Mindy Thai

Graduate Research Assistant

Corrections, incarceration, interstate prison network, re-entry, alternatives to imprisonment, social and cultural capital

Mindy is a doctoral student in George Mason University's Department of Criminology, Law and Society. She works as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Early Justice Strategies Lab under Dr. Evan Lowder. Mindy graduated with a B.A. in Criminal Justice and B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature at George Washington University, D.C. She received her M.A. in Criminology, Law and Society from George Mason University. Her research interests include corrections, interstate prison network, and re-entry.

Current Research

Bohmert, M. N., Ying, M. H.. Lowder, E. M., & Thai, M. L. (In prep.) Racial disparities in pathways to probation violation, but not revocation.

Lowder, E. M., Foudray, C. M. A., Thai, M. L., Freund, R., & Lane, M. (In prep.) Multi-program perspectives on the peer recovery specialist role, opportunities, and challenges.

Thai, M. L., & Lowder, E. M. (In prep.) The impact of media portrayal on perceptions of bail reform.

Selected Publications

Khatchatourian, H., MacFarland, G., Thai, M., Hickling, D., Smith, B., & Wu, Y. (2022). Public cooperation with police in Detroit: A testing of three perspectives. Policing: An International Journal, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 16. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2022-0073

Grants and Fellowships

Summer Institute Fellow (2024), Revolutionizing Research for Social Change, Center for Social Science Research, George Mason University

Outstanding Graduate Service Award (2024), Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (2024 Honorable Mention; Not Funded)

Summer Scholarship (2023), Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University

Education

M.A. in Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University

B.A. in Criminal Justice, George Washington University

B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature, George Washington University

Recent Presentations

Knes, A. S., Thai, M. L., Reuter, S. M., Kent, A. R., Lowder, E. M. (March 2024). Impact of pretrial risk assessments on judicial adherence for pretrial release decisions. [Panel Presentation]. 2024 American Psychology–Law Society Conference, Los Angeles, CA

Thai, M. L., Lowder, E. M. (November 2023). The impact of media portrayal on perceptions of bail reform. [Panel Presentation]. 2023 American Society of Criminology Conference, Philadelphia, PA.