerson, A., and Ramaswamy M. Cervical cancer prevention behaviors among criminal-legal involved women from three U.S. cities. Journal of Women’s Health. (published online 2021). https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2021.0250
Hemberg, J., Lorvick, J., Lipnicky, A., Wickliffe, J., Comfort, M., Faust, A., Cropsey, K. and Ramaswamy, M. (2021). Differences in abortion-related knowledge among women involved in the criminal legal system in three US cities. Contraception, 104(6), 606-611. doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2021.08.012
Akré E-RL, Marthey DJ, Ojukwu C, Ottenwaelder C, Comfort M, Lorvick J. (2021). Social Stability and Unmet Health Care Needs in a Community-Based Sample of Women Who Use Drugs. Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology, 8, 1–7. doi:10.1177/23333928211048640
Werth, S. R., Comfort, M., Demichele, M., & Lattimore, P. K. (2020). Authenticity, coherence, and power shifts: A framework for assessing community engagement across the criminal justice system. Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, Early View. https://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12367
Ramaswamy, M., Hemberg, J., Faust, A., Wickliffe, J., Comfort, M., Lorvick, J., & Cropsey, K. (2020). Criminal justice-involved women navigate COVID-19: Notes from the Field. Health Education Quarterly, 47(4), 544–548. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198120927304
Raymond-Flesch, M., Chavez, M., McGlone, L., Caballero, E., Comfort, M. & Minnis, A. (2020). Labeling of risk-taking behaviors in a Latinx community: Implications for youth engagement with community resources. Journal of Adolescent Health, 66(2 Suppl.), S25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.11.049
DeMichele, M., Baumgartner, P., Wenger, M., Barrick, K., & Comfort, M. (2020). Public Safety Assessment: Predictive utility and differential prediction by race in Kentucky. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(2), 409–431. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12481
Lorvick, J. J., Hemberg, J., Comfort, M. L., Faust, A., Ramswamy, M., Wickliffe, J., & Cropsey, K. (2020). Sources of information and health care experiences related to COVID-19 among women involved in criminal legal system in three U.S. cities. Archives of Women Health and Care, 3(5). https://doi.org/10.31038/AWHC.2020351
DeMichele, M., Baumgartner, P., Barrick, K., Comfort, M., Scaggs, S., & Misra, S. (2019). What do criminal justice professionals think about risk assessment at pretrial? Federal Probation, 83(1), 32–41. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3168490
Knittel, A. K., Lambdin, B. H., Comfort, M. L., Kral, A. H., & Lorvick, J. (2019). Sexual risk and criminal justice involvement among women who use drugs. AIDS and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02447-2
Enns, P. K., Yi, Y., Comfort, M., Goldman, A. W., Lee, H., Muller, C., ... Wildeman, C. (2019). What percentage of Americans have ever had a family member incarcerated? Evidence from the family history of incarceration survey (FamHIS). Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 5, 1–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023119829332
Tam, C. C., Dauria, E. F., Cook, M. C., Ti, A., Comfort, M., & Tolou-Shams, M. (2019). Justice involvement and girls’ sexual health: Directions for policy and practice. Children and Youth Services Review, 98, 278–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.01.009
Lambdin, B. H., Comfort, M., Kral, A. H., & Lorvick, J. (2018). Accumulation of jail incarceration and hardship, health status, and unmet health care need among women who use drugs. Women’s Health Issues, 28(5), 470–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2018.05.005
Kral, A. H., Lambdin, B. H., Comfort, M., Powers, C., Cheng, H., Lopez, A. M., ... Lorvick, J. (2018). A strengths-based case management intervention to reduce HIV viral load among people who use drugs. AIDS and Behavior, 22(1), 146–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1903-6
Comfort, M., Raymond-Flesch, M., Auerswald, C., McGlone, L., Chavez, M., & Minnis, A. (2018). Community-engaged research with rural Latino adolescents: Design and implementation strategies to study the social determinants of health. Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 11(1), 90–108. https://doi.org/10.5130/ijcre.v11i1.5721
Lorvick, J., Comfort, M., Kral, A. H., & Lambdin, B. H. (2018). Exploring lifetime accumulation of criminal justice involvement and associated health and social outcomes in a community-based sample of women who use drugs. Journal of Urban Health, 95(4), 584–593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0204-8
Comfort, M., Krieger, K., Landwehr, J. G., McKay, T., Lindquist, C., Feinberg, R. K., ... Bir, A. (2018). Partnerships after prison: Couple relationships during reentry. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 57(2), 188–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2018.1441208
Conroy, A. A., McKenna, S. A., Comfort, M. L., Darbes, L. A., Tan, J. Y., & Mkandawire, J. (2018). Marital infidelity, food insecurity, and couple instability: A web of challenges for dyadic coordination around antiretroviral therapy. Social Science and Medicine, 214, 110–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.08.006
Lindquist, C. H., Steffey, D. M., McKay, T. E., Comfort, M. L., & Bir, A. (2018). The Multi-Site Family Study on Incarceration, Partnering and Parenting: Design and sample. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 57(2), 83–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2018.1441210
Lindquist, C. H., Steffey, D. M., Tueller, S. J., McKay, T. E., Comfort, M. L., & Bir, A. (2018). The multi-site family study on incarceration, partnering and parenting: Program impacts. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 57(2), 115–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2018.1441211
Lopez, A. M., Comfort, M., Powers, C., Kral, A. H., & Lorvick, J. (2018). Structural vulnerability and supplemental security income: Subtle modes of punitive governance within federal social welfare. Human Organization, 77(4), 302–311. https://doi.org/10.17730/0018-7259.77.4.302
Lorvick, J., Browne, E. N., Lambdin, B. H., & Comfort, M. (2018). Polydrug use patterns, risk behavior and unmet healthcare need in a community-based sample of women who use cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine. Addictive Behaviors, 85, 94–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.05.013
McKay, T., Comfort, M., Grove, L., Bir, A., & Lindquist, C. (2018). Whose punishment, whose crime? Understanding parenting and partnership in a time of mass incarceration. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 57(2), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2017.1294640
McKay, T., Feinberg, R. K., Landwehr, J. G., Payne, J., Comfort, M., Lindquist, C., ... Bir, A. (2018). “Always having hope”: Father–child relationships after reentry from prison. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 57(2), 162–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2018.1441206
McKay, T., Landwehr, J. G., Lindquist, C., Feinberg, R. K., Comfort, M., Cohen, J., & Bir, A. (2018). Intimate partner violence in couples navigating incarceration and reentry. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 57(5), 273–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2018.1487897
Ramaswamy, M., Unruh, E., & Comfort, M. (2018). Navigating social networks, resources, and neighborhoods: Facilitators of sexual and reproductive health care use among women released from jail. Women’s Reproductive Health, 5(1), 44–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2018.1429373
Comfort, M., Krieger, K., Landwehr, J. G., McKay, T., Lindquist, C., Feinberg, R. K., ... Bir, A. (2017). Partnerships after prison: Couple relationships during reentry. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation.
