Megan Comfort - personal website

publications

Books and book chapters

McKay, T. E., Comfort, M. L., Lindquist, C. H., & Bir, A. (2019). Holding on: Family and fatherhood during incarceration and reentry. (1st ed.) University of California Press. https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520305250/holding-on

Comfort, M. L. (2008). Doing time together: Love and family in the shadow of the prison. University of Chicago Press.

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 University Press.

Comfort, M. L. (2014). Repercussions of incarceration on close relationships. In D. Hartmann & C. Uggen (Eds.), Crime and the punished (pp. 87–100). W.W. Norton & Company.

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). 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 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). 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. Routledge.

Peer-reviewed articles

Ali, R., Perry, R., Eng, S., Katz, A.W.K., Napierala, S., Lorvick, J., Comfort, M. (2025) Creating “Safer Ground”: Implementation of a service-rich housing program for people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health, 25(1), 3958, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-24866-8

Comfort, M., Ali, R., Lorvick, J., Hemberg, J., Goode, S.A., Ramaswamy, M. (2025) The complexities of ‘trust’ in the context of COVID-19 vaccination choices among Black women in Alameda County, CA. Critical Public Health, 35(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2025.2486498

Comfort, M., Tibaduiza, E., Embry, V., DeMichele, M. (2025). “There is a common thread”: Shifting court culture through collaborative processes as a core component of pretrial reform. Journal of Criminal Justice, 99, Article 102440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102440

Lorvick, J., Hemberg, J.L., Browne, E.N., George, M.J., Piontak, J., Comfort, M.L. (2025) Ecological Momentary Assessment Study of Same-Hour Polysubstance Use among People who use Opioids and Additional Substances. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112582

Stoner, M. C. D., Browne, E. N., Raymond-Flesch, M., Comfort, M., Minnis, A. (2025) Short-term effects of peer bullying victimization on intimate partner violence. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 69(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2025.107943

Comfort, M., Sheppard, M., Saavedra, L., Christian, J. (2024) The Emerging Equity Scholars Program: A belonging intervention to address othering in research careers. RTI Press Occasional Paper No. OP-0093-2411. https:// doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2024.op.0093.2411

Grodensky, C.A., Comfort, M., Trudeau, J., Tibaduiza, E., and DeMichele, M. (2024) Jurisdictional Resource Factors Influencing Adoption and Implementation of the Public Safety Assessment during Pretrial. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 52(6), 876-895. https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241307236

Hadley, E., Blatecky, A. & Comfort, M. (2024) Investigating algorithm review boards for organizational responsible artificial intelligence governance. AI Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-024-00574-8

DeMichele, M., Baumgartner, P., Wenger, M., Comfort, M., Witwer, A. (2024). Where’s the bias: No evidence of bias by sex when testing the public safety assessment. Crime & Delinquency, 70(8), 2139–2165.

Caballero, E., Minnis, A., Parmar, D. D., Zerofsky, M., Comfort, M., & Raymond-Flesch, M. (2025). Labeling in a California Latinx community: Public health implications for youth and role in community narratives. BMC Public Health, 25(1), 2536. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23598-z

Emerson, A., Dogan, M., Hawes, E., Wilson, K., Chana, S. M., Kelly, P. J., Comfort, M., & Ramaswamy, M. (2024). Cervical cancer screening barriers and facilitators from the perspectives of women with a history of criminal-legal system involvement and substance use. Health & Justice, 12, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-024-00262-z

Bagwell-Gray, M. E., Garcia-Hallett, J., Lee, J., Kepple, N. J., Sisson, M., Comfort, M., & Ramaswamy, M. (2024). Black women's physical, mental, and sexual health in the criminal legal system: Influences of victimization, healthcare access, and living conditions. Affilia - Journal of Women and Social Work, 39(1), 128–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/08861099231160184

Lorvick, J., Hemberg, J. L., George, M. J., Piontak, J., & Comfort, M. (2023). Understanding polysubstance use at the daily and event levels: Protocol for a mixed-methods qualitative and ecological momentary assessment study in a community-based sample of people who use illict drugs in Oakland, California, USA. BMJ Open, 13(9), Article e075380. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075380