Knittel, A., Ti, A., Schear, S., & Comfort, M. (2017). Evidence-based recommendations to improve reproductive healthcare for incarcerated women. International Journal of Prisoner Health, 13(3–4), 200–206. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-07-2016-0031
Van Dorn, R. A., Desmarais, S. L., Rade, C. B., Burris, E. N., Cuddeback, G. S., Johnson, K. L., ... Mueser, K. T. (2017). Jail-to-community treatment continuum for adults with co-occurring substance use and mental disorders: Study protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial. Trials, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-017-2088-z
Lambdin, B. H., Kral, A. H., Comfort, M., Lopez, A. M., & Lorvick, J. (2017). Associations of criminal justice and substance use treatment involvement with HIV/HCV testing and the HIV treatment cascade among people who use drugs in Oakland, California. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 12(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-017-0078-9
Powers, C., Comfort, M., Lopez, A. M., Kral, A. H., Murdoch, O., & Lorvick, J. (2017). Addressing structural barriers to HIV care among triply diagnosed adults: Project Bridge Oakland. Health and Social Work, 42(2), e53–e61. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlx013
Raymond-Flesch, M., Auerswald, C., McGlone, L., Comfort, M., & Minnis, A. (2017). Building social capital to promote adolescent wellbeing: A qualitative study with teens in a Latino agricultural community. BMC Public Health, 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4110-5
Comfort, M. (2016). “A twenty-hour-a-day job”: The impact of frequent low-level criminal justice involvement on family life. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 665(1), 63–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716215625038
Comfort, M. L., McKay, T. E., Landwehr, J. G., Kennedy, E. K., Bir, A., & Lindquist, C. H. (2016). The costs of incarceration for families of prisoners. International Review of the Red Cross, 98(903), 783–798. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1816383117000704
Csete, J., Kamarulzaman, A., Kazatchkine, M., Altice, F., Balicki, M., Buxton, J., ... Beyrer, C. (2016). Public health and international drug policy: The Lancet Commissions. Lancet, 387(10026), 1427–1480. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(16)00619-x
McKay, T., Comfort, M., Lindquist, C., & Bir, A. (2016). If family matters: Supporting family relationships during incarceration and reentry. Criminology & Public Policy, 15(2), 529–542. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12209
Gamarel, K. E., Comfort, M., Wood, T., Neilands, T. B., & Johnson, M. O. (2016). A qualitative analysis of male couples’ coping with HIV: Disentangling the “we.” Journal of Health Psychology, 21(10), 2125–2137. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105315571975
Lorvick, J., Comfort, M. L., Krebs, C. P., & Kral, A. (2015). Health service use and social vulnerability in a community-based sample of women on probation and parole. Health & Justice, 3(13). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-015-0024-4
Comfort, M., Lopez, A. M., Powers, C., Kral, A. H., & Lorvick, J. (2015). How institutions deprive: Ethnography, social work, and interventionist ethics among the hypermarginalized. RSF: The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences, 1(1), 100–119. https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2015.1.1.06
Cooper, H., Caruso, B., Barham, T., Embry, V., Dauria, E., Clark, C., & Comfort, M. (2015). Partner incarceration and African-American women’s sexual relationships and risk: A longitudinal qualitative study. Journal of Urban Health, 92, 527–547. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-015-9941-8
Howell, B. A., Guydish, J., Kral, A. H., & Comfort, M. (2015). Prevalence and factors associated with smoking tobacco among men recently released from prison in California: A cross-sectional study. Addictive Behaviors, 50, 157–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.06.017
Comfort, M., Reznick, O., Dilworth, S. E., Binson, D., Darbes, L. A., & Neilands, T. B. (2014). Sexual HIV risk among male parolees and their female partners: The Relate Project. Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, 7 (special issue 6), 42-69. PMCID: PMC4308977.
Cooper, H. L. F., Clark, C. D., Barham, T., Embry, V., Caruso, B., & Comfort, M. (2014). “He was the story of my drug use life”: A longitudinal qualitative study of the impact of partner incarceration on substance misuse patterns among African-American women. Substance Use and Misuse, 49(1–2), 176–188. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2013.824474
Frank, J. W., Wang, E. A., Nunez-Smith, M., Lee, H., & Comfort, M. (2014). Discrimination based on criminal record and healthcare utilization among men recently released from prison: A descriptive study. Health & Justice, 2(6). https://doi.org/10.1186/2194-7899-2-6
Knight, K. R., Lopez, A. M., Comfort, M. L., Shumway, M., Cohen, J., Jennifer, C., & Riley, E. D. (2014). Single room occupancy (SRO) hotels as mental health risk environments among impoverished women: The intersection of policy, drug use, trauma, and urban space. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25(3), 556–561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2013.10.011
Lee, H., Porter, L., & Comfort, M. (2014). Consequences of family member incarceration: Impacts on civic participation and perceptions of the legitimacy and fairness of government. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 651, 44–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716213502920
Wenger, L. D., Lopez, A. M., Comfort, M., & Kral, A.H. (2014). The phenomenon of low-frequency heroin injection among street-based urban poor: Drug user strategies and contexts of use. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25, 471–479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.02.015
Cocohoba, J., Comfort, M., Kianfar, H., & Johnson, M. (2013). A qualitative study examining HIV antiretroviral adherence counseling and support in community pharmacies. Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy, 19(6), 454–460. PMCID: PMC3988691.
Mahoney, M., Bien, M., & Comfort, M. (2013). Adaptation of an evidence-based HIV prevention intervention for women with incarcerated partners: Expanding to community settings. AIDS Education and Prevention, 25(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2013.25.1.1
Saberi, P., Comfort, M., Sheon, N., & Johnson, M. (2013). Qualitative study of the quality of sleep in marginalized individuals living with HIV. Patient Preference and Adherence, 7, 499–507. Free full text available online. https://doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S44595
Turney, K., Lee, H., & Comfort, M. (2013). Discrimination and psychological distress among recently released male prisoners. American Journal of Men’s Health, 7(6), 482–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988313484056
Wildeman, C., Lee, H., & Comfort, M. (2013). A new vulnerable population? The health of female partners of men recently released from prison. Women’s Health Issues, 26(3), 335–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2013.07.006
Comfort, M. (2012). “It was basically college to us”: Poverty, prison, and emerging adulthood. Journal of Poverty, 16, 308–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2012.695923
Johnson, M. O., Dilworth, S. E., Taylor, J. M., Darbes, L. D., Comfort, M. L., & Neilands, T. B. (2012). Primary relationships, HIV treatment adherence, and virologic control. AIDS & Behavior, 16(6), 1511–1521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-011-0021-0
Saberi, P., Comfort, M., & Johnson, M. O. (2012). The relationship between daily organization and adherence to antiretroviral therapy: A qualitative perspective. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 61(1), e3–e6. PMCID: PMC3427530.
Saberi, P., Gamarel, K., Neilands, T., Comfort, M., Sheon, N., Darbes, L., & Johnson, M. O. (2012). Ambiguity, ambivalence, and apprehensions of taking PrEP: A mixed methods study. PLoS ONE, 7(11): e50061. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050061. PMCID: PMC3498189.
Comfort, M., Nurse, A., McKay, T., & Kramer, K. (2011). Taking children into account: Addressing intergenerational effects of parental incarceration. Criminology & Public Policy, 10(3), 839–850. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2011.00750.x
Kramer, K., & Comfort, M. (2011). Considerations in HIV prevention for women affected by the criminal justice system. Women’s Health Issues, 21(6S), S272–S277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2011.05.009
Wilson, E., Pant, S. B., Comfort, M., & Ekstrand, M. (2011). Stigma and HIV risk among Metis in Nepal. Culture, Health, and Sexuality, 13(3), 253–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2010.524247
Reznick, O. G., Comfort, M., McCartney, K., & Neilands, T. B. (2010). Effectiveness of an HIV prevention program for women visiting their incarcerated partners: The HOME Project. AIDS & Behavior, 15(2), 365–375. PMCID: PMC3032899.
Weiser, S. D., Neilands, T. B., Comfort, M. L., Dilworth, S., Cohen, J., Tulsky, J. P., et al. (2009). Correlates of incarceration vary by sex among homeless and marginally housed individuals in San Francisco. American Journal of Public Health, 99(8), 1459–1463. PMCID: PMC2707486.
Grinstead, O., Comfort, M. L., McCartney, K., Koester, K., & Neilands, T. B. (2008). Bringing it HOME: Design and implementation of an HIV/STD intervention for women visiting incarcerated men. AIDS Education and Prevention, 20(4), 285–300. PMCID: PMC18673062.
Comfort, M. (2007). ‘C’est plein de mecs bien en taule!’: Incarcération de masse aux États-Unis et ambivalence des épouses. (‘It’s a lot of good men behind walls!’: Mass incarceration in the United States and the ambivalence of partners.) Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales, 169, 22–47. Portuguese translation published as Comfort, M. (2008), ‘Tanto bom homem atrás das grades!’: O encarceramento maciço e a transformação das relações amorosas nos Estados Unidos. Aquém e Além da Prisão, Manuela Ivone Cunha (organizadora). Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, 125–176.
Comfort, M. (2007). Punishment beyond the legal offender. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 3, 271–296. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.3.081806.112829. Brazilian translation published as (2010) A punição além do infrator legal. Discursos Sediciosos: Crime, Direito, e Sociedade, 15(17–18), 175–204.
Comfort, M. (2007). ‘Partilhamos tudo o que podemos’: A dualização do corpo recluso nos romances através das grades. Análise Social, XLII(185), 1055–1079. English version published as (2009). ‘We share everything we can the best way we can’: Sustaining romance across prison walls. Transatlantica, 1. Available at: http://transatlantica.revues.org/index4281.html.
Comfort, M. L., Grinstead, O., McCartney, K., Bourgois, P., & Knight, K. (2005). “You can’t do nothin’ in this damn place”: Sex and intimacy among couples with an incarcerated male partner. Journal of Sex Research, 42(1), 3–12. PMCID: 2699406.
Grinstead, O., Faigeles, B., Comfort, M., Seal, D., Nealey-Moore, J., Belcher, L., & Morrow, K. (2005). HIV, STD, and hepatitis risk to primary female partners of men being released from prison. Women and Health, 41(2), 63–80. PMCID: 16219588.
Comfort, M., & Grinstead, O. (2004, April/June). The carceral limb of the public body: Jail detainees, prisoners, and infectious disease. Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, 3(2), 45–48.
Comfort, M. (2003). In the tube at San Quentin: The “secondary prisonization” of women visiting inmates. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 32(1), 77–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241602238939. Spanish translation published in Argentina as (2010) “En el Tubo de San Quintín: la ‘prisionización secundaria’ de las mujeres que visitan a los reclusos.” Cuadernos de Estudios Sobre Sistema Penal y Derechos Humanos, 1(1), 23–38.
Comfort, M. (2002). ‘Papa’s house’: the prison as domestic and social satellite. Ethnography, 3(4), 467–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138102003004017. Brazilian translation published as (2003) ‘A casa do papai’: A prisão como satélite doméstico e social. Discursos Sediciosos: Crime, Direito, e Sociedade, 8(13).
Comfort, M., Grinstead, O., Faigeles, B., & Zack, B. (2000). Reducing HIV risk among women visiting their incarcerated male partners. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 27(1), 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854800027001004
Book Chapters and Other Publications
Comfort, M. (2021). Digital punishment: Privacy, stigma, and the harms of data-driven criminal justice. Punishment and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14624745211027272
Lorvick, J., Hemberg, J., Comfort, M. (2021) Promoting COVID-19 Vaccination Equity. Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care blog: https://info.primarycare.hms.harvard.edu/blog/promoting-covid-19-vaccination-equity
Salyer, C., Lee, J., Lorvick, J., Comfort, M., Cropsey, K., and Ramaswamy, M. Cervical cancer screening and follow-up among women in the criminal-legal system. Gynecologic Oncology 162 (2021): S105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0090-8258(21)00842-8
McKay, T. E., Comfort, M. L., Landwehr, J. G., Kennedy, E. K., & Williams, O. (2020). Partner violence after reentry from prison: Putting the problem in context. RTI Press. RTI Press Publication No. PB-0022-2004. https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2020.pb.0022.2004
McKay, T. E., Comfort, M. L., Landwehr, J. G., Kennedy, E. K., & Williams, O. (2020). Partner violence help-seeking in couples affected by incarceration: Overcoming barriers. RTI Press. RTI Press Publication No. PB-0021-2004. https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2020.pb.0021.2004
Comfort, M. (2019). Developments and next steps in theorizing the secondary prisonization of families. In M. Hutton and D. Moran (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of prison and the family (pp. 65-79). Palgrave MacMillan.