Lorvick, J., Hemberg, J. L., Browne, E. N., & Comfort, M. L. (2023). Nonurgent emergency department use among women sentenced to probation. Journal of Correctional Health Care. 29(3), 182–189. https://doi.org/10.1089/jchc.21.11.0122

Lorvick, J., Hemberg, J. L., George, M. J., Piontak, J. R., & Comfort, M. L. (2023). "Just another thing for me to stress off of": Responses to unintentional fentanyl use in a community-based study of people who use opioids. Harm Reduction Journal, 20(1), 128. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-023-00863-1

Parmar, D. D., Minnis, A. M., Caballero, E., Zerofsky, M. S., Comfort, M. L., & Raymond-Flesch, M. (2023). Latina mothers' perspectives on adverse experiences and protection of Latinx youth in an agricultural community. BMC Public Health, 23, Article 223. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-14993-5

DeMichele, M., Baumgartner, P., Wenger, M., Comfort, M., & Witwer, A. (2023). Where’s the bias: No evidence of bias by sex when testing the Public Safety Assessment. Crime & Delinquency, 70(8), 2139–2165. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221130953

Emerson, A., Lipnicky, A., Comfort, M., Lorvick, J., Cropsey, K., Smith, S., & 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., & Comfort, M. (2022). Routine and preventive health care use in the community among women sentenced to probation. Health & Justice, 10(5). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-022-00167-9

Lorvick, J., Hemberg, J., Browne, E. N., Alter, H., & Comfort, M. (2022). Decreased homelessness among women involved in the criminal legal system after a COVID-19 housing intervention. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, 32(2), 377–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2022.2060460

Raymond-Flesch, M., Comfort, M. L., Auerswald, C. L., McGlone, L., Chavez, M., Comas, S., Browne, E. N., & Minnis, A. M. (2022). Latinx adolescent perspectives on the effects of United States immigration policy on wellbeing. Youth & Society, 55(8), 1615–1638. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X221102189

Salyer, C., Lee, J., Lorvick, J., Comfort, M., Cropsey, K., Smith, S., Emerson, A., & Ramaswamy M. (2022). Cervical cancer prevention behaviors among criminal-legal involved women from three U.S. cities. Journal of Women’s Health, 31(4), 533–545. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2021.0250

Akré, E-R. L., Marthey, D. J., 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. https://doi.org/10.1177/23333928211048640

Hemberg, J., Lorvick, J., Lipnicky, A., Wickliffe, J., Comfort, M., Faust, A., Cropsey, K., & 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2021.08.012

Salyer, C., Lee, J., Lorvick, J., Comfort, M., Cropsey, K., & Ramaswamy, M. (2021). Cervical cancer screening and follow-up among women in the criminal-legal system. Gynecologic Oncology, 162(Suppl 1), S105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0090-8258(21)00842-8

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

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

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

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

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

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, 23(12), 3366–3374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02447-2

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

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

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

Comfort, M., & Williams, T. (2018). After life imprisonment: Reentry in the era of mass incarceration. Contemporary Sociology, 47(3), 343–345. https://doi.org/10.1177/0094306118767651dd

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

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

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

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

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

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

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). Gender-specific correlates of incarceration among marginally housed individuals in San Francisco. American Journal of Public Health, 99(8), 1459–1463. PMCID: PMC2707486. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2008.141655

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

other publications

Comfort, M., Barrick, K., Browne, F., Geiger, P., Minnis, A., Pfeffer, R. (2024) How Involving People with Lived Expertise Strengthens Research. RTI Insights Blog. https://www.rti.org/insights/lived-experience-strengthens-research-outcomes

Venkateswaran, N., Feldman, J., Hawkins, S., Lewis, M. A., Armstrong-Brown, J., Comfort, M., Lowe, A., & Pineda, D. (2023). Bringing an equity-centered framework to research: Transforming the researcher, research content, and practice of research. RTI Press Occasional Paper No. OP-0085-2301. https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2023.op.0085.2301

Comfort, M. (2021). Sarah Esther Lageson, Digital punishment: Privacy, stigma, and the harms of data-driven criminal justice. [Book review]. Punishment and Society, 24(4), 748–750. https://doi.org/10.1177/14624745211027272

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., & Williams, T. (2018). After life imprisonment: Reentry in the era of mass incarceration. Contemporary Sociology, 47(3), 343–345.