Comfort, M. (2018). “I’m the man and he’s the woman!”: Gender dynamics among couples during and after prison. In R. Condry and P.S. Smith (Eds.), Prisons, punishment, and the family: Towards a new sociology of punishment? (pp. 73-86). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Comfort, M. and Williams, T. (2018). "After Life Imprisonment: Reentry in the Era of Mass Incarceration." Contemporary Sociology 47(3): 343-345.
Comfort, Megan and Sufrin, C. (2017). Where punishment and pregnancy meet. Contexts, 16(3): 8-9.
Comfort, M. (2016). How collaborating with a social worker changed my research (and why I can’t wait to do it again). Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility Newsletter (section of the American Sociological Association), 1(3, January), 2–3.
Comfort, M. (2014). Comptes rendus: La famille à l’épreuve de la prison. Sociologie du travail, 56: 515-517. (Book review of a French monograph, text written directly in French.)
Comfort, M. (2014, May 15). No punch line in prison. In, A virtual roundtable on Orange is the New Black, Public Books. http://www.publicbooks.org/artmedia/virtual-roundtable-on-orange-is-the-new-black
Comfort, M. L. (2014). Repercussions of incarceration on close relationships. In D. Hartmann & C. Uggen (Eds.), Crime and the punished (pp. 87–100). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Comfort, M. (2013, December 2). Prison as a refuge. The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Chronicle Review. http://chronicle.com/article/Prison-as-a-Refuge/143277/.
Comfort, M., Albizu García, C., Rodriguez, T., & Molina III, C. (2012). HIV risk and prevention for Latinos in jails and prisons. In K. Organista (Ed.), HIV prevention with Latinos: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 205–226). New York: Oxford University Press.
Comfort, M. L. (2010). “I looked at this as a beautiful experience”: Mass incarceration and the secondary prisonization of intimate relationships. In D. Downes, D. Hobbes, & T. Newburn (Eds.), The eternal recurrence of crime and control: Essays in honour of Paul Rock (pp. 245–260). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Comfort, M. (2008). “The best seven years I could’a done”: The reconstruction of imprisonment as rehabilitation by former prisoners and their partners. In P. Carlen (Ed.), Imaginary penalties (pp. 252–274). Cullompton, UK: Willan Publishing.
Comfort, M. L. (2008). Inside and out: Incarceration, HIV/AIDS, and public health in the United States. In C. Pope, R. T. White, & R. Malow (Eds.), HIV/AIDS: Global frontiers in prevention/intervention. New York: Routledge.
Comfort, M. (2006). Book review of Civil Penalties, Social Consequences, Punishment & Society, 8(4), 481–483.
Comfort, M., & Watkins, C. (2005). HIV/AIDS among America’s people of color: Think local, not just global. Focus, 12, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University.
Comfort, M. (2004). Toi, moi, et le pénitencier font trois: L’incarcération de masse et la transformation d’une idylle. Le Passant Ordinaire, 50, 38–41.
Comfort, M. (2003, June). Les Etats-Unis malades de leurs prisons. Le Monde Diplomatique, 22–23. Reprinted in Manière de voir 71: Obsessions sécuritaires, October–November 2003, 66–68. English version printed as “United States: Sentenced to Sickness,” August 2003, 4–5. Also translated into Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Czech, and Farsi.
Comfort, M. (2003). Still booming: Prisons in California. ASA Footnotes, 31(9), 1.
Comfort, M. (2000). An officer’s word. Prison Service Journal, 129, 22–24.
Comfort, M. (1999, November/December). Dramatic action: Safe Ground’s unique approach to prisoner rehabilitation. American Jails, 85–87.
Comfort, M. (1998, July). Making connections. Counseling News, 3, 8–9. Reprinted in Prison Service Journal (1999), 122, 23–24.
Policy and research briefs
Comfort, M., McKay, T., Landwehr, J., Kennedy, E., Lindquist, C. H., & Bir, A. (2016, July 28). Parenting and partnership when fathers return from prison: Findings from qualitative analysis (ASPE Research Brief). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Retrieved from https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/parenting-and-partnership-when-fathers-return-prison-findings-qualitative-analysis
Lindquist, C., Comfort, M., Landwehr, J., Feinberg, R., Cohen, J., McKay, T., et al. (2016, March 16). Change in father-child relationships before, during, and after incarceration. (Research Brief). Prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Retrieved from https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/change-father-child-relationships-during-and-after-incarceration
Lindquist, C. H., Landwehr, J., McKay, T. E., Feinberg, R., Comfort, M., & Bir, A. (2016, April 29). Change in couple relationships before, during, and after incarceration: Couple relationships. (Research Brief). Prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Retrieved from https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/change-couple-relationships-during-and-after-incarceration-couple-relationships
Presentations, Posters, and Proceedings
Invited Presentations: International
2020 “Exacerbating Inequity: Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Families with Incarcerated Loved Ones in the United States.” Opening conference for the Centre for Criminological Research, University of Alberta, Canada, November 17–19 (invited talk, with Keeonna Harris)
2015 “A Twenty Hour a Day Job”: The Repercussive Effects of Frequent Low-Level Criminal Justice Involvement on Family Life.” Prisoners’ Families, Punishment, and Social Inequality, Oxford University, Oxford, UK, June 25–26 (invited talk)
2014 Journées Sexualités et Enfermement, Université de Lille, Lille, France, December 12 (invited talk, given in French)
2013 Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile, October 15 (invited talk)
2013 Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile, October 14 (invited talk)
2012 The Australian Sociological Association (TASA), University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, November 29 (plenary panel presentation)
2012 Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, July 17 (invited talk)
2012 Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, France, April 12 (invited talk)
2012 University of Amsterdam Research Center for Gender and Sexuality, Netherlands, March 16 (invited talk)
2011 Punishment & Society: Politics & Culture Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, May 12 (invited talk)
2010 Maison Européenne des Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société, Lille, France, June 1 (invited talk, given in French)
2009 Els Fantasmes de l’Exclusió: Ordre, Representacions, I Ciències Socials a La Ciutat Contemporània, Barcelona, Spain, November 20 (oral presentation)
2009 CLAT 5: 5th Latin Conference on Risk Reduction, Porto, Portugal, July 2 (session chair and oral presentation)
2008 Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto, Canada, November 25 (invited talk)
2008 Séminaire LabToP, Université de Paris VIII, Paris, France, June 23 (invited talk, given in French)
2007 Encuentros de comunicación, intercambio y reflexión crítica con profesores e investigadores, Grupo de Estudios sobre Sistema Penal y Derechos Humanos del Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 5 (invited talk)
2007 Ethnografeast: Ethnography and the Public Sphere, Centro de Estudos de Antropologia Social (ISCTE), Lisbon, Portugal, June 22 (invited talk)
2005 Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil, September 27 (invited talk)
2005 Estratégias de Redução de Danos: Sistema Penal e Drogas, Universidade Federal Fluminense e Instituto Carioca de Criminologia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 29 (keynote address)
2005 A Prisão, a Psiquiatria e a Rua, Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, June 6 (oral presentation)
2004 Prisons 2004, London, England, June 23 (oral presentation)
2004 Aquém e Além da Prisão, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal, November 17 (oral presentation)
2003 Contre la Peine de Mort, Centre Lacordaire, Montpellier, France, June 26 (invited talk, given in French)
Invited Presentations: National
2021 Book Forum: Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality. American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, virtual, August 6–10 (invited panelist)
2020 Book launch for Digital Punishment: Privacy, Stigma, and the Harms of Data-Driven Criminal Justice. Virtual forum hosted by Rutgers University, July 20 (invited discussant)
2019 Division on Women & Crime Policy: “Women’s Reentry to the Community,” American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 13–16 (invited panelist)
2019“Ethnographies of the Carceral State,” American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 13–16 (invited discussant)
2017 “It Was Like Rescue, Not Arrested: Experiences of Correctional Treatment Services by Prisoners and Their Families,” 41st Annual AMERSA National Conference, Washington, DC, November 2-4 (invited plenary presentation)
2017 “Remarks on Punishment,” conference on Tommie Shelby’s Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform. University of Pittsburgh, PA, October 26-27 (invited presentation)
2017 “‘The System in America Isn’t Interested in Assisting People of Color’: How Repeated Institutional Failures Shape Beliefs about the Criminal Justice System among Heavily Policed Groups,” conference, Policing the City: Violence, Visibility, and the Law, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, March 29–30 (invited talk)
2017 Ethnography Incubator, Department of Sociology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, March 9–10 (invited visit)
2017 “Beyond the Peer-Reviewed Article: Making Research Relevant for Community Stakeholders and Policymakers,” Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, March 7 (invited presentation)
2017“Funding Qualitative Research: Approaches and Strategies for Grant-writing,” sponsored by the Scholars Strategy Network, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, March 7 (invited talk)
2016 Research for Justice Reform (conference sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, May 13-14 (invited presentation)
2016 “Integrating Methods to Study Dis-Integrated Systems,” University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Stice Lecture series, May 4 (invited presentation)
2015 “‘A Twenty Hour a Day Job’: The Repercussive Effects of Frequent Low-Level Criminal Justice Involvement on Family Life,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science conference, Tough on Crime, Tough on Families?: Criminal Justice and Family Life in America, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, July 17–19 (invited presentation)
2015 “Embedded Social Work and Ethnography: A Hybrid Approach to Studying Hypermarginality in Institutional Contexts,” American University, Washington DC, Center for Health, Risk, and Society, April 8 (invited presentation)
2014 “Integrating Clinical Social Work and Ethnography with Hypermarginalized Populations,” Severe Deprivation in America, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, NY, October 30–31 (invited presentation)
2014 “Integrating Clinical Social Work and Ethnography with Hypermarginalized Populations,” University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Learning Community on Poverty and Inequality, October 10 (invited presentation)
2013 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation symposium on Mass Incarceration and Its Effects on Population Health and Health Disparities, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, April 4–5 (invited presentation)
2013 The Laurel School, Shaker Heights, OH, February 7 (invited talk for ninth and tenth graders in the rubric of Perspectives: Power, Privilege, and Poverty—A Local, National, and Global View)
2011 New York University, Crime, Law, and Deviance seminar, New York, NY, November 11 (invited talk)
2011 Yale University, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, New Haven, CT, November 10 (invited talk)
2011 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Scholars Program, Ann Arbor, MI, October 27 (invited talk)
2011 University of Texas, Austin, Poverty and Marginality in the Americas: An Ethnography Workshop, Austin, TX, March 31 to April 2 (invited talk)
2010 University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, September 30 (full-day workshop)
2010 University of Texas, Austin, Sociology Department, Austin, TX, February 25 (invited talk)
2009 Sociologists’ AIDS Network pre-conference, San Francisco, CA, August 7 (invited talk)
2003 Cornell University, Gender, Race, and Incarceration: Activism and Scholarship conference, Ithaca, NY, April 18 (oral presentation)
2002 Smith College, Sociology Department, Northampton, MA, February 22 (invited talk)
Regional and Other Invited Presentations
2019 University of California, Berkeley, Social Justice Fellowship program, Intersections of Sociological Research and Advocacy Work, May 3 (invited talk)
2018 Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, September 18 (invited talk)
2018 University of California, San Francisco, Hangouts with HIVE: Caring for Women Impacted by Incarceration, July 31 (panelist on webinar)
2018 University of California, San Francisco’s Bay Area Health Disparities Symposium, Berkeley, CA, March 23 (panel moderator)
2017 Office of the Public Defender, San Francisco, CA, March 29 (invited talk)
2015 Restorative Justice Ministry of the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns, Reentry Conference and Resource Fair, San Francisco, CA, September 26 (keynote speaker)
2015 San Francisco Department of Public Health, Scientific Working Group, San Francisco, CA, August 4 (invited talk)
2013 Tenderloin Health Research Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, March 5 (invited participation on panel of experts)
2011 Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, University of California, Berkeley, CA, September 14 (invited talk)
2010 Ann Lucas Lecture Series in Law & Justice, San Jose State University, CA, December 9 (symposium on book, Doing Time Together, with three discussants)
2010 Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality, San Francisco State University, CA, December 6 (invited talk)
2010 CAPS Town Hall, San Francisco, CA, October 8 (invited talk)
2010 CAPS Qualitative Working Group, San Francisco, CA, September 7 (invited talk)
2008 CAPS Town Hall, San Francisco, CA, May 9 (invited talk)
2008 UCSF Drug User Research Seminar, San Francisco, CA, February 6 (invited talk)
2005 CAPS Community Briefing, San Francisco, CA, May 12 and Oakland, CA, May 13 (invited talk)