DeMichele, M., Baumgartner, P., Wenger, M., Barrick, K., Comfort, M., & Misra, S. (2018). The public safety assessment: A re-validation and assessment of predictive utility and differential prediction by race and gender in Kentucky. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3168452

DeMichele, M., Comfort, M., Misra, S., Barrick, K., & Baumgartner, P. (2018). The Intuitive-Override Model: Nudging Judges Toward Pretrial Risk Assessment Instruments. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3168500

Comfort, M., & 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. (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. (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.

Research Briefs & Technical Reports

Comfort, M., Rineer, J., Tibaduiza, E., & Sheppard, M. (2024). Conducting anti-racist research on pretrial release assessments. [Research brief]. Advancing Pretrial Policy & Research. https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/security=policy:eyJleHBpcnkiOjQwNzg3NjQwMDAsImNhbGwiOlsicGljayIsInJlYWQiLCJ3cml0ZSIsIndyaXRlVXJsIiwic3RvcmUiLCJjb252ZXJ0IiwicmVtb3ZlIiwicnVuV29ya2Zsb3ciXX0=,signature:9df63ee50143fbd862145c8fb4ed2fcc17d068183103740b1212c4c9bc858f63/UEO1OglpR7rZ4mC1PjzW

Jules, J., Sheppard, M., & Comfort, M. (2022). Why use “criminal legal system” instead of “criminal justice system?” A closer look at the evolving language of law. [Research brief]. Advancing Pretrial Policy & Research. https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/security=policy:eyJleHBpcnkiOjQwNzg3NjQwMDAsImNhbGwiOlsicGljayIsInJlYWQiLCJ3cml0ZSIsIndyaXRlVXJsIiwic3RvcmUiLCJjb252ZXJ0IiwicmVtb3ZlIiwicnVuV29ya2Zsb3ciXX0=,signature:9df63ee50143fbd862145c8fb4ed2fcc17d068183103740b1212c4c9bc858f63/5XgMF476TaWwVXL4nnT6

Tibaduiza, E., Comfort, M., & Burtch, E. (2022). Using data to explore racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal legal system. [Research brief]. Advancing Pretrial Policy & Research. https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/security=policy:eyJleHBpcnkiOjQwNzg3NjQwMDAsImNhbGwiOlsicGljayIsInJlYWQiLCJ3cml0ZSIsIndyaXRlVXJsIiwic3RvcmUiLCJjb252ZXJ0IiwicmVtb3ZlIiwicnVuV29ya2Zsb3ciXX0=,signature:9df63ee50143fbd862145c8fb4ed2fcc17d068183103740b1212c4c9bc858f63/sA85HdCKRUmeuRsWDDkS

Comfort. M (2021). Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in the research-action sites. [Research brief]. Advancing Pretrial Policy & Research. https://cdn.filestackcontent.com/security=policy:eyJleHBpcnkiOjQwNzg3NjQwMDAsImNhbGwiOlsicGljayIsInJlYWQiLCJ3cml0ZSIsIndyaXRlVXJsIiwic3RvcmUiLCJjb252ZXJ0IiwicmVtb3ZlIiwicnVuV29ya2Zsb3ciXX0=,signature:9df63ee50143fbd862145c8fb4ed2fcc17d068183103740b1212c4c9bc858f63/FpUx8SqXSUahQbYK06XS

Comfort, M. L., McKay, T. E., Landwehr, J. G., 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: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Lindquist, C. H., Landwehr, J. G., McKay, T. E., Feinberg, R. K., Comfort, M. L., & Bir, A. (2016, April 29). Change in couple relationships before, during, and after incarceration. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

Lindquist, C. H., Comfort, M. L., Landwehr, J. G., Feinberg, R. K., Cohen, J. B., McKay, T. E., & Bir, A. (2016, March 16). Change in father-child relationships before, during, and after incarceration. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.