2004 CAPS Town Hall, San Francisco, CA, October 8 (invited talk)
2004 CAPS Qualitative Working Group, San Francisco, CA, February 3 (invited talk)
1997 San Quentin Prisoners’ Peer-Educator Training, San Quentin State Prison, CA, April 15 (invited talk)
1996 Centerforce Directors’ Conference, San Diego, CA, August 26 (invited talk)
Classroom Guest Lectures
February 2022 (virtual), University of Notre Dame, course on mass incarceration
February 2021 (virtual), RTI Virtual “PHield” Trip, panel discussion on Public Health, Mental Health, and Racial Equity
December 2020 (virtual), University of Toronto, course on punishment theory and practice
October and April 2020 (virtual), Cornell University, course on mass incarceration and family life
October 2020 (virtual), Duke University, course on incarceration and inequity
July 2020 (virtual), Rutgers University, discussant for book launch of Digital Punishment: Privacy, Stigma, and the Harms of Data-Driven Criminal Justice
April 2020 (virtual), San Francisco State University, undergraduate course on the architecture of incarceration
March 2020 (virtual) and April 2017, University of Pittsburgh, undergraduate course on introduction to sociology
November 2019, December 2018 and 2017, UCSF, elective course for medical students on the health of incarcerated populations
March 2018 Rutgers University, School of Criminal Justice, Center for Law & Justice, seminar on research methods
December 2017 UCSF, elective course for medical students on the Health of Incarcerated Populations
April 2017 University of Pittsburgh, Department of Sociology, Introduction to Sociology undergraduate course (via Skype)
March 2017 Cornell University, Department of Sociology, seminar on Confinement
January 2017 Brown University Clinical and Community-based HIV/AIDS Research Training Fellowship program webinar
March 2015 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
February 2014 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
October 2011 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
November 2010 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
October 2010 UCSF, Department of Sociology, Social and Behavioral Sciences/Institute for Health & Aging Colloquium
June 2010 UCSF, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Traineeship in HIV Prevention Studies Postdoctoral Fellows Program
May 2010 UC Berkeley School of Law, Punishment, Culture, and Society seminar
October 2009 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
April 2009 San Francisco State University, AIDS as a Contemporary Health Crisis undergraduate class
October 2008 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
July 2008 UC Berkeley Joint Medical Program, first-year introductory seminar
May 2008 San Francisco State University, Sociology by the Bay undergraduate class
April 2008 UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies “Tips, Tricks, and Ethics: How to Be an Effective and Ethical Researcher and Colleague” training seminar
August 2007 UC Berkeley Joint Medical Program, first-year introductory seminar
October 2007 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
October 2006 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
July 2006 UC Berkeley Joint Medical Program, first-year introductory seminar
November 2005 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
October 2004 UC Davis School of Law, Judicial Process seminar
October 2004 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
November 2003 UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Behavioral and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention seminar
Poster and Panel Presentations
Hemberg, J., Comfort, M., Hall, A., Lorvick, J. (2020). Making research reachable: Engaging criminal legal system involved women in community-based research. Virtual panel participant at American Public Health Association Conference 2020.
Hemberg, J., Comfort, M. L., Hall, A., Agodi, A., & Lorvick, J. J. (2019). Healthcare access, utilization, and contraceptive use among women under community supervision. Poster session presented at American Society of Criminology, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2018, November 16). “I’m the man and he’s the woman!”: Gender dynamics among couples during and after prison. Panel presentation at the American Society for Criminology annual meeting in Atlanta, GA.
Lorvick J, Browne E, Lambdin BH, Kral AH, Comfort M. (2018, June 11). Opioid and Benzodiazepine Co-use among Women Associated with Binge Drinking. 80th Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. San Diego, CA.
Lorvick J, Comfort M, Kral AH, Lambdin BH. (2017, November 2). Association of Accumulated Criminal Justice Involvement with Health Outcomes Among Women Who Use Illicit Drugs. 41st Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA). Washington DC.
Lorvick J, Comfort M, Lambdin BH. (2017, July). Community Supervision and Mental Health Needs in a Community-Based Sample of Women who use Drugs in Oakland, CA. Oral presentation. International Academy of Law and Mental Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
Lorvick J, Comfort M, Kral AH, Lambdin BH. (2017, March 16). Using Latent Class Analysis to Measure Health-Related Impacts of Cumulative Criminal Justice System Involvement among Women. 10th Academic Health and Policy Conference on Correctional Health. Atlanta, GA.
Dauria, E.F., Tolou-Shams, M., Levine-Murray, A., Lipman, M., Comfort, M., Christopoulos, K. (2017, June 5). "We need this!": PrEP awareness and acceptability among women involved in the criminal justice system. Oral presentation. 12th International Conference on HIV Treatment and Prevention Adherence. Miami, FL.
Comfort, M. (2016, August 22). Policing, incarceration, and community responses: The role of public health. Oral presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting in Seattle, WA.
Comfort, M. (2015, August 23). “A twenty hour a day job”: The repercussive effects of frequent low-level criminal justice involvement on family life. Oral presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting, Chicago, IL.
Comfort, M., & Wildeman, C. (2015, March 20). Prison as primary care: How correctional healthcare experiences could inform community healthcare access. Oral presentation at the 8th Academic and Health Policy Conference on Correctional Health, Boston, MA.
Comfort, M. (2014, November 22). My brother’s keeper—and doctor, and social worker: The repercussive effects of incarceration on family health and well-being. Oral presentation at the American Society of Criminology annual meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2014, November 21). Discussant for panel on “Prisoners’ Families: An International Perspective” at the American Society of Criminology annual meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2014, November 19). Critic on panel of “Author Meets the Critics for Children of the Prison Boom: Mass Incarceration and the Future of American Inequality,” written by Sara Wakefield and Christopher Wildeman, American Society of Criminology annual meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2014, August 16). Discussant for panel on “Extreme Poverty” at the American Sociological Association annual meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2013, November 22). Crime and the punished. Discussant for panel at the American Society of Criminology annual meeting, Atlanta, GA.
Comfort, M. (2013, August 12). Betwixt and between: Navigating HIV treatment through cycles of incarceration. Oral presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting, New York, NY.
Comfort, M. (2013, July 10). Couples and incarceration: The structural production of unknowing practices. Oral presentation at the International HIV Social Science and Humanities conference, Paris, France.
Comfort, M. L. (Invited Speaker). (2013, March). The health of women with incarcerated partners. Presented at Health Issues in Incarcerated Populations: Lessons from Research and Clinical Practice, San Francisco, CA.
Howell, B. A., Guydish, J., Kral, A., & Comfort, M. L. (2012, October). Smoking patterns among parolees in the San Francisco Bay area. Presented at the 140th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2012, August). “I’m the man and he’s the woman!”: Incarceration, masculinity, and intimate relationships. Oral presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting, Denver, CO.
Comfort, M., Turney, K., & Wakefield, S. (2012). “People on parole have found jobs”: Unemployment and relationship tensions following men’s release from prison. Panel presentation at the American Society of Criminology annual meeting, Chicago, IL.
Khan, M., Epperson, M., & Comfort, M. (2012). Criminal justice involvement and HIV risk model: A novel conceptual model that describes the influence of arrest and incarceration on STI/HIV transmission. Poster presentation at the American Public Health Association conference. San Francisco, CA.
Howell, B. A., Guydish, J., Kral, A., & Comfort, M. (2012). Smoking patterns among the formerly incarcerated in the San Francisco Bay area. Poster presented at the American Public Health Association conference. San Francisco, CA.
Cocohoba, J. M., Comfort, M., Greenblatt, R. M., & Johnson, M. O. (2012). Community pharmacy adherence support services: Patient and pharmacist perceptions. Poster presentation at the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care 7th International Conference on HIV Treatment and Prevention Adherence. Miami, FL.
Frank, J. W., Wang, E. A., Nunez-Smith, M, & Comfort, M. (2012). Discrimination attributed to criminal record and healthcare utilization. Poster presentation at the Society of General Internal Medicine meetings. Orlando, FL.
Kramer, K., Bowers, M., Comfort, M., Labiner-Wolfe, J., Zack, B. (2011, August 15). HIV prevention for women partners of incarcerated men: An overlooked part of the discussion. Oral presentation at the National HIV Prevention Conference. Atlanta, GA.
Comfort, M. (2011, August). “It was basically college to us”: Incarceration, rehabilitation, and intimate relationships. Oral presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting, Las Vegas, NV.
Comfort, M., Birder, M., Hagan, J., Woodford, J., Elster, J., Elster, M., & Anderson, T. (2010, November 17). At the intersection of confinement and the free world: The personal, social, and political repercussions of visiting incarcerated family members. Documentary film screening and facilitated panel discussion at the American Society of Criminology annual meeting. San Francisco, CA.
Lopez, A. M., Knight, K., Riley, E., Comfort, M., & Cohen, J. (2010, October). Urban space and place: Contextual mechanisms that amplify poor health among indigent women residing in single room occupancy hotels in San Francisco. Poster presented at UCSF Health Disparities Research Symposium, San Francisco, CA.
Ramos, J., Balls Organista, P., Comfort, M., Grinstead Reznick, O. (2010, August 12). Empowering women: HIV prevention for partners of recently incarcerated men. Poster presentation at the American Psychological Association meetings, San Diego, CA.
Comfort, M., Myers, J., Koester, K., Knight, K., Bourgois, P., & Grinstead Reznick, O. (2010, July 20). HIV risk among male prisoners, formerly incarcerated men, and their female partners. Poster presentation at the International AIDS conference, Vienna, Austria.
Ramos, J., Balls Organista, P., Comfort, M., & Grinstead Reznick, O. (2010, May). The power of sexual communication: HIV prevention for the female partners of incarcerated men. Poster presentation at the Association for Psychological Science annual convention, Boston, MA.
Comfort, M., Hoover, M., Ramos, J., Reznick O, Rodriguez, T., Smith, C., & Stewart, W. (2010, April 23). Incarceration and health disparities: Possible connections, emerging questions. Oral presentation at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies conference, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M., Hoover, M., Ramos, J., Rodriguez, T., Smith, C., Stewart, W. (2009, October 30). Observations from the field: HIV prevention for male-female couples after incarceration. Oral presentation at the U.S. Conference on AIDS, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. & Eason, J. (2009, August 8). Prison towns and prisonized families: Mapping the proliferation and reach of state correctional institutions. Oral presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M., Reznick, O. G., & Neilands, T. B. (2008, October 7). HIV prevention for women visiting their incarcerated male partners. Oral presentation at the NIMH Annual International Research Conference on the Role of Families in Preventing and Adapting to HIV/AIDS: Meeting the Needs of Families in the Mental Health and Criminal Justice System. Providence, RI.
Comfort, M., Grinstead, O., McCartney, K., & Neilands, T. B. (2008, September 6). HIV prevention for women with incarcerated male partners at a California state prison. Oral presentation at the International Sociological Association meeting, Barcelona, Spain.
Comfort, M., Grinstead, O., McCartney, K., & Neilands, T. B. (2008, May 30). HIV prevention for women visiting incarcerated men: The HOME Project. Oral presentation at the Society for Prevention Research Conference, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2007, August 14). ‘I looked at this as a beautiful experience’: Mass incarceration and the secondary prisonization of intimate relationships. Oral presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting. New York, NY.
Comfort, M. (2006, November). “We share everything we can the best way we can”: The dualization of the convict body. Oral presentation at the American Society for Criminology annual meeting. Los Angeles, CA.
Comfort, M. (2006, August 13). ‘It’s a lot of good men behind walls!’: Mass incarceration and the transformation of romance. Oral presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting, Montreal, Canada.
Comfort, M., Allen, A., & Regan, T. (2008, April 18). Research to program: Pathways to sustainable HIV Prevention with women visitors at San Quentin state prison. Oral presentation at the CAPS Conference, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2006, April 21). The HOME Project: HIV prevention for women visiting men at San Quentin state prison. Oral presentation given at the Fifth Annual Center for AIDS Prevention Studies Conference, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2005, June 6). “It’s a lot of good men behind walls!”: Mass incarceration and the transformation of romance in the United States. Oral presentation at the A Prisão, a Psiquiatria e a Rua conference, Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Comfort, M. (2005, September 29). Papa’s house: The prison as domestic and social satellite. Keynote address given at the Estratégias de Redução de Danos: Sistema Penal e Drogas conference, Universidade Federal Fluminense e Instituto Carioca de Criminologia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Comfort, M., Grinstead, O., Fierro, X., & Jordan, S. (2004, September 13). Visiting 101: The experiences and needs of the visiting community. Invited talk at the Centerforce Summit, Millbrae, CA.
Comfort, M., & Grinstead, O. (2004, August 16). HIV/AIDS, incarceration, and communities of color. Oral presentation at the American Sociological Association annual meeting. San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2004, April 16). The HOME Project. Oral presentation at the Fourth Annual Center for AIDS Prevention Studies conference, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M. (2003, April 4). The HOME Project. Oral presentation at the Third Annual Center for AIDS Prevention Studies conference, San Francisco, CA.
Comfort, M., & Grinstead, O. (2003, October 20). The HIV prevention needs of women visiting incarcerated men. Oral presentation at Centerforce Summit, Millbrae, CA.
Grinstead, O., & Comfort, M. (1997, May 27). Developing HIV prevention services for women visiting incarcerated men. Poster presentation at the National Conference on Women and HIV, Los Angeles, CA.
Popular Media: Television, Radio, and Press
2019 “How the Prison System Creates ‘Absentee Dads’ – and Hurts the Kids They Leave Behind.” Op ed in The Crime Report posted October 17: https://thecrimereport.org/2019/10/17/how-the-prison-system-creates-absentee-dads-and-hurts-the-kids-they-leave-behind/
2019 Contributed to the Punishment & Society’s blogpost “Are You a Criminologist or a Sociologist?” Posted February 8: https://punishment-society.blogspot.com/2019/02/are-you-criminologist-or-sociologist.html
2018 Participated in the webcast “HIVE Online: Caring for Women Impacted by Incarceration,” hosted by the University of California, San Francisco. Broadcast July 31: https://hiveonline.org/caring-for-women-impacted-by-incarceration/
2018 Interviewed by Frank News for “Because She’s Powerful: In Conversation with Endria Richards, Hedy Lee, and Megan Comfort.” Published on June 28: http://www.franknews.us/interviews/137/137
2017 Quoted in “Behind Bars, Beyond Means: The Crushing Expense of Loving Someone in Prison,” a feature article in The Guardian by Lisa Riordan Seville and Zara Katz, published April 20: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/20/philadelphia-bridging-the-gap-van-service-prisons
2017 Interviewed for “Doing Translational Research,” a podcast recorded by the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Interviewed on March 7.
2016 Guest appearance (with Andrea Lopez) on North Carolina Public Radio program The Measure of Everyday Life for a segment on methodological innovations in studying hypermarginalized populations. Interviewed by Brian Southwell, podcast posted on January 13.
2015 Guest appearance on WGXC (Albany, NY) radio program Prison Voices Project for a segment on family members of prisoners. Interviewed live by Alexandra Cox, July 23.
2014 Guest appearance on North Carolina Public Radio program The State of Things for a segment on families and incarceration. Interviewed live by Frank Stasio, October 24.
2011 Interviewed for “Office Hours,” a podcast featured on “The Society Pages,” an online social science project housed in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Sociology. Podcast posted on August 26.
2010 “Black Men in Prison and the Women Who Love Them.” Guest appearance on BlogTalkRadio program, Date Smarter, Not Harder. Interviewed live by Deborrah Cooper, September 11.
2009 BBC Radio 4, “Thinking Allowed.” Interviewed live by Laurie Taylor, January 14.
2009 Newstalk 106–108FM (Ireland), “The Moncrieff Show.” Interviewed live by Sean Moncrieff, February 6.
2009 “Entrevista: Megan Comfort. A prisão deles podes resultar na quase prisão delas.” Publico (full-page article in Portuguese daily newspaper), August 13, p.6.
2008 Tattered Cover Bookstore. Denver, CO, August 11 (invited talk and book signing)
2008 “Author Makes a Study of Prisoners’ Partners.” The Denver Post, August 10, 5B–6B.
2008 Clear Channel of Colorado, “Focus.” Interviewed by Irene Rawlings, broadcast August 17.
2007 Radio France Culture, “A plus d’un titre.” Interviewed live in French by Jacques Munier, September 14.
2003 BBC Radio 4, “Thinking Allowed.” Interviewed by Laurie Taylor, broadcast September 17.
2000 “Family Ties: a Conversation with Megan Comfort.” SQTV (San Quentin Television), San Quentin State Prison, CA, filmed September 8, broadcast repeatedly.
1997 “SQ in Focus: A Formula for Success.” SQTV (San Quentin Television), San Quentin State Prison, CA, filmed July 24, broadcast repeatedly.
1995 “Services for Your Family at The House at San Quentin.” SQTV (San Quentin Television), San Quentin State Prison, CA, filmed October 13, broadcast repeatedly.
SERVICE TO PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS
Editorial Board, Punishment & Society, 2022 to date
Editorial Board, Sociological Theory, 2018 to date
Editorial Board, Etnográfica (international, multi-language journal), 2016 to date
Editorial Board, Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention in Children & Youth, 2005 to 2009
PUBLIC SERVICE
2015 to date Member, Essie Justice Group Advisory Council (nonprofit organization that builds support and communication among women with incarcerated loved ones: http://www.essiejusticegroup.org/)
2013 to date Board of Directors member and Secretary, UnCommon Law (nonprofit organization that provides education and training in legal representation for people serving life sentences in the California state prison system: http://uncommonlaw.org/)
2008 to 2012 Scientific Advisory Committee, BETA (published by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation)
2011 National Planning Committee member, Centerforce 2011 Inside/Out Summit
1997 Instructor and creator of CON-TEXT, a 10-session writing seminar focusing on famous incarcerated authors, developed for prisoners at San Quentin State Prison
1996 to 1997 Instructor and creator of Writing it Right, an eight-part video series on basic writing skills for prisoners shown regularly on San Quentin Television
1992 to 1993 Relief counselor at Youth and Family Assistance group home for adolescents, Redwood City, CA
1990 Relief counselor at Rosa Parks Shelter Home for boys with multiple arrest records, Washington DC